Rick Nash's top 10 moments with the Blue Jackets

Rick Nash set Blue Jackets records, won an Olympic gold medal and was a pillar of the Columbus community during his nine seasons in Columbus.
All of that is well-known, but it's the individual moments that tend to stick in the imagination, and Nash certainly provided many of those in union blue.
With Nash's No. 61 set to be retired Saturday in a pregame ceremony, a first for the CBJ franchise, we thought it would be a great time to look back on the signature moments from Nash's Blue Jackets career.

For a full timeline of Nash's tenure with Columbus, visit
CBJ61.com
. But here's one man's list of 10 memorable moments from No. 61's time with the Blue Jackets.

10. The All-Star Record

The All-Star Game has certainly developed a reputation as a defense-optional affair over the years, but it was still impressive what Nash did in 2008. Playing for the West All-Stars in a game being played in Atlanta, Nash scored just 12 seconds into the game past Islanders goalie Rick DiPietro, a record for the fastest goal to begin an All-Star Game that still stands.
Though the West would go on to lose 8-7, Nash finished with a hat trick in the game. He would make five All-Star appearances with Columbus, including his first as a 19-year-old in 2004 when he became the first teenager to play in the contest since 1992. Nash finished with a 7-5-12 line in those five games, shining on the biggest stage.

9. Captain Rick

The Blue Jackets went through four captains in the first seven seasons of the franchise, but Nash would stabilize things when he was chosen to wear the "C" on March 12, 2008, just two weeks after the Jackets traded captain Adam Foote to Colorado at the deadline.
Nash, just 23 years old at the time, wore it for the rest of that campaign, then led Columbus to the playoffs for the first time a year later. He would go on to hold the captaincy for a total of four-plus seasons.

8. Hat Trick History

Nash never had trouble scoring goals from the time he entered the league, including tying for the NHL lead with 41 in his second year of 2003-04, but it did take him a while to notch his first career hat trick.
Finally, near the end of his third season, Nash notched his first three-goal game on April 7, 2006, at Detroit. Amazingly enough, the goalie in net for the Red Wings that game was Manny Legace, now the goaltending coach with the Blue Jackets.
Nash tied the score three times in the game, knotting it at 1 at 18:13 of the first on the power play, tying the game at 4 just 4:21 into the third and then finally making it 5-5 with just 33 seconds to go. Detroit would go on to win in a shootout, but it was a memorable night for Nash, who finished his CBJ career with five hat tricks -- three against Detroit.

7. Hello, Rocket

Nash had 17 goals and 39 points as a rookie in 2002-03, certainly excellent numbers for an 18-year-old, but no one was really prepared what would happen in his sophomore season.
Buoyed by an NHL-best 19 power-play goals, Nash tallied 41 times in 2003-04, tying for the NHL lead with Atlanta's Ilya Kovalchuk and Calgary's Jarome Iginla and sharing the Rocket Richard Trophy presented each year to the league's top goal scorer.
Nash got No. 40 -- becoming the first player in CBJ history to reach that number -- on March 27 in Nashville then hit 41 with a goal early in the second period of the April 3 season finale at Detroit. Columbus would go on to win 4-1, giving Nash -- who also had an assist -- the game-winning tally.
The total of 41 goals still remains the CBJ gold standard for a season, though it was tied by Cam Atkinson during the 2018-19 season.

6. Shootout Success

Nash could do it all, as he was one of the preeminent power forwards of his time but still had silky enough hands and a creative enough mind to score some highlight-reel goals.
That made him a consistent part of the CBJ shootout lineup during his time with the team. His 67 shootout attempts are still the most in franchise history, and he scored on 26 of them, a solid percentage of 38.8 that is better than such skilled forwards as Atkinson, Kristian Huselius and Ryan Johansen, to name a few.
But there were few goals as unique as the goal he scored to clinch a shootout win Nov. 13, 2009, against Anaheim at Nationwide Arena. Huselius had given the Jackets the shootout lead in the first round, and when Nash stared down Jean-Sebastian Giguere in the third round, he had a chance to cement the two points for the Jackets.
Nash skated in on goal, drifted to his right and then cut back to the left to get to his forehand. From there, he lost his balance, with his left leg kicking into the air while he was somehow able to stay up on his right foot. It looked like an impression of Captain Morgan -- or perhaps a Rockette -- but it might have distracted Giguere, who could only watch as Nash regained his footing and fired a wrister past his blocker to clinch the win.
Watch: Youtube Video

5. Nash Does It Himself

Nash had two memorable games against the Red Wings down the stretch of the 2008-09 season while leading Columbus to its first playoff berth. The first came Jan. 27 when he scored all three goals including the overtime winner in a 3-2 victory over the Wings in Nationwide Arena.
Less than two months later, he did it again, tallying another hat trick in a March 7 win at Joe Louis Arena. But history was made as all three goals Nash scored in the 8-2 victory were unassisted, making him the second NHL player to notch that feat and the first since Richard in 1947-48.
Nash scored on a shorthanded breakaway late in the second period, took advantage of a turnover early in the third and then capped the historic feat when he raced down the ice later in the third and ripped home a slap shot.

"The longer we're talking about it, it's almost more impressive than almost anything I've done," Nash told
The Athletic
in 2020.

4. Between The Legs

If you blinked, you missed it.
With Columbus holding a 1-0 lead late in the second period of a Oct. 25, 2007, game in Nationwide Arena vs. St. Louis, Ron Hainsey's shot from the center point went wide of the net. Nash, at the net front, quickly collected the shot off the back wall and put it past goalie Hannu Toivanen.
How did he do it so quickly? An incredible bit of skill, as when the puck bounded back to Nash, he wasted no time reading it perfectly, putting his stick between his legs and flipping a forehand shot over Toivanen.
Watch: Youtube Video
For many players, it would go down as the top goal of their career, but there's still more to come in that regard for Nash.

3. Always Remember Your First

Blue Jackets fans packed Nationwide Arena on Oct. 10, 2002, to see the opening game of the third season of Blue Jackets hockey, but they also did so to get a look at the next big thing.
Nash was chosen first overall in the 2002 draft and made the team a few months later at 18 years old. A sellout crowd was in the building for the opener, and Nash's parents even made the trip down from Ontario for the debut game.
With Chicago holding a 1-0 lead midway through the second period, Nash delivered. Linemate Mike Sillinger pounced on a turnover and sent a slap shot from the right side on Chicago goalie Jocelyn Thibault, with the rebound coming out toward the slot. In one graceful, swooping motion, Nash approached the puck and tucked it between Thibault's legs before the goalie could reset himself.
"You're the first overall pick, you're supposed to bring some scoring and offense and some excitement to the game," Nash
said in 2020
. "To get that one out of the way and kind of show people that you're worthy of being the first overall pick, it was nice to get it out of the way on the first night."
Watch: Youtube Video
Columbus would go on to win the game 2-1 on a night Nash described as a storybook.
"It took about a half second to hear the horn and the fans going crazy," he said. "It just kind of put a stamp on playing your first NHL game and that feeling of what it's like to score in the NHL."

2. Thanks, Mr. Mac

As a player who became synonymous with Blue Jackets hockey, Nash built a strong relationship with Blue Jackets founder and majority owner John H. McConnell. And when the man known as Mr. Mac passed away in the April 2008, Nash returned to Columbus for the funeral, even delivering a eulogy.
The next season was dedicated to McConnell, with the team wearing JMH patches on its sweaters and setting its sights on the first postseason bid in franchise history. As the team ripped through the months of January, February and March, history was at hand, with the Blue Jackets needing just one point in a game April 6, 2009, at Chicago to clinch a Stanley Cup Playoffs berth.
Chicago led 2-0 in the first period, but goals from Antoine Vermette and Jason Williams tied the score in the second. The Blackhawks took the lead again late in the period, but Nash would not be denied. With 5:30 to go, he tucked a shot home past Nikolai Khabibulin to make it a 3-3 game, quickly glancing to the heavens with a smile on his face while he celebrated the goal.
The Jackets were able to shepherd the game home from there, with Nash's goal clinching the necessary point to deliver playoff hockey to Columbus. Fedor Tyutin would score in a shootout to finish off the 4-3 win, and to this day Nash points to that goal as one of the most rewarding of his career.
"It's great," Nash said in the postgame locker room. "We did it for ourselves, but most of all we did it for Mr. Mac. We know he's up there watching. I'm sure he's sitting in his chair and has a cigar in his mouth."

1. The Goal

What else could it be, right?
If there's one defining play in Nash's Blue Jackets tenure -- heck, the entirety of the franchise -- it's the goal he scored Jan. 17, 2008, against the Coyotes.
By now, if you're a Blue Jackets fan, you've probably seen it, but it's worth reliving. Just moments after he was in the box as Phoenix scored the tying goal in a 3-3 game, Nash was a man on a mission. He took a breakout pass from Michael Peca near center ice, came in alone 1-on-2, left both Keith Ballard and Derek Morris in the dust with dekes, cut across the front of Mikael Tellqvist's net and then slid the puck home for the winning goal with 21.5 seconds to go.
It still hasn't been topped in franchise history, and it might never be.
Watch: Youtube Video
"It just seemed like the puck was on a string," Nash said at the time. "I made a couple of dekes and the puck just stayed with me. Pecs made a nice pass up and it was a 1-on-2. We had three guys back, so I figured I might as well try something."
It's a goal people still talk about, and the next day, he had interview requests from around the sport as well as a phone full of texts and voice mails. When talking a few days later, Nash summed up the same thing we all thought at the time.
"I don't even really know how I really did it," Nash said.