Often I use this space to remember when a member of the music or entertainment industry passes. Usually I have a personal connection, watching a show, attending a concert, a special movie… but this is the first time I’ve had to write about a member of the team I announce for. The death of Wade Belak sent shock waves through Pred Nation and the entire hockey world yesterday. His was the third death of this terrible NHL offseason, the third enforcer to pass away, but the first one to really hit Pred Nation and the news hit Pred fans like a haymaker.

Wade was one of the most popular Predators both in the locker room and among the fans. His easy smile, mischievous wit and infectious positive outlook just made being around him fun. You could see his influence with the younger players on the team by the outpouring of genuine emotion and shock from their Twitter feeds yesterday. Teammates from past teams and current Predators joined the salute, shock and sadness ruled the Twitterverse. Predators GM David Poile had the unenviable task of addressing the media just five short hours after his death, his outward calm demeanor not completely covering the raw emotion underneath.

The constant among all the reactions from across the hockey world… his sense of humor… Toronto fans remember his time there from his contributions to Leafs TV, a channel that the voice of the Predator’s Pete Weber referred to a “built for Wade.” Nashville fans loved his Wade’s World features on Predator broadcasts and his in-game “Wet Your Pants” videos featuring him and Gnash using air horns and not-so-empty empty boxes to scare teammates and front office staff, they always drew big laughs.

Hockey fans remember a few of his fights… Toronto fans remember his epic battle with Cam Janssen, Nashville fans will always remember his go-round with Donald Brashear where Belak dropped him like I’ve never seen Brashear dropped before.

My first experience with Wade Belak face-to-face was in his first year with the team at the annual Unmasked Ball charity event. I had seen him around the locker room and practice rink but hadn’t had the chance to talk with him that much. He greeted me like a long lost friend, introduced our wives and chatted about our personal lives, I mentioned something about my day job away from hockey, his response? “I thought your job was to take care of us.”

From then on, he would make it a point to give me grief whenever he could. A haircut would certainly draw the rain… usually regarding a garden implement and how it wasn’t used well. A new tie… well, I can’t repeat that one on a family blog. His favorite way to refer to me was “you red haired bas***d.” That was Wade being Wade… Damn, I will miss that on game days.

He was just good people, as Crazy Charlie Saunier tweeted yesterday, “Wade was real.”

When it became apparent that Wade wasn’t part of the Predator’s future plans back in February, instead of going down to Milwaukee, he made a move to the broadcast booth, it seemed to be an easy transition. Wade was born to entertain, and this was the natural progression, taking advantage of that twisted sense of humor and his way of making others feel good. You just couldn’t help it, and he was able to transition that to the airwaves.

The only thing more fun that watching Wade play hockey, or getting abused by him during the pre-game soccer match, was hearing him tell stories in the media room. He fit right in with Pete, Terry and Tom, and looked like he had been doing it for his entire life. I think that is what makes this so hard to grasp, so hard to understand. I refuse to disrespect his memory but speculating about the cause or the reason he died, the wound is simply too fresh. The reason really doesn’t matter right now. What matters is his family and friends and respecting the memory of a life cut way too short.

Wade Belak is survived by his wife Jennifer and his two daughters Andie and Alex. The thoughts and prayers of the entire hockey world go out to his family in this most difficult time.

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