Musician Derek Shayne celebrates Chase, Twist in new single 'Hockey Tough'

I count my lucky stars each day 
that I never saw a fist from Chaser or Twist,
you’d think you were hit by a train.

Lacing ‘em up took guts,
man that’s Hockey Tough.

Those are the lyrics of Derek Shayne, a rising star in Canada’s independent music scene. His new single, Hockey Tough, features a nod to former Blues enforcers Kelly Chase and Tony Twist.

“I wanted this song to be a tribute for all the tough guys in hockey that maybe don’t get a lot of credit,” Shayne told stlouisblues.com. “Hockey players are a different breed, you know? They play through all kinds of injuries and broken legs and broken jaws and whatnot trying to win a Cup at the end of the season. And so we wanted to write something for those guys.”

Despite growing up in a small mining town in northern Canada, Shayne has been a diehard St. Louis Blues fan for as long as he can remember. His grandpa, Paddy Ginnell, worked as a Blues scout for 14 years and helped the team land such players as Chase, Twist, Rod Brind’Amour, Curtis Joseph and Barret Jackman. Shayne’s father, Dan Ginnell, has scouted for the Blues since 2005 and was in part responsible for the team selecting such names as Vladimir Tarasenko, Jaden Schwartz, Jordan Binnington, Robert Thomas and Jordan Kyrou.

Shayne also played hockey, suiting up at junior levels before becoming a scout for 11 seasons with both the Columbus Blue Jackets and New York Rangers. He eventually gave that up in 2023 to pursue his dream of writing songs and making his own music, which he classifies as rock with a country flavor.

“I’ve played music my whole life, I’ve always been in bands, and I was the goofball that always had an acoustic guitar with him,” Shayne said. “Once I stopped scouting, I had a lot more free time on weekends and evenings, so I connected with some guys in the music industry in Western Canada on the [song]writing side, and that gave me a push to pursue music further, and I’ve just run with it. I’ve been putting some songs out, playing some live shows around Alberta and just having fun with it. That’s kind of where I’m at now.”

Hockey Tough was written with both Chase and Darin Kimble in mind. Both former players have been battling leukemia, and Shayne wanted both to know their extended family — even those cheering from somewhere as far north as Shayne's hometown of Flin Fon, Manitoba — stands with them in their fight against cancer.

“I know they’re going through a battle of their own, probably even more than they did on the ice,” Shayne said. “I was hoping the song would at least put a smile on their face and help let them know we’re thinking of them and that we’re right in the fight with them.”

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Proceeds generated from Hockey Tough will be donated to Siteman Cancer Center in St. Louis. The song is available on all major streaming platforms, including Apple Music, Spotify and YouTube. Fans can also support cancer research by purchasing tickets to the third annual Puck Cancer Game, which will be held on March 27 at Centene Community Ice Center. The charity hockey game will feature appearances by former Blues David Backes, Pat Maroon, Alexander Steen and Paul Stastny. Other celebrities scheduled to appear include Keith Tkachuk, Al MacInnis, Chris Pronger, Bernie Federko, country star Dierks Bentley and football coach Sean Payton.