He played for seven different teams in his NHL career, and the journeyman left a lasting impression on seven different cities in his time. Playing on Avalanche teams that featured the likes of Joe Sakic, Peter Forsberg and Rob Blake, Adam Foote was an easy player to overlook, but he quietly did his job better than anyone else.
While the rest of his teammates were making headlines and capturing hearts in the hockey world, Adam Foote was clearing out the crease in front of Patrick Roy and giving up his body to block shots. He would eventually succeeded Sakic as team captain and remained in the NHL until the season. Tocchet had more than his fair share of offensive talent, but aggression was where he truly shone.
Fans from Pittsburgh to Philadelphia to Phoenix recall and appreciate the tough-guy attitude of one of the better power forwards of the '80s and '90s. Standing at 6'6" and pounds before he even managed to put his skates on, Stu Grimson was destined to be a big-time enforcer during hockey's heyday for fighters.
Grimson bounced around the NHL, beginning his career in Calgary and ending it in Nashville, and despite career games, Grimson has a whopping 39 points to his name.
But the Grim Reaper was never put out onto the ice to score goals; his mission was to throw punches. Jeff Beukeboom's career was cut short by the effects of post-concussion syndrome, but before having his bell run one too many time, the towering defenseman made his impact on the NHL. Beukeboom won four Stanley Cups in his career, helping his team by delivering devastating hits in the defensive zone and keeping the crease clear for his goaltender.
He played the game, and he played the game hard, literally up until the point that his body could no longer take it. Amazingly, Gino Odjick sits 17th on the all-time penalty-minutes list, despite the fact that he only played career NHL games. Few players have made a bigger tough-guy impression in such a short span of time. His fisticuffs became a mainstay for teams like the Vancouver Canucks, with whom he put up three separate seasons with more than penalty minutes.
Calgary's captain wowed hockey fans in the early s, becoming the increasingly-rare breed of player who simultaneously specializes in scoring and the more aggressive elements of the game.
Iginla won the Art Ross Trophy in , but he is just as well known for his ability to lead by example. Iginla has never been shy about dropping the gloves or throwing the body around, and though his career is starting to wind down, he remains one of the true gems of the sport.
Standing at 5'9", Bryan didn't strike one as the typical stay-at-home defenseman, but his style of play was so outstandingly aggressive that it became easy to forget what he lacked in size. Zdeno Chara is the complete antithesis of Bryan Watson.
Chara is the biggest player in NHL history, standing 6'9" tall and serving as one of hockey's most imposing defensive players. Instead of playing an overly aggressive game, Chara is actually more on the reserved side; his size just makes him manhandle any opponent easily.
Few goalies will appear on this list due to the nature of the position, so you can bet your bottom dollar than the few who make it on here are truly and wonderfully insane.
Rob Blake became a shining example of leadership in hockey during his tenure in the league, but he also became widely known for his toughness. Blake was a shot-blocker extraordinaire, and used his pound frame to keep his goaltender's lines of sight open.
Blake was the epitome of a composed, yet aggressive defenseman: as mentally tough as he was physically tough. Tim Horton was not a large man by hockey standards, but he became a very intimidating player to play against. Horton seemed to be freakishly strong and completely willing to use his strength, dropping the gloves frequently and winning fights by getting his opponent in a sort of iron grip to crush them as he latched onto them. Nowadays, the Shanahammer is the one dispensing disciplinary action, but it wasn't so long ago that he was a specialist in receiving it.
In Shanahan's 21 seasons, he racked up 2, PIMs, good for 22nd on the all-time list. But Shanahan was a multi-tooled NHL player, using his tough-guy attitude to make aggressive plays on the puck en route to his 1, career points.
Playing for the Dallas Stars in the years leading up to the NHL lockout, when obstruction rules were more lenient, Hatcher was a specialist. He wasn't a fast player, but his size and strength allowed him to stop anyone trying to sneak by him in the offensive zone. Once stringent obstruction rules were instituted following the NHL lockout, Hatcher's style of game became a liability.
Still, he left his mark on the game prior to the lockout as one of hockey's truly imposing defensemen. Ken Daneyko could fall into the same category as Derian Hatcher, though Daneyko was a little more methodical and defensively reliable no matter the circumstances. He was the epitome of a stay-at-home defenseman, scoring zero goals in four of his final six seasons with the New Jersey Devils.
Nonetheless, Daneyko's toughness made him valuable, as he had no fear when it came to clearing the crease for Marty Brodeur. He enjoyed fighting and scoring goals, causing one to wonder why he didn't go the route of becoming a regular NHL skater instead of a goalie. Still, some of Hextall's highlight-reel worthy moments are made more special given his role, like his assault of Chris Chelios in response to an earlier hit that injured team superstar Brian Propp.
Dave Semenko had one of the greatest tough-guy tasks of all-time: protect Wayne Gretzky. The Belleville native led the team by a landslide with penalty minutes. Martin led the Leafs with PIM and is the player teams need to go through if they want to mess with its valuable young crop. The winger sat out a majority of last season due to a neck injury, but reached penalty minute totals of , and in the previous three seasons.
Had Chris Thorburn still been a Jet, he likely would have gotten the nod considering he voluntarily drops the gloves more than Byfuglien. Then a Boston Bruins forward, Nilan was sent to the box for two major penalties, one misconduct, one game misconduct and six minor penalties during a March game against the Hartford Whalers.
After retirement, Nilan had a far greater fight than his ones on the ice. He battled heroin and alcohol addiction, and his life is documented in a documentary "The Last Gladiators. Joey Kocur was the right-wing half of the Detroit Red Wings' legendary brawling "Bruise Brothers," frequently landing a devastating right hand that cracked helmets and bones alike.
Ray Bourque showed that perseverance pays off. The longtime Bruins captain played a record 1, regular season and playoff games before going out on top, winning his only Stanley Cup in his last game, with the Colorado Avalanche in Bourque took the Cup back to long-suffering Boston for a celebration at City Hall before announcing his retirement.
Right winger Rick Tocchet spent 18 seasons skating with six teams in the NHL, starting his career as a fighter but developing decent scoring chops and earning spots on four All-Star teams. He leads the league with 18 known Gordie Howe hat tricks — for scoring a goal, recording an assist and having a fight in a single game — and recorded 2, career penalty minutes.
It takes a tough guy to be a coach in the NHL, and longtime enforcer Craig Berube put that toughness on display in 17 seasons as a player. He spent 16 minutes in the penalty box during his first career game with the Flyers, and finished with 3, minutes in the sin bin.
He was discharged after four years due to arthritis in his hands — but went on to a stellar career as a goalie. Nicknamed "The China Wall," Bower is credited with developing the poke check. The two-time Vezina Trophy winner helped the Maple Leafs win four Stanley Cups and retired in at 45, then the oldest full-time player in the game.
The six-time All Star also is a two-time Olympic gold-medal winner. Ron Hextall was an aggressive goalie who frequently came out of the crease to play the puck. The extra exposure, of course, led to extra contact. Hextall — the first netkeeper to score in the NHL — holds the dubious career mark for penalty minutes by a goaltender with John Ferguson got into a fight — and won it — just 12 seconds into his first NHL game.
The Canadiens enforcer skated on the left wing, amassing goals and 1, penalty minutes in his career. He briefly served as New York Rangers head coach and general manager, and was the first head coach of the Winnipeg Jets.
There is no doubting the toughness and durability of Chris Chelios, a seven-time All-Star defenseman who won the Norris Trophy three times.
He recorded 2, penalty minutes over 26 NHL seasons. Chelios first won a Stanley Cup with the Canadiens in He hoisted the Cup with the Red Wings in and — more than 20 years after his first win — again in When he retired at 48 after his final NHL season, with the Atlanta Thrashers in , he was the second-oldest active player of all time. Barclay Plager anchored the St.
Louis Blues' gritty defense in the late s and early '70s, making the Stanley Cup Final three times and earning All-Star honors four times. Plager, always willing to put his body on the line, suffered 15 broken noses while accruing 1, penalty minutes over just NHL games.
The left wing scored 17 career goals while putting up 2, penalty minutes and more than fights. At 5-foot-9, Pat Verbeek earned his nickname, "The Little Ball of Hate," with a 1,point career — scoring more than goals and recording 2, penalty minutes from the right wing.
The dominant, 6-foot-4 defenseman was as tough as they come. Bobby Clarke set the tone as center and captain of the brash Broad Street Bullies in the s, leading the Flyers to two Stanley Cup titles. One of the great sports photos of all time shows a toothless Clarke holding the Cup in But he wasn't just tough. No stranger to pain, Clarke notched his 1,th point against the Bruins in with fresh stitches in his face and blood on his sweater.
Defenseman Tim Horton was known for employing a brutal bear hug during a fight. Howe finished his career with goals and 1, assists in 1, regular-season games played—the most of anyone in NHL history. Stevens was the toughest player on some very good Devils teams, including three that won the Stanley Cup. Stevens played in over 1, games in his career, laying out some devastating hits in that time. Blake was one of the best two-way defensemen in the league during the course of his year career, and he was a major physical presence on the ice.
Blake put up over 1, penalty minutes in 1, career games and was always ready for a big hit. Orr is considered to be one of the best players in NHL history, but he also was one of the toughest. Orr was forced to retire early because of all those injuries, but not before he won eight Norris trophies and racked up nearly 1, penalty minutes.
Orr also scored one of the best goals in playoff history— a Stanley Cup-clinching goal in overtime —which spawned one of the greatest sports photographs ever. Brashear had a lengthy career in the NHL as one of the top enforcers in the league. Brashear ended his career with over 2, penalty minutes, and one of his biggest claims to fame is taking part in the most penalized NHL game ever.
Brashear was on the Philadelphia Flyers squad that took on the Ottawa Senators when the two teams combined for a record penalty minutes. Brashear fought fellow enforcer Rob Ray in an epic clash:. Pronger was one of the most skilled defensive players in the league during his career, but he also was an intimidating presence on the ice. The defenseman has the distinction of being suspended twice in one playoff year and was suspended eight different times during the course of his playing days.
Beukeboom was the enforcer and heavy hitter for the New York Rangers team that won the Stanley Cup, giving players like Adam Graves and Brian Leetch some protection on the ice. Beukeboom won three Stanley Cup titles in his career and finished his playing days with nearly 1, penalty minutes in games.
0コメント