...At least f my lifetime anyway. Not sure if this has been done here before, but if not here's my stab at it. Where I rank them, and also why.
Very hard for me to include some of the older fighters in my list, but that is only because what I have seen of them is old crappy footage, or just not enough to footage to make an accurate decision on where to list them all time. Here's my top 20of my lifetime anyway!
Hope any of you fight fans enjoy!
1) Bob Probert- Greatest heavyweight of all time. Not too much else to say that hasn't been said about him already in this thread. Probert did have it all, strong as an ox, reputation, punching power, stamina, balance, and a vicious temper. He was he total package, and never in his career could I really remember saying he didn't do his job. The guy stood the test of time. Never ducked anyone, especially the up and comers that a lot of vets think they are too good for. Almost always avenged his losses. Excellent fight card through the years. And fought and beat just about every heavy of his time...and the ones that beat him paid for it in the rematch.
2) Dave Brown- Maybe the best lefty in the game ever. I did get a good look at Brownie over the years, and IMO he definitely deserves the number 2 slot. Vicious punching power, size, strength, and good balance and at times a bigger rep that Probie had. I remember hearing other NHL enforcers claiming he was the best. That says a lot, coming from the guys he was fighting. He was one of the nicest guys off the ice, but on the ice, he was one of the meanest guys out there.
3) Behn Wilson- In the 30 minutes of footage that I have of him. I have to put him at number 3. If I had more footage, I might even rank him higher. He reminds me a lot of Probert. Mean SOB, with all the tools that Probie seemed to have. Size, strength, balance, and reputation. Also had very heavy hands. The one thing that I will never know for sure is what he did on a regular basis... I just don't remember that far back.
4) Marty McSorley- Another fighter who has stood the test of time. His stamina is legendary, and his fight card includes some of the best in the game. Another guy who was strong as an ox, and maybe he didn't have the best punching power, but he knew his role, and executed it well. McSorley had very few losses for a guy who did the deed as much as he did. Another guy that never ducked anyone too.
5) Clark Gillies- The guy was a monster. Kept a lot of people honest when he was on the ice. Vicious punching power, strong as hell. Probably should have fought more. In the fights I have seen of him he was dominating. First guy to ever p***yfy Dave Schultz. Everyone knew when he was on the ice. If he fought more, and had a bigger mean streak he could have been top 3.
6) Joey Kocur- My favorite fighter all time. Best puncher in the history of the game. Underrated accuracy, and a mean streak to go with it. Kocur definitely had one of the biggest reps ever. His biggest knock is his losses to lesser fighters like Raglan, Malakov, or Krupp etc. But always did his job, no matter how bad his hands were. Totally knew his role. His fight card is suspect, and I'm not so sure about his years in Detroit, but while with the Rangers he never ducked anyone. There were plenty of fighters to duck him during that time thought like a prime Brad May. I wish he would have danced with Dave Brown, I think that would have answered a lot of questions about how good he really was. Put McSorley in front of him, only for McSorleys win record which I think is a little better. Major wins over some of the leagues toughest opposition. Probert, Grimson, McSorley, Miller, May, Baumgartner etc.
7) Nicky Fotiu- Very talented fighter. Definitely kept a lot of players in check, but still I think the knock on him was his fight card. Should have fought more, a lot more and I think at the time there were players willing to go. In the ones that I have seen of him, he was a very skilled fighter. Some say he's the best ever, but if so why did he not have wars with Nystrom and Gillies? I think he lost to Nystrom later in his career, but during that rivalry he should have had at least 3 or 4 with each of them.
8) Glen Cochrane- Another guy who I only have limited footage of, but in what I have seen Cochrane was an animal. Size, power, skills. His fight with Bobby Nystrom was an eye opener. I have to put him above Nystrom after watching the footage. Played in a very tough era, and dismantled quite a few of the leagues elite fighters when he did.
9) Bobby Nystrom- If I did this list over in a week or so I may put Nystrom higher. I remember watching Islander/Ranger games as a kid and thinking that other than Fotiu who on the team there was nobody to take on Gillies or Nystrom. They may be the best 1, 2 combos of all time. Nystrom was a mean SOB also, and fought to win.
10) Tony Twist- Juiced up or not this guy was dominating in his day. Awesome puncher, and limited losses. Looked like he had a hard time finding people to fight him while in his prime. Thought he was the second coming of Joey Kocur, but his accident cut him short. IMO he would have been higher on the list if he played another 4 or 5 years. Classic stance, and had some great square-offs. Nobody swung for the fences more than him, cept for maybe Kocur!
11) Tim Hunter- Always thought he was a little on the boring side, but he was a great technical fighter. Not too many losses at all. Has excellent stamina, and balance. Strong as hell. Was a feared guy by other players, and has been mentioned by players as one of the toughest to ever play. Some of battles with McSorley and Odjick were legendary.
12) Tie Domi- A total freak of nature. Incredible chin, excellent stamina, and another fighter who stood the test of time. Love him or hate him, Tie Domi did his job, and did it well. Maybe the best sparkplug in the game especially in his early years. Tough to fight with his low center of gravity. Excellent fight card, is there anyone that he hasn't taken on? Some real big wins against some of the best the league has to offer. His wars with Rob Ray were incredible. Imagine Fotiu and Nystrom, or Gillies going at it like that?
13) Curt Fraser- Haven't seen enough of him, but in the little that I have seen I have to include him on the list. Awesome punching power. Devastating fighter. Look incredibly accurate, and obviously had KO power. Big win, and welcome to the league to a young Joey Kocur
14) Stu Grimson- Very tough guy, great punching power, strong, and his size made him tough to beat. Lacked good balance though. One of my favorite fighters, Grimson did his job well. He owned the league for a few seasons there in the mid 90's. He was the only guy to really have Darren Langdons number. If he locked you and and got the right going he was very tough to beat with his long reach.
15) Rob Ray- Gotta put him on the list. Has anyone ever KO'd or TKO'd more fighters than him? Maybe Kocur is up there also, but I can't take anything away from Rob Ray. Never saw a better turnaround in the fighter. He used to get his ass kicked every fight, but he found a way to turn it around. Huge wins over some of the league's best. The guy gave it to Dave Brown!!!
16) Craig Berube- The chief was an awesome fighter to watch over the years. His may have lacked punching power and his balance wasn't the best but he fought to win, and had some huge wins in his career. Domi and Probert to name a few. Totally did his job, and totally stood the test of time.
17) Stan Johnathan- Again limited in my footage, but what I have seen of him was just a damaging fighter. Punching power, and definitely fought to win. Great hand speed. Wish I got too see more of him. Would have loved to see him go with Domi!
18) Sandy McCarthy- Damn! what happened to this guy? Awesome toe to toe fighter. Took on everybody over the course of his career. Over his first 5 or 6 years in the league he had limited losses, but in the twilight he took a turn for the worse. At times forgot his role, and looked to become a goal scorer, but in his prime he had some serious wins over some great competition. IMO- did enough to make the top 20 list.
19) Darren Langdon- Wow! Maybe the best techical fighter ever! I guess he had to be as he wasen't the biggest or strongest guy. What he lacked in size though he made up for with the best stamina in any fighter I have ever seen, cept for maybe McSorley. Incredible counter puncher, won just about every second half of any fight I can remember him in.
20) Jay Miller- Had a great career in Boston and LA. What Miller lacked size, and punching power, he made up for it with stamina, and willingness. He did his job well, and didn't duck anyone. Amassed a ton of wins over his long career.
Left out some of the older fighters...mainly the nes before my time. It has been said by many in the fight community that Barry Beck never lost a fight. That may be true, but IMO he wasen't active enough. Can remember watching games as kid and thinking where is Barry during all this. He was good, but to categorize him as an enforcer to me was a stretch.
Also left out the Maloney's, Kurtenbeck's, and Playfair's- Only cause I didn't get to see too much if any of their ability. They were a little before my time...
Also note that I left any current players were also left off my list. And there are two that will certainly be added when they retire. Donald Brashear, and Georges Laraque might be two of the most devastating fighters to ever play the game. Incredible win/loss records, both have great fight cards, and both will probably wind up in the top 5 or 10 upon retirement.
Honorable Mentions- John Kordic, Darren Langdon, and Ken Baumgartner.
Very hard for me to include some of the older fighters in my list, but that is only because what I have seen of them is old crappy footage, or just not enough to footage to make an accurate decision on where to list them all time. Here's my top 20of my lifetime anyway!
Hope any of you fight fans enjoy!
1) Bob Probert- Greatest heavyweight of all time. Not too much else to say that hasn't been said about him already in this thread. Probert did have it all, strong as an ox, reputation, punching power, stamina, balance, and a vicious temper. He was he total package, and never in his career could I really remember saying he didn't do his job. The guy stood the test of time. Never ducked anyone, especially the up and comers that a lot of vets think they are too good for. Almost always avenged his losses. Excellent fight card through the years. And fought and beat just about every heavy of his time...and the ones that beat him paid for it in the rematch.
2) Dave Brown- Maybe the best lefty in the game ever. I did get a good look at Brownie over the years, and IMO he definitely deserves the number 2 slot. Vicious punching power, size, strength, and good balance and at times a bigger rep that Probie had. I remember hearing other NHL enforcers claiming he was the best. That says a lot, coming from the guys he was fighting. He was one of the nicest guys off the ice, but on the ice, he was one of the meanest guys out there.
3) Behn Wilson- In the 30 minutes of footage that I have of him. I have to put him at number 3. If I had more footage, I might even rank him higher. He reminds me a lot of Probert. Mean SOB, with all the tools that Probie seemed to have. Size, strength, balance, and reputation. Also had very heavy hands. The one thing that I will never know for sure is what he did on a regular basis... I just don't remember that far back.
4) Marty McSorley- Another fighter who has stood the test of time. His stamina is legendary, and his fight card includes some of the best in the game. Another guy who was strong as an ox, and maybe he didn't have the best punching power, but he knew his role, and executed it well. McSorley had very few losses for a guy who did the deed as much as he did. Another guy that never ducked anyone too.
5) Clark Gillies- The guy was a monster. Kept a lot of people honest when he was on the ice. Vicious punching power, strong as hell. Probably should have fought more. In the fights I have seen of him he was dominating. First guy to ever p***yfy Dave Schultz. Everyone knew when he was on the ice. If he fought more, and had a bigger mean streak he could have been top 3.
6) Joey Kocur- My favorite fighter all time. Best puncher in the history of the game. Underrated accuracy, and a mean streak to go with it. Kocur definitely had one of the biggest reps ever. His biggest knock is his losses to lesser fighters like Raglan, Malakov, or Krupp etc. But always did his job, no matter how bad his hands were. Totally knew his role. His fight card is suspect, and I'm not so sure about his years in Detroit, but while with the Rangers he never ducked anyone. There were plenty of fighters to duck him during that time thought like a prime Brad May. I wish he would have danced with Dave Brown, I think that would have answered a lot of questions about how good he really was. Put McSorley in front of him, only for McSorleys win record which I think is a little better. Major wins over some of the leagues toughest opposition. Probert, Grimson, McSorley, Miller, May, Baumgartner etc.
7) Nicky Fotiu- Very talented fighter. Definitely kept a lot of players in check, but still I think the knock on him was his fight card. Should have fought more, a lot more and I think at the time there were players willing to go. In the ones that I have seen of him, he was a very skilled fighter. Some say he's the best ever, but if so why did he not have wars with Nystrom and Gillies? I think he lost to Nystrom later in his career, but during that rivalry he should have had at least 3 or 4 with each of them.
8) Glen Cochrane- Another guy who I only have limited footage of, but in what I have seen Cochrane was an animal. Size, power, skills. His fight with Bobby Nystrom was an eye opener. I have to put him above Nystrom after watching the footage. Played in a very tough era, and dismantled quite a few of the leagues elite fighters when he did.
9) Bobby Nystrom- If I did this list over in a week or so I may put Nystrom higher. I remember watching Islander/Ranger games as a kid and thinking that other than Fotiu who on the team there was nobody to take on Gillies or Nystrom. They may be the best 1, 2 combos of all time. Nystrom was a mean SOB also, and fought to win.
10) Tony Twist- Juiced up or not this guy was dominating in his day. Awesome puncher, and limited losses. Looked like he had a hard time finding people to fight him while in his prime. Thought he was the second coming of Joey Kocur, but his accident cut him short. IMO he would have been higher on the list if he played another 4 or 5 years. Classic stance, and had some great square-offs. Nobody swung for the fences more than him, cept for maybe Kocur!
11) Tim Hunter- Always thought he was a little on the boring side, but he was a great technical fighter. Not too many losses at all. Has excellent stamina, and balance. Strong as hell. Was a feared guy by other players, and has been mentioned by players as one of the toughest to ever play. Some of battles with McSorley and Odjick were legendary.
12) Tie Domi- A total freak of nature. Incredible chin, excellent stamina, and another fighter who stood the test of time. Love him or hate him, Tie Domi did his job, and did it well. Maybe the best sparkplug in the game especially in his early years. Tough to fight with his low center of gravity. Excellent fight card, is there anyone that he hasn't taken on? Some real big wins against some of the best the league has to offer. His wars with Rob Ray were incredible. Imagine Fotiu and Nystrom, or Gillies going at it like that?
13) Curt Fraser- Haven't seen enough of him, but in the little that I have seen I have to include him on the list. Awesome punching power. Devastating fighter. Look incredibly accurate, and obviously had KO power. Big win, and welcome to the league to a young Joey Kocur
14) Stu Grimson- Very tough guy, great punching power, strong, and his size made him tough to beat. Lacked good balance though. One of my favorite fighters, Grimson did his job well. He owned the league for a few seasons there in the mid 90's. He was the only guy to really have Darren Langdons number. If he locked you and and got the right going he was very tough to beat with his long reach.
15) Rob Ray- Gotta put him on the list. Has anyone ever KO'd or TKO'd more fighters than him? Maybe Kocur is up there also, but I can't take anything away from Rob Ray. Never saw a better turnaround in the fighter. He used to get his ass kicked every fight, but he found a way to turn it around. Huge wins over some of the league's best. The guy gave it to Dave Brown!!!
16) Craig Berube- The chief was an awesome fighter to watch over the years. His may have lacked punching power and his balance wasn't the best but he fought to win, and had some huge wins in his career. Domi and Probert to name a few. Totally did his job, and totally stood the test of time.
17) Stan Johnathan- Again limited in my footage, but what I have seen of him was just a damaging fighter. Punching power, and definitely fought to win. Great hand speed. Wish I got too see more of him. Would have loved to see him go with Domi!
18) Sandy McCarthy- Damn! what happened to this guy? Awesome toe to toe fighter. Took on everybody over the course of his career. Over his first 5 or 6 years in the league he had limited losses, but in the twilight he took a turn for the worse. At times forgot his role, and looked to become a goal scorer, but in his prime he had some serious wins over some great competition. IMO- did enough to make the top 20 list.
19) Darren Langdon- Wow! Maybe the best techical fighter ever! I guess he had to be as he wasen't the biggest or strongest guy. What he lacked in size though he made up for with the best stamina in any fighter I have ever seen, cept for maybe McSorley. Incredible counter puncher, won just about every second half of any fight I can remember him in.
20) Jay Miller- Had a great career in Boston and LA. What Miller lacked size, and punching power, he made up for it with stamina, and willingness. He did his job well, and didn't duck anyone. Amassed a ton of wins over his long career.
Left out some of the older fighters...mainly the nes before my time. It has been said by many in the fight community that Barry Beck never lost a fight. That may be true, but IMO he wasen't active enough. Can remember watching games as kid and thinking where is Barry during all this. He was good, but to categorize him as an enforcer to me was a stretch.
Also left out the Maloney's, Kurtenbeck's, and Playfair's- Only cause I didn't get to see too much if any of their ability. They were a little before my time...
Also note that I left any current players were also left off my list. And there are two that will certainly be added when they retire. Donald Brashear, and Georges Laraque might be two of the most devastating fighters to ever play the game. Incredible win/loss records, both have great fight cards, and both will probably wind up in the top 5 or 10 upon retirement.
Honorable Mentions- John Kordic, Darren Langdon, and Ken Baumgartner.
