David Poile (born February 14, 1950) is the President of Hockey Operations and General Manager of the NHL's

Nashville Predators The Nashville Predators (commonly referred to as the Preds) are a professional ice hockey team based in Nashville, Tennessee. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference, and ha ...

. He is the son of the former NHL hockey player, coach and executive Bud Poile.

Career

Poile was a successful hockey player at

Northeastern University Northeastern University (NU) is a private research university with its main campus in Boston. Established in 1898, the university offers undergraduate and graduate programs on its main campus as well as satellite campuses in Charlotte, North Ca ...

in Boston, Massachusetts, still holding the record for most career hat tricks with 11. While at Northeastern Poile was a member of

Phi Sigma Kappa Phi Sigma Kappa (), colloquially known as Phi Sig or PSK, is a men's social and academic Fraternities and sororities, fraternity with approximately 74 List of Phi Sigma Kappa chapters#List of Chapters, active chapters and provisional chapters in ...

fraternity. Poile began his career in the NHL as an Administrative Assistant with the then expansion Atlanta Flames in 1972. Five years after joining the Flames organization he was named as the assistant general manager. Poile left the Flames to become the vice president and general manager of the

Washington Capitals The Washington Capitals (colloquially known as the Caps) are a professional ice hockey team based in Washington, D.C. The team competes in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference, a ...

. He served in that capacity for fifteen years. During his time in Washington he was quite successful and the Capitals amassed a 594-454-124 record under his management. After working in Washington, Poile took the position with the then-expansion

in 1997. He has proven to make many shrewd moves and has created a competitive team with a limited budget, and has been the team's only general manager in the franchise's history to date. Poile served as general manager of the 1998 and 1999 U.S. National Team for the

International Ice Hockey Federation The International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF; french: Fédération internationale de hockey sur glace; german: Internationale Eishockey-Föderation) is a worldwide governing body for ice hockey. It is based in Zurich, Switzerland, and has 83 ...

World Championships. Poile also served as the general manager for the men's hockey team at the 2014 Olympics, though he was unable to attend the games in Sochi due to a hit in the face with an errant puck during a Nashville Predators morning skate just days prior to his planned departure. He has since not been able to see out of his right eye. He was awarded the Lester Patrick Trophy in 2001, making him and his father Norman 'Bud' Poile one of six father-son combinations to win the award. In 2017, he won the NHL's General Manager of the Year award after the Predators reached the

Stanley Cup Finals The Stanley Cup Finals in ice hockey (also known as the Stanley Cup Final among various media, french: Finale de la Coupe Stanley) is the National Hockey League's (NHL) championship series to determine the winner of the Stanley Cup, North America ...

for the first time in franchise history. On March 1, 2018, David Poile became the most successful general manager in NHL history, as the

defeated the

Edmonton Oilers The Edmonton Oilers are a professional ice hockey team based in Edmonton. The Oilers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference. They play their home games at Rogers Place, which ...

4-2, giving him his 1,320th win as a general manager, surpassing Glen Sather who had won 1,319 games. However, none of his teams have ever won a Stanley Cup.

Awards and honors

References

External links

Profile at Predators Official Website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Poile, David 1950 births Living people Atlanta Flames personnel Calgary Flames executives Ice hockey people from Ontario Lester Patrick Trophy recipients Nashville Predators executives Nashville Predators general managers Northeastern Huskies men's ice hockey players Rochester Americans players Sportspeople from Toronto Washington Capitals executives Canadian ice hockey right wingers