Flames' Chris Tanev opens up about why he blocks shots with his face
You might not find somebody who embodies what it means to be a hockey player more than Calgary Flames defenceman Chris Tanev does.
One look at the burly veteran will tell you all you need to know about how he plays the game. The long flowing hair and scar-filled face are complimented by a mouth missing what appears to be most of his teeth.
It’s no secret that Tanev has made a career of blocking shots from some of the league’s fiercest shots, using every part of his body to get in between his net and the puck. Yes, even his face.
The 34-year-old appeared on Hockey Night in Canada’s After Hours program with Scott Oake and Eric Francis following the Flames 1-0 win over the Chicago Blackhawks on Saturday night.
During the interview, Tanev gave some insight into why he started to specialize in blocking shots, giving credit to Rick Bowness, his first defensive coach in the NHL and the current head coach of the Winnipeg Jets.
“I remember, I think I was [penalty-killing] in my rookie year and I think Shane Doan took a shot by me and scored,” said Tanev. “[Bowness] was like ‘hey kid, you gotta get in the lane’ and sorta since then it’s sorta stuck with me.”
To say it stuck with Tanev is an understatement. Since jumping into the NHL in 2010-11, he has blocked an incredible 1580 shots in 762 games. That averages out to more than two blocked shots per game.
For the most part, those shots don’t wind up as injuries, but that isn’t always the case. Back in 2018, he blocked a shot by Toronto Maple Leafs defenceman Morgan Reilly with his face, which resulted in him losing seven and a half teeth.
As it turns out, Tanev told both Oake and Francis that he wasn’t even trying to block the shot in this case.
“Marner tipped that right into my face,” said Tanev with a toothless grin. “Sometimes those things happen… unfortunately that one cost me a lot of time in the dentist’s chair.”
One shot he was trying to block with his face came just a few months ago while playing against the Vegas Golden Knights. The puck bounced into the slot right to Vegas sniper William Karlsson. Instead of allowing Karlsson a clean shot on the net, Tanev dived head-first in front of the shot where the puck hit him straight in the face.
Luckily, Tanev was able to walk away with his remaining teeth still intact and only suffered an injury to his chin. Looking back on the play, the cagey veteran does have some questions about why he did it.
“That was pretty stupid,” said Tanev. “I just think the puck squirted off the half-wall and I think it’s a 1-1 game, I believe, with five minutes left… I don’t know why I went head-first, probably could have gone the other way, but thankfully I didn’t get hurt too bad, just got a nice hole in my chin.”
It’s all in a day’s work for an NHL defenceman who earns his keep by eating pucks on a nightly basis. His penance for doing such difficult work is perhaps one of the most unique looks in the NHL, with his signature “snaggle tooth” at the front of his mouth to remind his opponents just what he is willing to do to win.
Though, if given the choice, Tanev isn’t too sure he’d keep the snaggle tooth.
“Yeah, I don’t know, it’s not very attractive.”
Whether or not Tanev remains with the Flames for the rest of the season or is traded to a contending team by the trade deadline, there is no question that whatever team he is playing for is going to be getting a warrior on their blueline.
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