Rick Nash Calls It A Career And What A Career It Was

So there it is. Rick Nash finally calls it a career due to a concussion sustained last March while playing for the Boston Bruins. Nash played in over 1000 NHL games, scored 437 goals and had 368 assists for 805 points in his 15-year career. Nash, despite never winning a cup, had a great career, an unbelievable set of skills and was known to be a complete legend off the ice.

Drafted 1st overall in the 2002 draft by the Blue Jackets, there was a time where Rick Nash was the most dominant player in the NHL. The guy could take the puck end to end on a whim. I’ll never forget when Nash scored that crazy goal against the Coyotes 4×4, completing undressing the entire Coyotes team to score with a minute remaining to take the lead. Maybe one of the best goals I have ever seen.

Nash was a hidden gem playing in Columbus a majority of his career, there were always rumors of him getting traded to a big market but nothing really ever came to fruition. Tough to call Nash a hidden gem when he put up 40 goals twice in Columbus…but Columbus wasn’t getting many national TV games back in the early 2000’s and NHL.tv wasn’t a thing then. So the only time you really saw Nash was either at a game or catching his highlights on SportsCentre. I mean, just look at the guys numbers while playing with virtually nobody in Columbus.

Nash finally got dealt to a big market in 2012 when he was traded to the New York Rangers. Injuries and not a ton of playoff success kind of plagued Nash’s time in the big apple, though the team did reach the cup Finals in 2013-14 and lost to the LA Kings in 5 games. Nash had 14 points in 19 games that playoff run, his best playoffs of his career. It’s crazy how different his legacy would be if that Rangers team beat the Kings in 2014…..he’d be a god in New York.

Concussions really do suck though. Rick Nash definitely still had some left in the tank. Nash had 21 goals last season (18 w/ NYR, 3 w/ BOS) so it sucks to see him end his career when he could still provide some depth up the middle to a playoff team. He would of been a great fit with the Bruins this season.

We have had numerous guys on Spittin’ Chiclets who couldn’t speak more highly of Rick Nash, saying he is the ultimate teammate both on and off the ice. So best of luck to Rick in this next stage of life. If it is anything like his hockey career, he’ll be just fine.

Also shoutout to Rear Admiral who had this scoop months ago.