‘Take Your Dad to Work Day:’ Inside One Dad’s First Preds Fathers Trip

Kevin Gross was out to dinner with his family in Maple Grove, Minn., for his birthday on Sunday when his phone rang.

It was his son, Jordan, calling from Winnipeg, where he was playing with the AHL’s Milwaukee Admirals in back-to-back games against the Manitoba Moose. Jordan had some news to share: the Nashville Predators had called him up from Milwaukee to take the NHL roster spot vacated by Ryan McDonagh, who would be out 2-4 weeks with an upper-body injury.

But that wasn’t all – Jordan’s call-up happened to coincide with the Predators’ Fathers Trip, a biannual tradition making its return after a hiatus during the Covid-19 pandemic. It was last-minute, but Jordan had to ask – could his dad fly out for the occasion?

“Yeah,” Kevin said without hesitation. “I’ll be there.”

The arrangements were made Monday, and on Tuesday morning, Kevin was on a plane to Nashville.

“There’s no way he was going to miss this,” Jordan said.

On Wednesday the Preds headed to Tampa, dads in tow. It was Kevin’s first Fathers trip since Jordan’s bantam hockey days in Minnesota, and he was relishing every minute. As he watched the Predators morning skate from the stands at AMALIE Arena on Thursday, his excitement was palpable.

“It’s like take your dad to work day,” he beamed.

It was somewhat of a “pinch me” moment for Kevin, who was grateful for the opportunity to share in his son’s NHL experience. From youth league, to high school, to college, to pro, Kevin has celebrated every milestone in his son’s hockey career. 

“I’m extremely proud,” he said. “I mean, it’s a lifelong dream, right?”

Undrafted out of the University of Notre Dame, Jordan has now played in 15 career NHL games since making his League debut on Dec. 22, 2019 with Arizona, tallying six points (2g-4a). In parts of five AHL campaigns, Jordan has amassed 130 points (27g-103a) in 192 games, including consecutive seasons with at least 25 points in 2018-19 and 2019-20 with Tucson. 

Last season, Jordan earned a spot on the AHL’s First All-Star Team and won the Eddie Shore Award, given to the league’s most outstanding defenseman, after recording 65 points (10g-55a) in 61 games for the Colorado Eagles. In addition to leading all AHL blueliners in points and assists (55) – both of which stood as career highs – he also equaled his previous top marks in games played (61) and goals (10) last season, his fourth as a professional.

Prior to his most recent call-up, Jordan had skated in three games with the Predators this season, his last appearance coming on Nov. 8 at Seattle. The game before, he scored his first two career NHL goals, helping Nashville to a come-from-behind victory at Vancouver on Nov. 5; in doing so, he became the first defenseman in Predators history to score his first two career NHL goals in the same contest. With the Admirals, he had been producing at nearly a point-per-game pace, leading team blueliners with 11 points (2g-9a) in 13 games.

Prior to turning pro, Jordan played four seasons at Notre Dame from 2014-18, winning the Big Ten regular-season and tournament championship while being named to the conference’s First All-Star and All-Tournament teams as a senior in 2017-18.

“When he played at Notre Dame for four years and went to the Frozen Four, we were like, this is awesome,” Kevin said. “This is a pinnacle, man. And now he’s getting to play at the NHL level? It’s just such a dream come true not just for him, but for the family as well.”

Nashville didn’t get the win in Tampa on Thursday, but in the grand scheme of things, that was of little importance to Kevin. Jordan is living his NHL dream with the Predators, and his dad is just happy to be along for the ride.

Literally.