The New York Rangers haven’t exactly gotten off to the greatest start so far in 2014-15, but Rick Nash is looking revitalized with four goals and one assist in his first three games. Hopefully the “birth of his first-born child” thing won’t throw him off, then.
The Rangers allowed Nash, 30, to leave an ugly 6-3 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs before the third period on Sunday for about as valid a reason as you can get: his wife was apparently expecting to give birth.
#NYR Update: Rick Nash has left to be with his wife who is expecting the couple's first child
— New York Rangers (@NYRangers) October 13, 2014
Apparently the red-hot power forward was questionable to play last night, as it looked like his child was on the way Sunday afternoon:
Accdg to A. Vigneault, Rick Nash's wife "broke her water". Reporters laugh. AV: "That's how we say in French: 'Elle a cassé son eau'"!
— Jeff Z. Klein (@jzedklein) October 12, 2014
You don’t get the opportunity to mark someone down as “questionable (probable birth of first-born child)” every day, but it’s a delightful reminder that “real life” can often intrude upon the escape that is professional sports.
There hasn’t been an update yet regarding how everything went for the growing Nash clan, so for now let’s just enjoy the beautiful goal he scored on Sunday, with a splendid assist from Martin St. Louis:
Naturally, the Rangers’ loss and this news prompted some jokes, including this bit:
Good to see Rick Nash pick "wife giving birth" over "team laying an egg"
— Ryan Kennedy (@THNRyanKennedy) October 13, 2014
Hey, at least people aren’t questioning his commitment to the team for leaving the game yet, right?