Of all the people in the hockey world, many of my favorites are the NHL team owners. They are a crazy group of immensely varied personalities, but few I hold in higher regard than Craig Leipold. Remember I grew up with Ed Snider and Ed was about one thing and one thing only. Winning.
Snider was very good to me. He had my wife and I up to his suite after the lockout and it was fascinating...I got to meet Leipold very early on in the Nashville story and was immediately taken by his love of the sport and the honor of his character...The two men, though many years apart, were so strikingly similar in their passion. They both started franchises from scratch and they both did so by turning to David Poile to be their GM. Bud in Philly 1967 and his son David in Nashville.
While covering the USA team I once talked to Poile, who remembered as a kid running around the Spectrum in the early 70s fondly. Actually saw him smile as he recalled it...and Poile is not the most outwardly emotional guy. Poile told me he modeled the Preds organization after those Flyers teams of the '70s...He believed in that culture. 100%.
Leipold believed in Poile. He was the only GM, and still is the only GM the Nashville Predators have ever had. That is incredibly rare.
The interesting thing about Snider and Leipold is while both were confidants of the NHL high ups and I didn't ever get the idea that they liked each other very much....if at all.
I remember following the 2005 lockout once I heard Snider complaining about a few of the "new young" owners, including Leipold, and I remember thinking how Ed Snider was once one of those young owners fighting against the original six owners in the '60s. Ed wouldn't have liked himself back then.
Anyone worth their weight in pucks, and with a true passion for the sport, would do WHATEVER it took to see their franchise succeed...And those who got in the way wouldn't be happy about it.
But what these two men have in common is unmissable. They are not corporations. (Ed wasn't even after the sale to Comcast) These are two men who love the sport and love what they do and they very much feel responsible to the team's fans to the point where ANYONE in the entire organization who doesn't realize what needs to be done to win a Cup...They are history.
Minnesota Wild fans can sleep well knowing they have an owner who is not afraid to make a hard and controversial choice when it becomes apparent the team is stagnant. The fact that Craig called every player he could yesterday to explain this move is the first step...It shows the players how serious things are...and how much more serious they are about to get.
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— Michael Augello (@MikeInBuffalo) August 2, 2017