Skip navigation
Favorites
Sign up to follow your favorites on all your devices.
Sign up

Under Pressure: Mike Ribeiro

150817_MikeRibeiro

Last summer Predators GM David Poile gave Mike Ribeiro a second chance after the Arizona Coyotes bought him out.

This year, Ribeiro is under pressure to prove that his 2014-15 campaign wasn’t a fluke. Ribeiro scored 15 goals and 62 points in 82 games as Nashville’s top center last season. His 47 assists was a single-season franchise record for assists by a Predators’ center.

The Montreal native led Predators’ forwards in average ice time (18:44) during the regular season, and paced all NHL forwards in average ice time during the Stanley Cup playoffs (23:21).

“From the beginning of last year, for David and Peter (Laviolette) to believe in me and to be supportive of me and help me through this, I think it was a great fit,” Ribeiro told the team’s website. “People believe in the team and that was one of the reasons I wanted to come back. The players, the coaches and David, they believed in me. They supported me throughout the year last year and I couldn’t be more thankful.”

Despite his off ice distractions, Poile decided to re-sign the 35-year-old to a two-year $7 million contract on July 1.

“I met with Mike this morning and certainly reinforced to him the importance of being a good citizen in the community and Mike is certainly committed to our team and to his family,” said Poile following the signing. “He really appreciates us showing confidence in him as a hockey player and a person.”

Heading into his 16th NHL season, Ribeiro believes the Predators are on the right path to playoff success.

“You want to be somewhere you can win and I believe strongly that we can do that,” he said. “It’s still a long process… but I think we can go deeper than we did this year for sure. It’s hard to do on the first year when everyone gets together, but if we stick together for a few years, I think we can surprise a lot of people.”

Follow @dcmahiban