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Hal Gill on playing in Nashville: “You really have to be awful to be noticed”

Hal Gill Preds

Dave Stubbs of the Montreal Gazette has been doing a bunch of interviews lately with recently departed Canadiens (like Jaro Spacek, for example.)

Rcently, he spoke with defenseman Hal Gill -- traded to Nashville at the deadline -- about a variety of things pertaining to both Montreal and the league at large.

One of the league’s best quotes, Gill did not disappoint with his remarks, especially when it came to his time with the Predators.

Stubbs: A lot of fans in Montreal would love to have you back...

GILL: (Laughs) But the sad part is, they’re telling me, “Can you come back as a coach?” I’m thinking, “Can I play a few more years?” I think (about coaching), yeah, but not now. I’d like to give playing a few more cracks.

I had a good exit meeting in Nashville. We’re going to try to work something out. It’s hard to compare Nashville to anything I’ve been a part of: Toronto, Boston, Pittsburgh, Montreal. In Nashville, if you make a turnover and cost a goal, you’re not afraid of the boos. You really have to be awful to be noticed. You can just go out there and play. It’s great but I don’t know how long you’d last before you’d get complacent.

The great part about playing in Montreal is you have a Tuesday night game against Columbus and in the streets you hear, “Do you think (Rick) Nash is going to be traded?” There’s a story for everything. A Tuesday Predators game against Carolina in Nashville, no one’s going to be talking about it.

But it was fun, different, to go from the pressure-cooker of Montreal to just going out there to play, and make plays.

While off-the-cuff, Gill’s comments loom large regarding impending UFA Ryan Suter.

Suter has strong hockey bloodlines -- dad Bob played in the Miracle on Ice game, uncle Gary played 17 years in hotbeds like Calgary and Chicago -- might he relish the opportunity to play in a market like, say, Hockeytown USA?