Toggle sidebar

Best Fighter Ever

Canadiens1958 said:
Sreve Durbano, Bob Kelly, Alan Globensky, Kevin Morrison.
Click to expand...

Kevin Morrison! I'll second that.

Only saw him fight a couple times in New Haven, but no one wanted to fight him. Or even come near him. He wasn't that good of a dman, but New Haven would have him on the PK just to stand in the slot. No one tried to screen the goalie.

I assume you mean Battleship Kelly, not the Hound?
 
raleh said:
Yeah, and look what happened. He kept pounding the guy after he went down. The point that was being made was that the "code" came in with the modern day goon/enforcer. Rules like don't hit a guy when he's down, don't fight a guy at the end of his shift, ask before you start throwing, say good luck before and are you okay afterwards... When a player snaps, the BS code is out the window. That's passion, not goonery. And that's how it should be. Loved the Lucic fight the other day, but that fight proved Dennis' point. Only when it's a premeditated fight is there such a strict code and that's why it seemed as though Howe had broken the code when he rearranged Fontinato's face.
Click to expand...

Well stated.
 
Last time I looked fighting was against the rules. Why are we then trying to rate who was the best at breaking the rules (in other cheat.) Maybe we should then discuss what accountant is the best at fudging the books, or who is the best corrupt cop.

I guess I would have thought the death of Don Sanderson less than 2 months ago would have made people take a step back and question the sickness of violence in this beautiful game. I use to work at a hospital and a surgeon there (who played college football so he knows sports) described to me the damage a human fist can to to a skull. It is very serious and nothing to cheer about.

Craig
 
cam0426 said:
Last time I looked fighting was against the rules. Why are we then trying to rate who was the best at breaking the rules (in other cheat.) Maybe we should then discuss what accountant is the best at fudging the books, or who is the best corrupt cop.

I guess I would have thought the death of Don Sanderson less than 2 months ago would have made people take a step back and question the sickness of violence in this beautiful game. I use to work at a hospital and a surgeon there (who played college football so he knows sports) described to me the damage a human fist can to to a skull. It is very serious and nothing to cheer about.

Craig
Click to expand...

Yes, it's against the rules, but it is and always has been part of the game. There's a five minute penalty for it, very rarely is there a fine or even a suspension. The fact that there's a set penalty for fighting means that the people in charge are accounting for it being part of hockey.

Hockey is a violent game. Call it sick if you want. There are a number of things that have happened in the sport that were sick. Eddie Shore flipping Ace Bailey, Tim Horton getting cranked by Bill Gadsby, without a helmet on Eric Lindros could have been killed by that Scott Stevens hit. But nobody is saying take body checking out of the game.

The bottom line is, it's a sport in which 10 220 pound men with body fat percentages of less than 10% are flying around the ice faster than Usain Bolt. The game is violent by nature. Smashing into each other, following through on your check, sometimes accidentally following through on a shot and scratching a guy's retina, falling awkwardly with your skate in the air and slashing somebody's jugular, and yes being on the losing (and sometimes tragic) end of a fight IS part of hockey. Is it sick? Sure, you could say that. Is it health? Hell no. Is it hockey? You bet it is.

You essentially sign a waver when you decide to play this game saying, "there is a very good chance I get seriously hurt doing this. There's a 100% chance I get a little hurt by doing this. But I'm going to do it anyways?" Why? Well I'm sure they all have their reasons, and as they get older they may look back and say "well gee, I wish I didn't have this constant headache" or "It's too bad I can no longer bend down to tie my shoes and I'm only 40 years old". But they want to play the game, and they know what the game involves. Violence, and everything that comes along with it are inherently part of the sport.
 
cam0426 said:
Last time I looked fighting was against the rules. Why are we then trying to rate who was the best at breaking the rules (in other cheat.) Maybe we should then discuss what accountant is the best at fudging the books, or who is the best corrupt cop.

I guess I would have thought the death of Don Sanderson less than 2 months ago would have made people take a step back and question the sickness of violence in this beautiful game. I use to work at a hospital and a surgeon there (who played college football so he knows sports) described to me the damage a human fist can to to a skull. It is very serious and nothing to cheer about.

Craig
Click to expand...
Oh please. Fighting causes virtually no real injuries when compared to simple bodychecking and incidental stickwork to the face or losing an edge and colliding with the boards.

Fighting may be against the rules in the sense that you get penalized for it, but it is and always will be a part of the game. Hell, even Bettman, who I cannot stand, stood up and said fighting was entertaining and will remain a part of the game after the same thing was posed to him a few weeks ago.

If you don't like it, go find another sport to watch.

I have a feeling if the NHL banned fighting and split into 2 leagues that paid the same(Let's assume of the Original 6 teams that 3 go to the non-fighting Hockey and 3 stay and then the other teams disperse in the same way evenly) that the players would almost all go to the league with fighting, while the league with no fighting would have less players, spectators and would die out.
 
Carcillo said:
Vandenbussche's fist never saw it coming.

I vote Probert.
Click to expand...


I expect this to be the majority vote, but I must remind you, a man named Troy Crowder beat Probert on several occasions. Troy doesn't get a lot of credit but he used to CALMLY take people apart and punch right THROUGH their hands and into their face when he threw 'em.
 
raleh said:
I think that for the most part fighting was real back then and isn't today. I'm not sure that there was a code as far as fighting was concerned. I don't think there were as many fights to get the crowd into the game. I don't think there were any fights where they would ask politely before dropping the gloves in order to keep each other in the league. I think when they fought, they meant it, they were really really mad at each other and they were TRYING to break each other's faces. I think to most casual hockey fans today, this idea is mortifying, but really if you think about it, so is bare knuckle fighting while standing on ice. You'd have to be pretty pissed off to go toe-to-toe with someone back then.
Click to expand...

You are exactly correct. There was a time(when I was young) guys fought because they were mad. Another player did something to piss you off and that was it, you went at it. Back then everyone was tough too. Everyone could fight. Beliveau was considered a classy player but he was a tough as nails and could fight too. It's just the way it was. I don't understand today's fighting. It may as well be choreographed by the WWE. There are still some fights out of anger but those fights never involve the "enforcers"
As for the guy who questions the sickness of violence in hockey, well, clearly he's never played and had the butt end of a stick run down the side of his ribs. Have that done to you while you're playing and see if that doesn't make you want to rearrange the guys facial features.
 
Kevin Morrison

Dennis Bonvie said:
Kevin Morrison! I'll second that.

Only saw him fight a couple times in New Haven, but no one wanted to fight him. Or even come near him. He wasn't that good of a dman, but New Haven would have him on the PK just to stand in the slot. No one tried to screen the goalie.

I assume you mean Battleship Kelly, not the Hound?
Click to expand...

Kevin Morrison played junior hockey in Quebec - St. Jerome at the same time Dave Schultz played in Sorel. Morrison laid a beating on Schultz chasing him around the rink.Pre QMJHL days. Kevin Morrison was a very good junior player with off ice issues.

The hound for his size was very tough. Could handle Durbano who was more crazy than tough. The hound was a fairly decent hockey plyer as well. J Bob could go as well but not really a hockey player.

Durbano had hockey skills but never stayed in shape or worked on them. Anyone who followed the QMJHL would recognize the later day version of Durbano in Joel Theriault.

BTW you could add John Wensink to the discussion.
 
cam0426 said:
Last time I looked fighting was against the rules. Why are we then trying to rate who was the best at breaking the rules (in other cheat.) Maybe we should then discuss what accountant is the best at fudging the books, or who is the best corrupt cop.

I guess I would have thought the death of Don Sanderson less than 2 months ago would have made people take a step back and question the sickness of violence in this beautiful game. I use to work at a hospital and a surgeon there (who played college football so he knows sports) described to me the damage a human fist can to to a skull. It is very serious and nothing to cheer about.

Craig
Click to expand...

69623484.GRBGyYpG.jpg
 
wendel clark was a great fighter, not JUST because he could fight well, he also knew when to fight, he protected teammates and never backed down. Wendel played the protection role, and fought when needed, as well as anyone I've seen. Clark Gillies was much the same, played a very similar role, was more feared and intimidating than Clark though.

Bob Probert was the most intimidating enforcer of his era, most feared fighter and it lasted a long time....plus, he could play hockey. If he didn't have any off-ice issues, he could have had a much better career and would have been much more respected for his overall game.
 
Last edited:
In honor of St. Patrick's Day, I gotta select an Irishman, Terry O'Reilly.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WgTYTAtm6pw

While admittingly not the NHL's best all-time fighter, it would be hard to question his balls to the walls effort in fights -- heavy with the lefts, and wouldn't back down from King Kong, he definitely was very enjoyable to watch in these matters...
 
may be not the best fighter of all time but part of the legend of Maurice Richard comes from the few fights he had, including one against a true boxer during a game.
 
Central Jersey Devil said:
I expect this to be the majority vote, but I must remind you, a man named Troy Crowder beat Probert on several occasions. Troy doesn't get a lot of credit but he used to CALMLY take people apart and punch right THROUGH their hands and into their face when he threw 'em.
Click to expand...

Crowder was a really tough guy and good fighter but he never really took Probert's heavyweight belt from him. This was the "rematch" where Probert showed why he was the champ.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xfgtofgrIL4&feature=related
 
gino odjick wasn't the best, but he was the most fun to watch

i say bob probert
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Users who are viewing this thread

Total: 1 (members: 0, guests: 1)

Latest posts

Ad

Ad

Top Bottom