Shayne Corsonwas the kind of player that teams would be lining up for in today's game. Kocur established himself by earning the most penalty minutes in the NHL during his first season. Full Bio. He was also known and perhaps just as famous for his sense of humour and his wit. Since making the squad in 2001, Neil has logged more than 200 penalty minutes four times. 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They can skate a little bit, will maybe pop in a goal or two, but are there primarily to protect his teammates from the other team's goon.. Nilan dreamed of playing for the Boston Bruins growing up, but was drafted as the enforcer for their rival Montreal Canadiens. Full Bio. Gordie Howe: Wait what? Domi was a formidable enforcer in the 1990s, amassing an incredible 347 minutes in the penalty box during the 1993-1994 season. Pests and enforcers often play together on the same line, usually the fourth line., The greatest of these soldiers on skates have spilled blood and broken bones for their squads across decades. P.A.L. permissions/licensing, please go to: www.TorontoStarReprints.com. Jr. Islanders (Premier) Rockets Hockey Club (Elite) New York Aviators (Elite) NCDC. 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Since entering the league in 2001, hes logged nearly 2,300 penalty minutes against just over 233 points. What some casual hockey fans may not understand is that hockey fights do indeed serve a purpose in the game and are not just a contest in machismo between two goons. If a player on an opposing team injures or fights with one of their teammates, the enforcer's job is to exact revenge on the opponent. Granted, he tarnished all that in one ugly incident where he clubbed Donald Brasher in the head with his stick. Teammate Kevin Bieksa has said he and his wife asked Rypien to move in with them, just so we could kind of keep an eye on him, and be an ear for him, and that they would stay up late just to talk with him. Domi moved back to Toronto, where the most known part of his career took place. With Jay Baruchel, Gino Odjick, Wendel Clark, Chris Chelios. Berube is seventh all-time in career penalty minutes with 3,149 in 1,054 games played. We definitely have to walk a fine line when writingthis list, in terms of what exactly constitutes as an enforcer. 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Even after his namesake technique was banned, Ray continued his dominance as one of the games best enforcers. Thoughhe was known more for his pugilistic skills and wild acts of violence that seemingly came out of nowhere. But he doesn't necessarily . The role of the enforcer has diminished since rule enforcement changed following the 200405 NHL lockout to increase game speed and scoring. Sadly, Probert died of a heart attack in 2010, and his brain was donated to the Sports Legacy Institute, which revealed chronic traumatic encephalopathy, a side effect of his brutal profession. [11] The frequency has steadily declined over time, from 1.3 fights per game in the late 1980s to 0.5 in 2012. Stock hockey statistics and profile at hockeydb.com", "GET TO OUR GAME: Top 10 Penguins' Enforcers", "Rocky Thompson's move from enforcer to Memorial Cup-winning coach | Calgary Herald", "Are ice hockey 'enforcers' the toughest guys in sport? Wade Belak was found dead at the age of 35 in his Toronto hotel room in circumstances that caused a newspaper's police source to categorize his death as a suicide. Enforcer is an unofficial role in ice hockey. Later tests indicated brain damage and CTE from his years of fighting. Bob formed one half of the Bruise Brothers along with teammate Joey Kocur, and the pair were one of the most fearsome enforcer tandems in the NHL while playing for the Detroit Red Wings. In his 891-game careerall of which was spent in BostonOReilly accumulated more than 2,000 penalty minutes. He was found dead in his suburban Toronto home, and police quickly ruled out foul play. He remains the Flyers all-time leader in Gordie Howe hat tricks and holds the league record for them in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. This list features the best fighters in the history of the sport, many of whom had an impact and provoked changes to the rules of the game. These days, his son Max Domi plays for the Columbus Blue Jackets, and he definitely carries himself in the same way that his father did, except that Max already has more points than Tie in only 375 career games. Sure, he finished his career with an astounding 3,043 penalty minutes in 688 games, but he was also part of one of the best "shut down" lines of all-time whenhe was paired up with Guy Carbonneau and Bob Gainey. The Gordie Howe hat-trick is a goal, assist, and a fighting major in a single game and the namesake of it must be included in any list mentioning great NHL fighters. Sports journalist and writer Roy Macgregor opines that in light of recent tragic events there should be more done about it, including eliminating the role altogether. He was elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2002. Gillies earned his bones protecting Mike Bossy and Bryan Trottier during the Islanders' 1980 Stanley Cup run. In the 200708 NHL season fights occurred in 38.46% of the games, up from 33% the season before, which was just below the pre-lockout fighting level of 41.14% of games in the 200304 season. Gillies was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2002. All three Sunday games are in the South Division and none of them will change the standings For much ofhis career, he was also an absolute madman, as his nickname wasn't "Charlie" for no reason. McSorley won two Stanley Cups with the Edmonton Oilers, where he racked up 32 fighting majors over the two campaigns. How do the rankings stack up? In the 1970s, the Boston Bruins and Philadelphia Flyers were known respectively as the "Big Bad Bruins" and "Broad Street Bullies", for stocking up on grinders and enforcers. did you know that Simon scored29 goals in the 1999-2000 season? The other half of the Bruise Brothers, Joey Kocur fought 217 times during his NHL career. O'Reilly set the blue print forthe prototypical Bruins type player and Ex Bruin Milan Lucic has gone on record saying that he's modeled his game after O'Reilly. A couple of decades ago enforcers had one role on the team: fights. When he was done, he'd stick out that stupid tongue and frustrate everyone even more. During one playoff campaign, the Hammer spent 139 minutes in the penalty boxin 17 games. Neil is an example to future NHL tough guys: establish your reputation as a hardass as soon as you lace up your skates and head out onto the ice in your rookie season. First of all, hockey fights send a message to the other team. Standing at six-foot-five, 220 pounds, Belak was a ferocious fighter. [12] New York Times sportswriter John Branch covered Boogaard's death and the epidemic of chronic traumatic encephalopathy that has come as a result of frequent head trauma sustained by hockey enforcers. Tiger played with a number of teams over his career but he is best known as the enforcer for the Vancouver Canucks when they went on their Stanley Cup run in 1982, before losing to the New York Islanders. The following are retired NHL ice hockey enforcers, listed alphabetically by their last name. Unique lists featuring pop culture, entertainment and crazy facts. OReilly fought five bouts against Dave Schultz, Torrie Robertson, and Tiger Williams, which proved he was capable of going toe-to-toe with some of the toughest players in hockey history. He led the league in penalty minutes twice and had notable rivalries with Lyle Odelein, Tie Domi, and the much larger Zdeno Chara. Even Don Cherry himself admitted that he thought Jonathan was about to get fed. Out of his 71 career fights, he barely lost any. 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Barnaby was involved in 205 fights over the course of his career with 7 different teams. Referees are limited in their powers to punish players for illegal or dangerous behavior and fighting was used by players to police these offenses themselves. I was one of these fringe players that had to work his ass off to stay on the team.. The sport of hockey may now be at odds with the ongoing role of the enforcer in the modern game, but throughout the games history fighting has played an integral role. Without further ado, here at the top 15 enforcers that were good hockey players! Bob Probert: One of the most imposing enforcers of all-time, Probert weighed in at 63 and 225 lbs of pure muscle. New Jersey Patriots Ice Hockey, Morristown, New Jersey. At present in the National Hockey League (NHL), teams generally do not carry more than one player whose primary role is that of an enforcer. If you want to see what a classic NHL enforcer was like, look at Domis career stat line: 1,020 games played, 245 career points, and 3,515 penalty minutes, good for third all-time in NHL History. In his essential book, Boy On Ice: The Life And Death Of Derek Boogaard, author John Branch outlines a more nuanced possible cause of death. Ferguson had a short career, only playing eight NHL seasons, but he made his time count. Karlie O'Reilly. When it was all said and done, Berube had fought 250 times, retiring with the thirdmost fighting majors of any player and the 7thmost career penalty minutes. In NHL history, the 400-minutes-in-the-penalty-box mark has only been topped four times. After going undrafted, Berube broke into the NHL with the Philadelphia Flyers and quickly established himself as an enforcer by fighting Bob Probert three times. Stu Grimson. Retired players [ edit] At times, he would take heavy haymakers and stand there unfazed until he would throw one of his own and drop his opponent like a sack of bricks. Assistant Coach. Like Beaver, McCarty thinks the NHL concussion numbers are due to heightened awareness and reporting. Sometimes enforcers can do their job by virtue of their reputation. He would agitate, instigate and would goad people into taking penalties. Star Newspapers Limited and/or its licensors. The fact of the matter is that they're serving a role on the ice as they're paid to defend their teammates. Domi started his career with Toronto, beforemaking an impact for the New York Rangersand leadingthe league in penalty minutes after being traded to Winnipeg. Here's a breakdown of the 10 best hockey enforcers of all-time (fight stats courtesy DropYourGloves.com): Bob Probert (Career PIM: 3,300) While he didn't have the most NHL fights of all-time - he actually comes in fourth on the list at 303 - Probert is certainly one of the most well-known enforcers in the history of hockey. 5. That set the tone for the rest of Neil's career. Gillies served as captain of the Islanders from 1977 to 1979, and won the Stanley Cup four years in a row with them, from 1980 to 1983. When such play occurs, the enforcer is expected to respond aggressively, by fighting or checking the offender. His most famous tilt was against Pierre Bouchard where the much bigger Bouchard grabbed him in a scrum and left him no choice. Unfortunately, people just remember the fact that he got busted for using an illegal stick in game two. Williams spent more than 4,400 minutes in the penalty box during his 14-year career (regular season and playoffs combined). How tough was he? The pest's primary role is to draw penalties from opposing players, thus "getting them off their game", while not actually intending to fight the opposition player (although exceptions to this do occur). Robert Alan Probert relished fighting in a way few NHL players have. Clark Gillies was among the best fighters in the NHL during his prime, but over time he rarely had to fight because opponents respected and feared him enough that they would not go after his teammates. Tiger Williams: The all-time leader in career penalty minutes, Tiger Williams had nearly 4000 penalty minutes in only 962 career games. Hell also be remembered for his sucker punching Ulf Samuelsson, knocking him unconscious, and the elbow that knocked Scott Niedermayer out in the 2001 Eastern Conference Semifinals. Schultz is renowned as one of hockey's greatest enforcers and holds the NHL record for most penalty minutes in a single season, at 472. 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