That might be the worst take on Kocur I have ever heard. That washed up Tomato can was the best fighter this club ever employed. It was a different era in hockey back then. Enforcers mattered. Every team had multiple guys to do the job. Not to mention, prior to 91, the Rangers were literally called the Smurfs. Ill never forget the playoffs when the Rangers knocked the Isles out. I believe it was James Patrick who laid a big hit on LaFontaine. A the end of the game the Isles threw out their goon squad. Baumgartner, Vukota and Nylund. Rangers didn't have an answer for it. They had Nilan, Chris King and Bloemberg. They beat the snot out of the Rangers left on the ice. Rangers checked out the next series. In the meeting the very next season Kocur went right after Baumgartner opening faceoff. The place erupted. In another heavyweight tilt, #26 hit Jay Caufiled so hard it cracked his helmet down the middle. Kocur while in NY took on pretty much anyone that was willing to have a go with him. Paul Laus, Stu Grimson, Donald Brashear, Rob Ray, Craig Berube, Dan Kordic, Lyle Odelien and Bob Probert. Kocur had very few losses, and a lot of players ducked him his whole career.
Rangers had a massive culture change in the early 90's. They added Graves, Beukeboom, Kocur and of course Messier arrived shortly after. They bulked up. The never let anyone push them around. The end result was the first Stanley Cup in 54 years.
