Tony Twist
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Position | Left Wing |
| Shot | Left |
| Nickname | Twister |
| Height Weight |
6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 242 lb (110 kg) |
| Pro Clubs | Quebec Nordiques St. Louis Blues |
| Nationality |  Canada |
| Born | May 9, 1968, Sherwood Park, ALTA, CA |
| Pro Career | 1989 – 1999 |
Tony Twist (born May 9, 1968 in Sherwood Park, Alberta, Canada) is a former professional ice hockey player. He played left wing in the NHL for the St. Louis Blues and Québec Nordiques, but was also a feared enforcer. He now is a co-host in post-game shows after Blues games on KPLR-TV. Twist recently penned a foreword to the Ross Bernstein book The Code: The Unwritten Rules Of Fighting And Retaliation In The NHL. He also owns a bar and grill in Imperial, MO.
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[edit] Playing career
He was selected by the St. Louis Blues in the ninth round of the 1988 NHL Entry Draft, #177 overall. After skating with the Blues for the 1989-1990 season, he played three seasons with the Québec Nordiques (later renamed the Colorado Avalanche). He became a free agent in 1994 and returned to the Blues, playing there until July 1999, when he broke his pelvis in a motorcycle accident in St. Louis and was unable to resume his NHL career.[1]
He scored his first NHL goal in his sixth season against the Vancouver Canucks.
Despite a relatively short career, Tony Twist was arguably one of the best enforcers of his generation. He spent most of his time with the Blues as the protector of Brett Hull. That his yearly accumulated penalty minutes were never as high as most of the other noted NHL pugilists attests to the fact that many of them respected his prowess and were wary of going toe to toe with him. At the end of his career "The Twister" joked that his job could have been done by a cardboard cutout of him on the end of the bench because his reputation was so scary to opposing teams.
[edit] Lawsuit against Todd McFarlane
In the Spawn comic book series, Todd McFarlane created a mob enforcer character named Antonio "Tony Twist" Twistelli,[2] who McFarlane acknowledged was named after Tony Twist. Twist won a $15 million verdict in 2004 when a St. Louis, Missouri jury found Todd McFarlane Productions had profited from Twist's likeness.[3] The verdict was upheld after two appeals in June 2006.[4]
[edit] Career statistics
| Regular Season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | League | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | PM | PP | SH | GW | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | ||
| 1984-85 | Prince George Kings | BCAHA | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| 1985-86 | Prince George Spruce Kings | PCJHL | 42 | 32 | 20 | 52 | 162 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| 1986-87 | Saskatoon Blades | WHL | 64 | 0 | 8 | 8 | 181 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| 1987-88 | Saskatoon Blades | WHL | 55 | 1 | 8 | 9 | 226 | -- | -- | -- | -- | 10 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 6 | ||
| 1988-89 | Peoria Rivermen | IHL | 67 | 3 | 8 | 11 | 312 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| 1989-90 | St. Louis Blues | NHL | 28 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 124 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| 1989-90 | Peoria Rivermen | IHL | 36 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 200 | -- | -- | -- | -- | 5 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 8 | ||
| 1990-91 | Peoria Rivermen | IHL | 38 | 2 | 10 | 12 | 244 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| 1990-91 | Québec Nordiques | NHL | 24 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 104 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| 1991-92 | Québec Nordiques | NHL | 44 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 164 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| 1992-93 | Québec Nordiques | NHL | 34 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 64 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| 1993-94 | Québec Nordiques | NHL | 49 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 101 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| 1994-95 | St. Louis Blues | NHL | 28 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 89 | -- | -- | -- | -- | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | ||
| 1995-96 | St. Louis Blues | NHL | 51 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 100 | -- | -- | -- | -- | 10 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 16 | ||
| 1996-97 | St. Louis Blues | NHL | 64 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 121 | -- | -- | -- | -- | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 1997-98 | St. Louis Blues | NHL | 60 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 105 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| 1998-99 | St. Louis Blues | NHL | 63 | 2 | 6 | 8 | 149 | -- | -- | -- | -- | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 1999-00 | St. Louis Blues | NHL | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| NHL Totals | 445 | 10 | 18 | 28 | 1121 | 18 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 22 | ||||||||
