Tyson Nash was known as a “pest” during his six years in the NHL playing for the St. Louis Blues and Phoenix Coyotes, and it’s a title he embraced.
Nash, now broadcasting for the Utah Hockey Club after more than a decade as the Coyotes TV color analyst, was the guest on this week’s episode of GOLF’s Subpar and touched on a number of different topics from golf, to hockey, and his new gig.
But he told co-hosts Colt Knost and Drew Stoltz his reputation as a “pest” was born out of nearly 10 seasons of hockey in the minor leagues.
“I was making 30,000 Canadian [dollars] living in Syracuse, New York,” Nash said. “I’m working at Pizza Hut in the off-season, right? Delivering pizzas to pay for my training and pay for, like I’m a pro, I’m supposed to be a pro.
“And I rode that bus. I got beat up every night, you know, you’re getting in fights, you’re still grinding like you are in the NHL, but you’re making no money.”
How one epic golf trip gave this former NHL enforcer the yips
So when an NHL coach approached him and told him they didn’t need a player with his offensive skills, he was ready to do whatever it took.
“I think we had like five Hall of Famers on our team in St. Louis,” Nash said. So he goes, ‘I just want you to be a rat. I want you to be the most hated player in the entire league. If you can do that, you have a job here for as long as you do that.’
“Otherwise, you’re back on the bus eating soggy subs and drinking beers. And I was like, done. And I literally for four or five years was the most hated human being on the face of the earth.”
Nash said that clashed with his personality, he didn’t like to be mean off the ice. But on the ice, he had a target on his back.
“It was so hard because I wasn’t that tough, but everyone wanted to fricking kill me,” he said. “And that was hard because I was scared to death every fricking game. I was like, oh my God, who’s going to fricking kill me tonight?”
For more from Nash including his bizarre golf bag setup, listen to the full interview here or watch it below.
