Nash reflects on professional hockey career, talks moments and highlights

The 6-foot-1, 187-pound forward got a taste of quasi-retirement living with his family in Greenwich, Connecticut, and adopted a player development role with the Wolf Pack.

Injury-plagued and with the recent addition of a third child, Nash decided it was time to call it quits.

“It’s definitely not an easy decision, but I know in my heart and in my head, it’s the right decision,” Nash said.

The Edmonton Oilers picked Nash 21st overall in Round 1 of the 2007 NHL Draft, the club liking what it saw during his tenure with the Salmon Arm Silverbacks in the Junior A B.C. Hockey League.

“I don’t know if I was supposed to be drafted as high as I was,” said Nash, who played three seasons for Cornell University in the NCAA Division One ranks.

Nash said first-rounder designation added pressure and while he did not morph into an NHL superstar, the early years of his career were formative.

“It was definitely up and down, but without those two-and-a-half years of kind of figuring out my game and what I was going to be at the pro level, I don’t think I would have had nearly the success I had,” Nash said.

Nash’s professional debut came on Dec. 21, 2011, when his Carolina Hurricanes squared off against Shane Doan – his training partner in Kamloops — and the Phoenix Coyotes.

“It was unbelievable,” said Nash, whose brother, Brendon, also enjoyed a lengthy pro hockey career. “To see the guy that you’ve looked up to and who kind of mentored you and pushed you to try and get to his level, and to see just how happy he was, smiling ear to ear … you almost feel like it’s fate or destiny.”

Nash joined the Boston Bruins in 2016 and had the most productive season of his career in 2017-2018, racking up 15 goals and 41 points in 76 games.

“We made it to the second round that year,” Nash said, noting Bruins’ bench boss Bruce Cassidy knew how to push his buttons (as did his Kamloops minor lacrosse coach Doug Clark). “I ended up getting hurt right at the end of the season and not playing great in the playoffs. After such a great regular season, not being able to showcase that in the playoffs was frustrating. But that’s kind of who I felt I always was. Did I always show it? No. But that’s where my peak was.”

That season came in a contract year and preceded the most lucrative deal of Nash’s career – U.S. $8.25 million over three years with the Columbus Blue Jackets.

He considers helping the Blue Jackets win a post-season series for the first time in franchise history a career highlight.

“We came in as the eighth seed,” Nash said. “I don’t think a whole lot of people thought we were going to even get a game off them and to be able to sweep them, win the first series in Columbus Blue Jackets’ history and just see the city and everyone around there going crazy for us, I thought that was a really cool moment.”

Nash did not win a Stanley Cup, but reached the final with the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2022.

“After a pretty crazy year of playing on about five teams and travelling every two months and moving our family … and to be able to experience that for once in my career, I thought that was really, really cool,” said Nash, who is the second cousin of NBA star Kelly Olynyk.

Significant stays in Carolina, Boston and Columbus were followed by pit stops in Toronto, Winnipeg, Arizona, Tampa Bay and New York.

Nash toiled in 940 professional regular season games, tallying 143 goals and 369 points, adding 11 goals and 26 points in 77 post-season contests.

Returning home in the off-season became tradition, recuperating in the Shuswap and training in Kamloops, most often with Greg Kozoris and a crew of high-performance athletes.

“Everything,” Nash said when asked what the Tournament Capital meant to his development. ”My parents, without them, I get nowhere. My family, the support system I had, whether it be in minor hockey, minor lacrosse, the town, Greg Kozoris and all the guys that train at Acceleration. I felt bad because every year on the roster pamphlet, they always ask for birthplace and I was born in Consort, Alberta. So everyone’s like, ’Oh, Consort, Alberta, boy!’ I’m like, no, I grew up in Kamloops … and so this is my home.”

Nash said he plans to take a year away from the game to focus on fatherhood and decide what comes next, noting he may go back to school or return to hockey in an off-ice role.

“Getting messages from all the people who have watched and been able to hopefully enjoy some games that I played in along the way, that just makes it all the more special for me,” Nash said.

“I’ve got three kids now. We can kind of turn the page and move on to a new chapter in our life.”

by Marty Hastings

Nash reflects on professional hockey career, talks moments and highlights

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