Mike Fisher announced his retirement through a letter to Smashville, and fans have remembered him as the team captain who won them a conference championship.
The news was so big that 102.5 The Game dedicated a whole hour of their live coverage of Titans training camp on Thursday to Fisher's retirement.
Predators' Captain Mike Fisher RetiresFisher Still On Top As He Makes Hockey Exit
"Mike Fisher, I think if you talk to anybody, he's just the perfect guy that [The Predators] traded for back in 2011," said cohost Willie Daunic. "He's everything they hoped he would be and I think five or ten years from now and beyond that. I think he was the guy that took the franchise to a different level on a lot of different angles."
Fisher retired after 17 seasons, splitting his time with the Ottowa Senators. Fans at the Predators store were left wanting when Fisher shirts for adults were sold out.
"Sad day, it was really sad actually," said Meghan Sullivan. She said the reason she became a fan of the Predators was for Fisher. "I always said if he left here, I would probably follow him. But since he left here, I'll probably just going to stay a Preds fan. That's for sure."
Paul Belliveau heard the news Thursday morning.
"I was shocked. As I heard people talking before, they built that team around Fisher. And they made quite a run last year, and not having them for next year kind of brings up some questions about the leadership for next years team," he said.
Fishers plans from here aren't yet clear. However, Daunic believed the former captain may try to retain a role with the team. He also said it must've been difficult for Fisher to make this decision following the Predators success in 2017, citing an interview after the game 6 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins in the Standley Cup.
"I could tell that he would've really loved the story book finish. To win the Stanley Cup and then to go out that way. I think that was his plan to finish his last year. When they lost and came so close, I do think he had to give it a lot of thought to whether he wanted to give it one more shot," Daunic said.
