Nashville Predators have ties to Milwaukee Brewers' Gord Ash - The Tennessean

Gord Ash had just finished a radio interview with the Nashville Sounds broadcaster this week when he was asked if he had a few minutes to talk about hockey.

Ash’s eyes lit up.

“Sure,” said the Milwaukee Brewers vice president and assistant general manager.

Ash was at Greer Stadium to observe Milwaukee’s Triple-A affiliate, but the 61-year-old Canadian also is a minority owner of the Milwaukee Admirals, the American Hockey League affiliate of the Nashville Predators.

Milwaukee and Nashville are more than 500 miles apart, but they have become interwoven as sports towns.

“The connection … both baseball and hockey, has been interesting. I don’t know if there’s another relationship like that that I can think of. It’s very unique,” said Ash, who bought his stake in the Admirals in 2005.

Ash said he occasionally bumps into Predators assistant GM/Admirals GM Paul Fenton on plane rides between the two cities and gets his chance to talk about his minor-league hockey team.

“I try to see as many games as I can because, first of all, I like it. It’s a good visual sport. I enjoy that level of hockey,” Ash said. “The American Hockey League, it’s like Triple-A baseball, it’s just that one step removed from that top caliber. It’s generally good hockey. I remember (goaltender) Pekka Rinne, for instance, playing in Milwaukee and watching him develop. …

“I think both the Predators and Brewers follow the same mode. We’re both not in position to go out and sign free agents necessarily, so you’ve got to develop from within and they’ve done a good job of it.”

Five players on the Predators’ current roster were with the Admirals this season: defensemen Ryan Ellis and Roman Josi, forward Gabriel Bourque, and goalies Anders Lindback and Jeremy Smith.

Ash said he has enjoyed seeing the Predators have success in the playoffs the past couple of seasons.

“It’s rewarding, especially so when a lot of times Nashville doesn’t get a lot of attention, much like the Milwaukee Brewers don’t get a lot of attention on the national stage,” he said. “There’s a lot of similarities â€" good organizations, solid development and a good strategy and structure to what they’re wanting to do. Now it’s just getting it done.”

The Brewers won the National League Central Division last season before losing to the eventual World Series champion St. Louis Cardinals in the National League Championship Series.

Ash downplays his role as minority owner of the Admirals. Harris Turer, one of the owners of the Brewers, bought the hockey team and was looking for local partners.

“He asked my wife and I if we wanted to participate,” Ash said. “And because we had grown up in a hockey environment in Canada and knew it pretty well, it was just an opportunity to be involved … but (we’re) very, very much on the fringes.

“It’s nice to say you’re an owner but the reality is we’re kind of just fans.”