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Why former Predators captains Shea Weber, Mike Fisher, Tom Fitzgerald, Kimmo Timonen are in town

Mike Fisher was wandering the halls of Bridgestone Arena with his wife, Carrie Underwood, and their young sons Isaiah and Jacob, in late January when his present and future were introduced to his hockey past.

The former Nashville Predators captain and his family were there to see a performance of "Jurassic World Live."

"It was pretty good," Fisher said Tuesday, when he was joined by former Predators captains Shea Weber, Tom Fitzgerald and Kimmo Timonen for a mini-reunion as part of the team's 25-year celebration. "The kids loved it. They were on the edge of their seats the whole time."

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What he remembered most, though, had nothing to do with the show.

"My boys were walking by all these pictures and picking out pictures of me," said Fisher, who was captain during the 2016-17 season. "It was kind of cool, just for them to see it."

Fisher, who spent eight of his 18 NHL seasons with the Predators and helped them reach the Stanley Cup final in 2017, said he spends most of his time these days on his Nashville-area farm and hunting.

Oh, and driving.

"Full-time Uber driver, pretty much," he said. "Just finished duck hunting season. On to turkey season soon."

Tom Fitzgerald: 'I never wanted to leave'

Fitzgerald, the first captain in team history and the last general manager to make a trade with former Predators GM David Poile, reminisced about his kids learning to skate at Centennial Sportsplex, and his third son being born here.

Fitzgerald, who is now GM of the New Jersey Devils, spent four of his 17 NHL seasons with the Predators. He was traded to the Chicago Blackhawks in March 2002.

Parting, he said, was sweet sorrow.

New Nashville Predators signee Tom Fitzgerald, left, and General Manager David Poile holds the captain jersey after the team made Fitzgerald its very first captain during a press conference at the Nashville Arena on July 6, 1998. D. Patrick Harding / For The Tennessean
New Nashville Predators signee Tom Fitzgerald, left, and General Manager David Poile holds the captain jersey after the team made Fitzgerald its very first captain during a press conference at the Nashville Arena on July 6, 1998. D. Patrick Harding / For The Tennessean

"I never wanted to leave, that's for sure," he said. "I didn't ask to be traded. I wanted to stay here.

"But that's hockey."

Fitzgerald said it was an honor to be the last to make a trade with Poile, who retired after last season.

Kimmo Timonen: 'People coming out of bars singing, cowboy hats on'

The Predators' fourth captain, Kimmo Timonen, wasn't exactly a believer when he arrived in 2018.

He had just been exiled from the Los Angeles Kings, who told him he was too small.

"My first training camp (in 1998), walking down Broadway, I was like, 'Oh, I don't think this is a hockey town,' " said Timonen, who was captain in 2006-07. "People coming out of the bars singing, cowboy hats on.

"I was like, 'Uh-oh.' . . . People were in the stands explaining the rules, what's going on in hockey. I was like, 'Wow. This is the NHL?' "

By the time he left after spending the first eight seasons of his career here, Timonen became a believer.

He said he met Poile at the 1998 Winter Olympics, where Timonen helped Finland to a bronze medal.

"Meeting him changed my life," Timonen said. "He said, 'I'm seeing where the game is moving and we're going to get away from everybody being big and tough. It's going to get speedier.

"Great story for me."

Like the other former captains, Shea Weber signed his puck on the team's alumni wall Tuesday at Bridgestone.

Unlike the other three, Weber did not speak with the media. The Predators said it was because he is still under NHL contract with another team, the Arizona Coyotes. He is on long-term injured reserve and hasn't played since the 2020-21 season.

Before the ink on his puck had dried, Weber made a beeline toward general manager Barry Trotz and CEO Sean Henry.

After some small talk, he disappeared down the hallway.

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This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Why Shea Weber, other former Nashville Predators captains are in town