Steve Nash Eye: Why He's Really a Hockey Player in Shorts (with Video)

Some players need a wake-up call to perform at their highest level.

Suns point guard Steve Nash seems to react best to the wake-up elbow in the eye.

Nash took a Tim Duncan elbow to the eye with 5:47 to go in the third quarter in Game 4 of the Western Conference Semifinals.

Six stitches later, he returned to score 12 of his 20 points in the fourth to lead the Suns to a four-game sweep of the Spurs, their first series win over their dreaded nemesis.

This isn't the first time Nash has taken an injury that would sideline other wimpier ballers for games after.

It's no coincidence that Nash is a Canadian. He's already got the greasy shoulder length hair that makes him look like he just scored the winning goal in triple overtime.

Let's take a look at some of Nash's finer moments and how they compare to the typical hockey players' night.

The Eyes Have It

When the injury occurred, the Spurs were in the midst of an 11-0 run.

With Duncan towering over Nash, it didn't immediately register that there was an injury. Nash got up and wanted to keep playing.

But then the blood started gushing.

Better As a Cyclops

Nash went back to the trainers' room and got six insta-stitches -- no sewing, just smushing the skin back together with a little medical Crazy Glue.

When he returned for the fourth quarter, the Suns' lead was almost gone, a one-point game to start the fourth.

Nash went on a flurry of running jumpers, a miracle three and a bunch of silly no-look passes as the Suns closed out the series on San Antonio's home floor.

All of this with one eyeball.

The Canadian Cyclops has seven days for the injury to heal now before starting the Western Conference Finals.

The Nose Was Even Nastier

Almost three years to the day, Nash suffered an even more disgusting -- and seemingly game-ending -- injury in Game 1 of the Western Conference Semis, again versus San Antonio.

Nash got in a head-on collision with Spurs guard Tony Parker. At first, it seemed like Parker took the worst of it.

Then Nash's nose started to literally split open.

The trainer earned his paycheck that night.

It took a full box of gauze pads, Steri-Strips and Band-Aids on the bench. Suns coach Mike D'Antoni said they applied a flammable liquid adhesive called Collodion.

"They might have even thrown some gunpowder stuff on him," the coach said.

The result wasn't quite as heroic. The injury happened with three minutes to go in the game. He initially came back, but the nose would not stop bleeding.

The Suns lost the game, 111-106, and went on to lose the series.

Just Another Night for Puck Stars

We get freaked out and make heroes out of NBA and baseball players for taking these kind of hits, but for hockey players, it's more of a welcoming to the club.

Nash has said it before. He's not looking to attract the injuries, but he grew up in British Columbia watching "Hockey Night in Canada" where this kind of black eye -- and the injuries in the video below -- are just part of a shift on the ice.

Chicks Dig the Gap Teeth

There's a reason why some of our nation's most gorgeous women are attracted to guys like Nash and even the most pedestrian of NHL players.

Elisha Cuthbert and Carrie Underwood are just the latest in a long line of Hollywood starlets to fall for the gap teethers.

If you're willing to take hits like this, you're the ultimate protector. A woman will always feel safe in the arms of this guy and the ones willing to take these hits.