Don Nachbaur

Don Nachbaur, commonly known as "Snack" among his teammates, was a big, heavy hitting center / left winger from Kitimat, British Columbia. Don was Hartford's 3rd choice (60th overall) in 1979 after posting two solid seasons in the WHL (Billings) where he scored 146 points in 137 games and adding 303 penalty minutes.

Don played parts of 8 seasons in the NHL for Hartford, Edmonton and Philadelphia. His first two seasons in Hartford were his only full seasons in the NHL. His best effort came when he was a rookie (1980-81) as a Whaler and got 33 points (16 goals and 17 assists) in 77 games.

During that rookie season, Don centered a line with two other rookies, Ray Neufeld and Jeff Brubaker, for most of the season. They had all previously played under Larry Kish's guidance in Binghampton (AHL). Don later credited Kish for preparing him for the NHL. The line was quickly dubbed "The Snack Pack" because they asked for no mercy and gave even less. They were all 6´2" - 6'3" and around 200-210 Ibs and hit everything in sight.

When Brubaker was in the minors, veteran Nick Fotiu was on the line and they quickly were given the Walt Disney like names of Nicky, Nochy and Neufy by the Whalers booster club and "The Thunderbolt Line" by the media.

Unfortunately Don never regained his confidence after that rookie season, although he played a full season the next year (1981-82). After he left Hartford he only played sporadically in both Edmonton and Philadelphia spending most of his time in the minors (AHL) where he racked up 1432 PIMs in only 479 games.

Don finished his playing career in Austria for EC Graz between 1990-94. He scored 209 points (106 goals and 103 assists) in 182 games during these four years and played his usual bruising style of hockey, leading the league in PIMs in 92-93 (197 PIMs in 53 GP).