Kentucky Derby Favorite Is Named After NHL Player

There is an art to naming a horse. Origins usually come from the horse's family or have meaning to the owner. The meaning of the name for this year's Kentucky Derby favorite is a little icy.

Nyquist is owned by J. Paul Reddam, a lifelong Detroit Red Wings fan from Windsor, Ontario. He named his colt after Red Wings forward Gustav Nyquist. Nyquist is already more successful than some of Reddam's other horses, named Datsyuk, Lindstrom, Zetterberg, Mrazek, Kronwall and Tatar.

"Nyquist is all class," Reddam told CNBC. "If you asked me to describe Nyquist the hockey player, he's very classy, soft-spoken and plays the game at a high level."

In another interview with the Windsor Star, Reddam said, "I've been a Nyquist fan for a couple of years. To me, he's got kind of a special talent. He's a tremendous stickhandler.

"It's kind of exciting to have named the horse after him and find out that the horse is a superstar."

Hockey's Nyquist has 158 points in 261 career games. The 26-year-old Swede is well-known among hockey fans, but with a win in Louisville this weekend, Nyquist the horse could jump his namesake in fame.

"I saw it a few weeks ago when he won some big tournament," the NHL player said. "Hopefully the horse keeps running fast."

The Red Wings bowed out in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs at the hands of the Tampa Bay Lighting. Nyquist's weekend is open if he wants to join Reddam at Churchill Downs.

"It's a big sport in Sweden," Nyquist said last November, "but for some reason I've never really gone for it. I've been to one or two (races) maybe in Sweden just for the fun of it. I have friends who watch a lot of horse racing.

"I've never really watched that many races because I've not been too much into horses, but maybe this makes me watch more."

Why not watch on Saturday? After all, "The Fastest Two Minutes in Sports" is just a little longer than an NHL shift.

-- Follow Jeffrey Eisenband on Twitter @JeffEisenband.