Nash did more than score goals
Hitchcock, Stepan say retiring forward ‘a true pro’ who could kill penalties, shut down top players
EDMONTON — Oilers coach Ken Hitchcock ran the bench in Columbus when Rick Nash was the biggest gun there. Derek Stepan of the Arizona Coyotes was Nash’s centre in their time together on Broadway. Both have a closer perspective than most on what made the just-retired forward special.
It’s not just the 437 goals he scored since being drafted first overall in 2002 — only Alex Ovechkin, Jarome Iginla and Patrick Marleau produced more over the past 16 years. Or Nash co-sharing the Maurice “Rocket” Richard Trophy for most goals (41) in 2003-04 with Iginla and Ilya Kovalchuk. Or carrying the New York Rangers to the Presidents’ Trophy in 2014-15 with his last of three 40-goal (42) seasons.
It’s the professionalism the six-foot-four, 212-pound Nash showed until too many blows to the head KO’d him after 1,060 games and five other 30-goal seasons to go with the 40-goal ones.
“Rick adjusted to become a complete player and it really showed at the Olympics. Once we got him where he was killing penalties and matching him head-to-head against top players, his whole disposition on the ice changed,” said Hitchcock, who coached Nash for 284 games in Columbus along with being part of Canada’s Olympic team as an assistant coach in 2006 and 2010. “He was an unbelievable positional player, so smart. Whenever we needed help in two Olympics, he was the guy we would put on a line to get it going.”
Seventy-three game-winning goals, Olympic golds in 2010 in Vancouver and 2014 in Sochi. Should he have scored more in the playoffs? Yes. But he was also good enough to play on a high-end Canadian team in Sochi and definitely contribute. In some ways, they have said the same of Marleau — that he should have done it in the post-season.
“My second year in Columbus, the year we made the playoff (2008-09), everything changed for Rick,” Hitchcock said. “He bought into what we were selling and took a team on his back. He made players accountable. It was one of the easiest sales jobs I’ve ever had. It was fun to see.”
He was an absolute handful with the puck, five-on-five, and killing penalties.
“If you bobbled the puck on the power play, you would be scared to death of a breakaway or two-on-one, and he could really finish those (22 short-handed goals in his career),” said Hitchcock.
Nash was drafted first overall in 2002 by then-Columbus GM Doug MacLean.
Kari Lehtonen was the No. 2 selection by Atlanta and Jay Bouwmeester went No. 3 to Florida. Nash had 17 goals his first year while breaking in at 18 years old, then 41 the next, so he was a quick study.
Nash was in Columbus for nine years until craving a change of scenery. In 2012, he was traded to the Rangers for Brandon Dubinsky, Artem Anisimov, Tim Erixon and a first-round draft pick. He was supposed to be the last piece to get the Rangers another Cup, but the closest they came was 2014, losing to the Los Angeles Kings in the final.
“When he first came to New York, everybody looked up to him,” said Stepan, who played seven years with the Rangers until being dealt to Arizona for the seventh overall pick in 2017.
“He had a list of accomplishments before he got to New York and as a young guy I played with him, looked up to him a lot. I learned about being a pro. Everywhere he went that was his M.0., that he was a complete pro.
“He’s a big part of my footprint and he put his touch on it.”
Stepan feels bad that Nash has had to quit probably three or four years before he wanted. He wasn’t his dominant self in recent years because of the concussions and told teams he wasn’t interested in signing anywhere as a free agent July 1.
“Towards the end of my time in New York, he had a couple of concussions that caused him to miss time and that’s something you just can’t mess with,” said Stepan. “Obviously, you never want to see a player retire because of concussions, but Rick’s a true pro. He noticed his life apart from hockey was more important.”
Hitchcock became a friend as well as coach to Nash.
“We’ve been very close,” he said. “I knew a month ago he wasn’t feeling great. He’s a heckuva guy who had a heckuva career and I hope he gets 100 per cent healthy.”