NASHVILLE, TN — The Milwaukee Admirals to the rescue!
Head coach Karl Taylor pressed into duty with Nashville staff and players out in the National Hockey League (NHL) COVID-19 protocols.
Taylor stepped in as head coach to get his first NHL win with the Predators.
"Short term, we knew that going into it," Taylor says. "We didn't know how long it was going to last. So Scott and I both were excited at the opportunity of helping out. I think both of us want to go full-time. But it's not the right timing right now so that's our goal as a staff. And everyone wants to make it to the National Hockey League full-time."
Assistant Coach Scott Ford, who never got to play in the NHL, was alongside Taylor.
"It's a lot of hard work you know as a player, and now as a coach," Ford says. "As a player not being able to get to that pinnacle and now to be given that opportunity is pretty cool. Hopefully it's not a once in a lifetime."
"We had that home game obviously with Nashville and then playing at the United Center was unbelievable," Ford says. "Karl looked back at me after Cornelison finished the anthem and gave me a fist pump. You watch it from the crowd, but like to be in the United Center and just have that anthem and their pregame show and everything like that. So one home game, one road game, you know, 2-0 so, is a pretty special day."
It's something that comes with the job.
"The top left corner of my check says Nashville not Milwaukee," Taylor says. "So they're the guys that kind of employ us. We work here in Milwaukee. We're very respectful of our job here and what we need to do. But we're going to follow the paycheck. I think everyone has to a little bit, right?"
But winning in Nashville and at Chicago in the clutch, is a memory of a lifetime.
The Predators are now shut down through Christmas because of COVID-19 issues.
