Brendan Shanahan had it all. He scored points, and he was tough as nails. That was something Tyson Nash learned the hard way when he tried to agitate Shanahan.
“It was ridiculous,” Nash said on the Ice Guardians podcast.
Selected second overall by the New Jersey Devils in 1987, Brendan Shanahan quickly made an impact in the NHL. His style of play perfectly suited the hockey of that era—aggressive, tough, and sometimes even over the line.
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Brendan Shanahan career stats
Over his 21-year NHL career, Brendan Shanahan won three Stanley Cups with the Detroit Red Wings in 1997, 1998, and 2002. He also scored 656 goals and 698 assists while racking up 2,489 penalty minutes. To this day, he remains the only player in NHL history to score more than 600 goals while also recording over 2,000 penalty minutes. In other words, if you messed with Shanahan, you usually paid the price. That was something Tyson Nash learned firsthand in 2003.
Tyson Nash learned the hard way
Tyson Nash was also known as a tough player, recording 673 penalty minutes in 374 NHL games. In 2003, while playing for the St. Louis Blues, he found himself sharing the ice with Brendan Shanahan.
“The puck comes, and I two-hand him right in the meat on the calf. All of a sudden, the puck comes to me. I’m gonna ice it, so I ice it. And Shanny turns his blade over and stabs me right in the face. Forty zippers—it was ridiculous. I skate right to the locker room, and I look in the mirror. It looks like a hamburger, like wide open,” Nash recalled on the Ice Guardians podcast.
As a result, Brendan Shanahan received a five-minute major penalty. However, when Nash returned to the ice after getting stitched up, the two dropped the gloves and fought.
Talk about old-school hockey.
You can watch the podcast below.
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