Hardest Hitters of All Time?

[67Leafs67]

I've always thought that Red Horner was a very hard hitter from what I've heard. That I've seen, Kronwall is extremely punishing, and Wendel Clark knew how to hit, after all we called him Captain Crunch for a reason!

 

[BenchBrawl]

Yeah, well, you didn't find this:

I don't remember exactly what I had, but I had more than the single quote who used to be the only thing we had on Hextall's physicality.

Regardless with articles like this we're now completely sure Hextall was a physical/strong player, which is nice.

 

[IComeInPeace]

Wendel Clark was a wrecking ball.

Watching the Canucks since the mid to late 70's, Stan Smyl and Cam Neely were huge hitters.
Mike Peca for such a little guy had an incredible ability to send guys flying.

Surprisingly, Teemu Selanne, could really do some damage when he threw his body around. He did it as a rookie, but I don't remember him ever throwing hits after very early in his career (did he stop after his rookie season, or after Mike Peca wrecked him???).

My favorite hitters are guys who have an incredibly low center of gravity; when they hit someone without even much speed, their opponent flies off of them.

All of the guys listed above had that except for Smyl. Smyl was a short little guy but was a rare guy (for the time) who was into working out, and already had a bodybuilder type of frame by the time he came into the league.

Lindros had that same ability to send people flying without needing much speed or momentum. It seems like that is kind of rare for taller guys.

Stevens might be the best hitter of all time, but what made him (and Kronwall) so good is their ability to read the play and see when a guys going to leave himself exposed.

I used to love the guys who threw devasting hipchecks, but, as I've gotten older I see too many of those hits are just plain and simple cheap.

Hilliard Graves threw devastating hipchecks; but, now looking back at it, I think he was often targeting guys knees.

 

[TedLundy]

Scott Stevens directly came to mind. I really liked the physical offence from Forsberg aswell.

 

[Flamer12]

I always remember Brian Glennie to be a big time body checker. I was pretty young when I watched him play but when I think of the Leaf teams of the 70's I always think of him as being a big body checker.

 

[billybudd]

There were some players in the 90s who strictly specialized in that (and not much else) who probably deserve a mention (obviously, none of these guys were quite on Stevens level)--guys like Steve Webb, Tyson Nash, Brenden Witt, Kasparaitis even Bob Boughner to a lesser extent (lot of Islanders, now that I think about it). I'm sure I'm forgetting some. Some in the 80s, too, but to my recollection, man for man, shift for shift, those 80s fringe guys didn't hit quite as hard as a Webb or whoever (the more conventional hockey players or stars might be a different story).

And while I've always been overly impressed with Pronger's game, he wasn't much for bodychecks. I'm sure someone will find the one or two times he really crushed somebody, but, for the most part, that wasn't frequent with him and certainly he wasn't as strong or technical with his hits as the other stars that have been mentioned (Lindros, Stevens, Robinson, etc) when he did. Mostly Pronger just played people (violently and nonviolently) with his stick, throwing in the occasional elbow to the teeth (which isn't exactly a check in my book).

 

[Helistin]

Kyle McLaren wasn't mentioned yet I think. He absolutely crushed people with his hip check.

 

[Acallabeth]

Brooks Orpik is a punishing hitter, which is impressive as he isn't a good skater.
Not a good player, but Artyukhin levels people.

 

[SealsFan]

Scott Stevens and Barry Beck were the first two I though of. Denis Potvin would probably be there too.

 

[GreatGonzo]

Scott Stevens
Eric lindros
Darius kasparaitis
Wendel Clark
Cam Neely

I think phaneuf is the best, and most punishing hitter in the league today and has been

 

[VanIslander]

Howe
Trottier
Messier

a very respected hockey mind thought them the toughest players ever.

 

[billybudd]

This isn't really about tough, though. Alexei Emelin and Niklas Kronwall can wreck people in open ice, but they're the antithesis of tough.

 

[kabidjan18]

This isn't really about tough, though. Alexei Emelin and Niklas Kronwall can wreck people in open ice, but they're the antithesis of tough.

Yeah, this isn't about how tough a player is, if it was then Matt Martin is an extremely punishing player who is always leading the league in hits but he doesn't deliver earth shattering hits that would make me consider him an all time hard hitter. Also at the rate which people are just reeling off hockey stars I fully expect someone to say Sidney Crosby or Wayne Gretzky next. A tough player who sometimes lays some good wood and gets into fights here and there isn't a candidate for hardest hitter of all time, just my personal opinion.

 

[DickSmehlik]

Did anyone mention Jeff Beaukeboom?

Maybe the most punishing defenseman I've seen since I first started watching hockey 20 years ago.

 

[Rhiessan71]

Howe
Trottier
Messier

a very respected hockey mind thought them the toughest players ever.

I was going to add Trots. So solid with a low center of gravity, he could really dish it out.

I think someone already mentioned Big bird. He didn't throw it around too often but when he did, he absolutely crushed people.

Stevens and Potvin are top-2 on my list.
Rob Blake and his hip checks come to mind.
Neely before his knee/hips issues was a beast.
Lindros of course.
Clark, as someone put it, was a freaking wrecking ball.
Messier prolly used the reverse hit more than anyone (yes, even more than Forsberg) usually with an elbow added in (see Natress)

 

[Chili]

Hod Stuart (among the first HOF inductees).

 

[Killion]

Hod Stuart (among the first HOF inductees).

Ya, good for you for mentioning him. So early in the games history at the professional level he's often forgotten but ya, apparently quite the heavy hitter, bigger guy with a long reach. Bit of a real early version of the Rushing Defenceman.... off the ice pro-active in trying to get players paid properly. Died young & tragically on Lake Ontario, Belleville, Bay of Quinte. Unfamiliar waters, dove in, hit his head on some rocks & that was that.

 

[Dennis Bonvie]

Ed Hospodar.

A true predator.

 

[Byron Bitz]

Not a great player, but Andy Sutton was an absolutely bone crushing hitter

 

[Nemesis Prime]

Some beauties in here.

 

[Kimota]

Denis Potvin was the best across the board and could have played at any time.

 

[Chili]

Ya, good for you for mentioning him. So early in the games history at the professional level he's often forgotten but ya, apparently quite the heavy hitter, bigger guy with a long reach. Bit of a real early version of the Rushing Defenceman.... off the ice pro-active in trying to get players paid properly. Died young & tragically on Lake Ontario, Belleville, Bay of Quinte. Unfamiliar waters, dove in, hit his head on some rocks & that was that.

His brother Bruce Stuart who was 6' 2 is also a HOFer.

I read that Hod was suspended from one league for being too rough. He was a rugby/football player as well and must have brought some of that to the ice. And he was skilled as well. He must have been special because he went into the Hall before someone like Cyclone Taylor.

 

[Hockeyville USA]

Darius Kasparaitis
Niklas Kronwall
Scott Stevens

Pretty simple

 

[pi314]

stevens
lindros
konstantinov
kasparaitis

Same exact 4 that came to mind for me.

Great minds think alike.

 

[tabness]

for someone not yet mentioned pound for pound Jeremy Roenick was up there in his time not big but didnt need the mass with the acceleration he was so fast and so eager to hit

got a "best of the rest" spot on this list