Professional athletes are nomadic by nature with players rarely staying with the same organization for their entire career. So it’s not uncommon for a player to be facing an old team in a particular game.
Still early in his NHL career, Predators forward Cody Glass is with his second team. After being drafted by the Vegas Golden Knights sixth overall in the 2017 draft, Glass was traded to Nashville after two mostly injury-plagued seasons with the Golden Knights.
Nashville’s Feb. 20 game in Vegas wasn’t Glass’ first game against his old team, it was his fourth. And his late first period goal wasn’t even his first goal against his old team, but when asked about it after the game, Glass began his response with the prescribed proper hockey cliché for the occasion.
“It was good,” he said. “It feels like just every other game. I want to score as much as I possibly can.”
After pausing for a moment, Glass then let a little emotion shine through. It was just his third goal scored this season in his 28th game played.
“Then again, you’re playing an old team,” Glass continued. “It’s a good feeling. I can’t really hide that. If I can put more in the net, it would be awesome.”
Following each victory, the player of the game is given the team’s professional wrestling-style belt by the previous winner. The Predators usually post the video of the celebration on their social media channels. After the Vegas game, defenseman Luke Schenn awarded the belt to Glass, noting that his goal was scored against his former team.
Glass had a breakout season in 2022-23, scoring 14 goals and adding 21 assists in a largely injury-free 72 games played. That performance earned Glass a new two-year $5 million contract with the Predators.
Both he and the Predators had hoped for more production this season. Glass has had two different stints this season where injuries have kept him sidelined for prolonged periods, an early season lower-body injury that caused him to miss eight games, then an upper-body injury that kept him out of the lineup for nine games from late November through early December.
Now healthy and being in the lineup consistently lately, Glass isn’t the only one who hopes to see the puck go into the back of the net more as the season enters the home stretch.
“I’m really happy for him,” Predators coach Andrew Brunette said. “It’s been a tough year with his injuries, kind of getting back on track. To score here, (against) the team that drafted him I’m sure feels good. His game is getting better, now can we get a little traction on it and keep growing him.”
Brunette and the Predators have been looking for secondary scoring all season. Getting Glass and others going will be helpful in their pursuit of a playoff spot this spring.