The latest essay for The Players' Tribune comes from Predators captain Mike Fisher, who devoted his words to the organization that gave him a "one-way ticket" to Nashville almost six years ago.
Fisher thanked Bryan Murray, Eugene Melnyk, and the entire Ottawa Senators organization for their kindness in prioritizing family over business not long after Fisher's wedding to Carrie Underwood.
He writes:
Carrie and I had gotten married the previous July, and because she's a country music singer, she has to be doing her thing in Nashville for most of the year. So we had been going back and forth between Ottawa and Nashville. As a newlywed couple, it wasn't easy.
I knew I was incredibly blessed to be going to Nashville. When I was packing up my stuff to go to the airport, I got a call from Eugene Melnyk, the owner of the Senators. He thanked me for my time in Ottawa, and then he said something I will never, never forget.
He said, "You know Fish, I just wanted you to be with your wife."
When trade talks had heated up, a few teams had been interested in me, but Eugene and Bryan agreed to make sure that my destination would be Nashville. They could have traded me anywhere, but they were genuinely looking out for me and my family. That's what makes hockey such a special sport, even at the NHL level. Yes, it's a business, but the amount of good human beings I've run across in this sport is just incredible.
