Ric Nattress

Former Hamilton Red Wing a journeyman in several leagues
Former Hamilton NHL defenseman played over 500 games with five clubs, now coaches in minors

Ric Nattress was a solid defenseman who went on to play over 500 games with five teams in the National Hockey League.

Born in Hamilton in May of 1962, Eric Nattress played for the Brantford Alexanders of the Ontario Hockey League and was drafted by the Montreal Canadiens in the 1980 NHL draft.

He played 34 games for Montreal, along with skating for the Nova Scotia Voyagers of the American Hockey League. While playing with the Voyagers he played in five games for the team in the Calder Cup.

Nattress was traded by Montreal to the St. Louis Blues where he played for the 1985-86, and 1986-87 seasons. His style of play was an important part of the Jacques Demers philosophy, and he was one of the team's top penalty-killers.

He went to the Calgary Flames after two seasons in St. Louis, and was there for five seasons, highlighted with a Stanley Cup victory over the Canadiens in 1988.

He was traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs during the 1991-92 season, playing 36 games with the Leafs before he was offered a better deal by the Philadelphia Flyers for the 1992-93 season. He had signed a letter of intent to play with the Flyers in the summer of 1992, and felt the trip to Philly would be his best and last shot in the majors.

"They (Philadelphia) offered me four years guaranteed and I was offered three years by everybody else," Nattress said in an interview in August of 1992. "It doesn't take a brain surgeon to figure out this is my last contract, so I might as well grab it while I have the chance. It's a great opportunity for me. I'm 30 years old. There is no next time."

The deal from Toronto was offering Nattress, who was a free agent, about $633,000 for three years of play, while the Flyers' offer was $490,000 per season.

Nattress, who lived in Winona at the time, said at the time he was looking forward to going to Philly.

"I'm not saying I didn't want to go back to Toronto," he mentioned. They are on the way up, but it is just that this offer is financially better for my family.

"They (Philadelphia) have a good young club in a very tough division. They've got Eric Lindros and it will certainly be interesting to see what he can do. I'll be the elder statesman and that's king of scary, but it will be exciting to watch the team build."

Nattress did not watch the Flyers build for very long. After only 44 games of the 1992-93 season, he retired from playing.

In 536 NHL games with five clubs, Nattress had 29 goals and 135 assists.

Nattress has remained in hockey. Not only was he a hockey analyst for the NHL Network, he was assistant coach with the Hamilton Bulldogs for the 1996-97 and 1997-98 seasons.
In the summer of 2008 Nattress took over the ownership and head coach duties of the Stoney Creek Warriors Junior Hockey Club of the Golden Horseshoe League. Nattress said in an interview in August 2008 about the announcement that hockey was his main focus, but being a part of the community was also an important part.

"It's not all about the ice. It's about weaving ourselves into the community," he said in an interview with the Stoney Creek News.

"We've had communications with Stoney Creek minor hockey and are trying to see if we can develop coaches clinics, bring players out to do talks and so on to get kids to understand there is hockey locally to move up in and we would like to see that and eventually put ourselves in a position to help them with educational packages or moving on to an OHL team."

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