Fifth Avenue Forum

Let's keep the alliteration going after Kelly Kisio and Mario Marois, and remember my main man Tony Twist. Twist is best known for his time with the Blues, and in particular the Mike Keenan mid-90s era Blues. He also spent 4 seasons with the Nordiques.

Tony was the quintessential enforcer of NHL past. Twist put up a sparkling .06 points per game with a line of 10-18-28 over 445 NHL games. The Twister, of course, is not known for his scoring, but rather his heavy right hand and willingness to destroy souls. Here's a piece from 1998 describing his reputation:

He is 6' 1 1/2", 240 pounds of pure deterrence. Thanks to the Twister's lurking presence, Blues snipers such as wings Brett Hull and Geoff Courtnall enjoy much more elbow room. "The respect he gets on the ice for our team is huge," says Courtnall. The momentum swing that a Twist ass-whuppin' can bring is, likewise, considerable. "When there's a good fight,everybody on both benches is standing up watching," says Courtnall.

"But with Twister," Hull interjects, "the fight's over beforeyou get a chance to stand up."

"He throws hammers," says San Jose Sharks right wing Owen Nolan,who also played with Twist on the Nordiques in the early 1990s."He throws to kill. I've seen him crack a helmet with a punch.If I hadn't seen it, I wouldn't have believed it."

"It's not complicated," says St. Louis right wing and fellow tough cookie Kelly Chase, of Twist's fighting style. "He holds you at arm's length and rocks you with big, hard rights."

"You don't want to see him looking at you the wrong way," admits Los Angeles Kings heavyweight Matt Johnson. "No one in the league matches his pure punching power. He's an honest player but as tough as they come."

The Twister is a guy I remember.

It's impossible to think that Moe Mantha could have been born without a moustache...that's the most moustache-having name in history...