Countdown to Coyotes Preseason: 18 Days

We've talked a lot about many of the Phoenix Coyotes' current players. Today's Countdown to Coyotes Preseason will look at the former wearer of the #18 for the Coyotes, Tyson Nash. Nash remains with the team as the TV analyst on Fox Sports Arizona. Read on for more on one of the organization's most dynamic personalities...

Tyson Nash played major junior hockey with the Kamloops Blazers from 1990-1995, where he played alongside future Coyote star Shane Doan. Nash's game however would take a far different turn from Doan's. Where Doan became a two way player with consistent goal scoring ability, Nash became a pest; specializing in getting in fights and drawing penalties. Tyson was drafted #247th overall by the Vancouver Canucks in 1994, but would make his NHL debut with the St. Louis Blues in 1998, a team he would spend four more seasons with. He crossed paths with Shane Doan again the next season when he signed with the Coyotes for two years. The Coyotes would be the last NHL team that Nash played for; he was demoted to the AHL in 2006 and would be traded to the Toronto Marlies of the AHL, before finishing his career with the Nippon Paper Cranes in Japan. In all Tyson Nash played 374 NHL games, finishing with 27 goals, 37 assists, and 673 penalty minutes.

After retiring from the NHL, Nash was hired as the color analyst for Fox Sports Arizona, a position he currently holds today. While Tyson's role as a pest on the ice gives him unique insight in commentary, it also can get him into trouble. In Game 3 of the 2012 Western Conference Quarterfinals against the Chicago Blackhawks, Nash referred to a hit Raffi Torres laid on Marian Hossa as "as clean a hit as you're going to get", despite the fact that Hossa was clearly severely injured on the play. Although Nash later clarified that he hadn't seen a replay before making the comment, he received numerous death threats from irate fans.

Overall Tyson's career has been polarizing and controversial. But he has been an important and highly entertaining member of the Phoenix Coyotes family for years. So today we celebrate the man who has an entire twitter account devoted to his eclectic choice of jacket, the always funny Tyson Nash.