‘Josi and I cried uncontrollably’

Nino Niederreiter is all excited, his voice is shaking. “I’m going through the craziest time of my NHL career right now,” the 30-year-old said with a look on the phone. Which is totally “crazy”: The Churer has to leave the Nashville Predators at the end of a particularly strong week. The winger has scored four goals in the last three games. “I had settled very well in Nashville. I especially liked the city. And in Roman Josi I had a friend here with whom I could blindly get along both on and off the ice.”

How well they harmonize with each other was last demonstrated on Saturday morning in Phoenix during the last practice before the game against the Arizona Coyotes. “After this training I sat in the back of the team bus and was completely relaxed,” says Niederreiter.

The shock news

But that changes abruptly when the team secretary shows up at “El Niño” shortly before arriving at the team hotel. “He told me that the coach wanted to talk to me. That’s when I knew something special had happened.”

The two-time World Cup silver medalist’s suspicions are confirmed a minute later: head coach John Hynes announces to the team’s second-best goalscorer (18 goals) that he has just been traded to the Winnipeg Jets. General Manager David Poile then tells Niederreiter the background to this deal on the phone. In exchange for the ice mate, Nashville received a second-round pick from the Canadians for the 2024 NHL draft. Then a heartbreaking scene happened at the Predators’ team hotel: “Roman Josi was as upset as I was after this hammer news. We cried uncontrollably together in the room.”

In a private jet to Winnipeg

In the evening, the two go out to dinner together in Phoenix. While Josi plays against Arizona the day after, Niederreiter flies to Nashville to clean out the apartment and closet. He then takes off in one of the Jets’ private jets bound for Winnipeg.

The first text from his new teammates arrives long before it lands on Nino’s iPhone. “Just a few minutes after announcing my trade, I received some very nice messages from my future teammates. That was very good for me.”

And from a purely sporting point of view, the transfer from Niederreiter to the Canadian province of Manitoba can be seen as progress. The Jets are currently sixth in the Western Conference, nine points and four spots ahead of Nashville.

“NHL Penal Camp”

The city of Winnipeg does not enjoy a good reputation with most NHL stars. Because the temperature averages well below zero on more than 100 days a year, the unadorned western Canadian city has been nicknamed the “NHL penal camp”. Niederreiter’s Zug buddy Luca Sbisa, who defended for Winnipeg from 2019 to 2021, got to know the metropolis of 750,000 from a much nicer side. “The city center doesn’t really offer anything special, but I lived 15 minutes from the stadium in an area where nature is fantastically beautiful.”

A special city, in which Niederreiter has found his home for the time being. His $4 million contract runs through the summer of 2024.

Source : Blick