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Rick Nash

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Rick Nash
Rick Nash - 2007 NHL All-Star Game
Born (1984-06-16) June 16, 1984 (age 40)
Brampton, ON
Height 6 ft 4 in (193 cm)
Weight 235 lb (107 kg; 16 st 11 lb)
Position Right wing
Shoots Left
NHL team Columbus Blue Jackets
NHL draft 1st overall, 2002
Columbus Blue Jackets
Playing career 2002–present
Website ricknash.com

Rick Nash (born June 16, 1984) is a Canadian professional ice hockey player and team captain of the Columbus Blue Jackets of the National Hockey League (NHL).

Drafted out of the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) by the Blue Jackets first overall in the 2002 NHL Entry Draft, Nash played with the London Knights for two seasons, earning the Emms Family Award in 2001 as league rookie of the year. He began his NHL career with Columbus the season immediately following his draft and was nominated for the Calder Trophy as NHL rookie of the year. In his second NHL season, Nash scored a career-high 41 goals to tie with Jarome Iginla and Ilya Kovalchuk for the Rocket Richard Trophy as league goal-scoring champion. Nash is also a four-time NHL All-Star and has been awarded the NHL Foundation Player Award in 2009 for his work in the community.

Internationally, Nash has represented Team Canada extensively, particularly at the World Championships, winning two silver medals and a gold in 2007. He has also competed in the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin and won an additional silver medal as a junior at the 2002 World Junior Championships.

Playing career

A London Knight for two seasons in the OHL, Nash began his major junior career with 66 points in his first year, receiving the Emms Family Award as the league's top rookie. The following season, he amassed 72 points in 54 games and was subsequently was selected 1st overall in the 2002 NHL Entry Draft by the Columbus Blue Jackets.

Joining the Blue Jackets immediately after his draft year in 2002–03, Nash debuted on October 10, 2002 and scored a goal in a 2-1 win over the Chicago Blackhawks. He was the eighth No. 1 overall pick to score a goal in their first game and the first to do so in his draft year since Mario Lemieux in 1984.[1] That season, Nash was nominated for the Calder Trophy, as the NHL's best rookie, but lost to defenceman Barret Jackman of the St. Louis Blues. He would, however, join Jackman on the NHL All-Rookie Team.

In Nash's sophomore campaign, he improved his rookie goal total from 17 to 41, a career high that tied Jarome Iginla and Ilya Kovalchuk for the Rocket Richard Trophy for most goals in the league. At 19 years of age, Nash was the youngest player in history to lead the league in goals.[1] Recording 16 assists, Nash finished the year with 57 points.

During the 2004–05 NHL lockout, Nash played for HC Davos of the Swiss Nationalliga A (NLA). He scored 26 goals and 46 points in 44 games and added 11 more points (9 goals, 2 assists) in 15 games in the NLA playoffs. Joined by fellow NHL-er Joe Thornton, Davos went on to win the Swiss Championship, as well as the 2004 Spengler Cup.

With the NHL set to resume play in 2005–06, the Blue Jackets re-signed Nash to a five-year, $27 million contract. The deal saw his annual salary increase each year with $3.5 million the first season and $7 million in the last season of the contract for a $5.4 million average salary.[2] However, knee and ankle injuries sidelined Nash for much of the first half of the season. Missing 28 games total, Nash was still named to Team Canada for the 2006 Olympics, shortly after being activated from the injured reserve. Upon returning from a seventh place finish in Turin, Nash completed the season at a point-per-game pace with 54 points in 54 games.

In 2006–07, Nash matched his sophomore points total with 57, and was named to the Western Conference All-Star Team for the second time in his career. He has been Columbus' lone representative both times. Nash scored the game-winning goal in the West win.

The following season, on January 17, 2008, Nash scored what many commentators called the "goal of the year"[3] in the final minute versus the Phoenix Coyotes. Breaking a tied score, Nash deked around two defenders and the goaltender to score the eventual game-winner. Later, at the end of the season, the goal was nominated for an ESPY Award in the category of Best Play.[4] Selected to his third All-Star Game in 2008 that season, Nash scored the quickest goal in All-Star Game history, just 12 seconds in and ended the game with a hat trick.[5]

Completing the season with 38 goals and 69 points, Nash nearly matched his personal best goals total and set a career high for points and assists. Shortly before the end of the season, on March 12, 2008, Nash was also named the fifth captain in Blue Jackets history, replacing the recently traded Adam Foote.[6]

In the off-season, in May 2008, Nash was named the cover athlete and spokesman for NHL 2K9.[7]

Going into the 2008–09 campaign, the Blue Jackets had gone without a playoff appearance in franchise history. Led by the newly-appointed captain Nash and bolstered by rookie goaltender Steve Mason, the Blue Jackets finished the season as the seventh seed in the Western Conference to earn a post-season berth against division-rival and defending Stanley Cup champion, the Detroit Red Wings. The series was preceded by an 8–2 rout over the Red Wings on March 7, 2009, a game in which Nash scored three unassisted goals.[8] According to the Columbus Dispatch, citing the Elias Sports Bureau, the last player to score three goals unassisted was Maurice "Rocket" Richard (who scored four) against the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden on March 14, 1948. Despite the convincing victory late in the season, the Blue Jackets, were, however, swept in four games by the Red Wings.

In addition to leading the Blue Jackets to the playoffs, Nash had a career season with 79 points, in addition to scoring 40 goals for the first time since 2003–04. In the off-season, on July 3, 2009, Nash signed an eight-year contract extension with the Blue Jackets worth $62.4 million set to take effect in 2010–11.[9]

International play

Rick Nash
Medal record
Representing  Canada
Men's ice hockey
World Championships
Silver medal – second place 2008 Halifax/Quebec City
Gold medal – first place 2007 Moscow
Silver medal – second place 2005 Vienna
World Junior Championships
Silver medal – second place 2002 Pardubice/Hradec Králové

In Nash's second junior season, he was chosen to play for Team Canada's junior squad in the 2002 World Junior Championships, scoring 3 points in a silver medal effort.

Nash would make his senior international debut for Team Canada at the 2005 World Championship, leading the tournament in goals while earning his second silver medal.

In 2006, shortly after returning from an injury, he was selected to play on Team Canada's Olympic team, but managed just one point in a disappointing seventh place finish.

The following year, Nash captured his first gold medal with Team Canada at the 2007 World Championship in a 4-2 victory over Finland in Moscow. Scoring two goals in the gold medal game against Finland and 11 points total, Nash was named to the tournament All-Star Team and earned MVP honours.

Nash appeared in his third World Championship in 2008, but failed to repeat as gold medal champion with Canada, earning silver. In the championship game against Russia, Nash attempted to clear the puck in overtime, but accidentally shot it over the glass, resulting a delay of game penalty. On the powerplay, Russia capitalized, defeating Canada 5-4. Despite his misplay, Nash was named to the tournament All-Star Team for the second consecutive year, finishing with 13 points.

Career statistics

    Regular season   Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
2000–01 London Knights OHL 58 31 35 66 56 4 5 3 8 18
2001–02 London Knights OHL 54 32 40 72 88 12 20 19 39 121
2002–03 Columbus Blue Jackets NHL 74 17 22 39 78 — — — — —
2003–04 Columbus Blue Jackets NHL 80 41 16 57 87 — — — — —
2004–05 HC Davos NLA 44 26 20 46 83 15 9 2 11 26
2005–06 Columbus Blue Jackets NHL 54 31 23 54 51 — — — — —
2006–07 Columbus Blue Jackets NHL 75 27 30 57 73 — — — — —
2007–08 Columbus Blue Jackets NHL 80 38 31 69 95 — — — — —
2008–09 Columbus Blue Jackets NHL 78 40 39 79 52 4 1 2 3 2
NHL totals 441 194 161 355 436 4 1 2 3 2
OHL totals 112 63 75 138 144 16 25 22 47 139

International

Year Event   GP G A Pts PIM
2005 WC 9 9 6 15 8
2006 Oly 6 0 1 1 10
2007 WC 9 6 5 11 4
2008 WC 9 6 7 13 6
Senior int'l totals 33 21 19 40 28


Awards

OHL

CHL

  • CHL All-Rookie Team - 2001

NHL

International

Other

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Columbus Blue Jackets - BLUE JACKETS RE-SIGN ALL-STAR RICK NASH TO FIVE-YEAR CONTRACT Columbus Blue Jackets
  2. ^ "Blue Jackets lock up Rick Nash". CBC. 2005-08-08. Retrieved 2009-07-26.
  3. ^ Kevin Allen. Nash's picture-perfect goal is snapshot of talent. USA Today.
  4. ^ Columbus Blue Jackets - News: Nash Nominated for ESPY Award - 07/02/2008 Columbus Blue Jackets
  5. ^ Nash Trick. The Columbus Dispatch.
  6. ^ Columbus Blue Jackets (2008). "Rick Nash Named Columbus Blue Jackets Team Captain". Columbus Blue Jackets. Retrieved 2008-03-12.
  7. ^ NHL 2K9 Cover Athlete Announcement Operation Sports
  8. ^ Game No. 66 The Columbus Dispatch.
  9. ^ "Nash inks 8-year deal with Blue Jackets". CBC. 2009-07-03. Retrieved 2009-07-26.
Template:Incumbent succession box
Preceded by 1st overall pick in NHL Entry Draft
2002 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Columbus Blue Jackets first round draft pick
2002 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Winner of the Rocket Richard Trophy
2004
shared with Jarome Iginla and Ilya Kovalchuk 		Succeeded by

Template:Persondata

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