The Top 20 Greatest Enforcers Of All Time

[VelvetJones]

Laraque would destroy any on that top 20 list in a best out of 3.

 

[Brownies]

Laraque would destroy any on that top 20 list in a best out of 3.

I agree, but I'd like to see him against Chara or Pronger. Souray is a beast too. These guys aren't enforcers, but I think they can handle anybody in the leage. I don't watch every NHL games, so somebody will probably prove me wrong...

 

[Bourque]

Honor & Courage - Tough Guys of the NHL (2005)

Is this good? Honor & Courage - Tough Guys of the NHL (2005) Here's a review: "By A. T. K. williams "'Tiger' Williams" (London, UK) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME) As a life long hockey player (and fan), I have always appreciated the role and character of the hockey enforcer. This DVD takes a general look at the role of enforcing and in-depth looks into Darren McCarty, Eric Cairns; Jim McKenzie and Ian Laperierre. Each segment provides interesting insights into the psychology needed for such a tough role (excuse the pun) and are laced with humour (especially on the Lappy section). Oh, and their wives are hot too... Well worth the 15 bucks." http://www.amazon.com/Honor-Courage...ef=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1198037884&sr=1-8

 

[HandshakeLine]

I know they're non-enforcers, but I think Chris Chelios, Brendan Shanahan, and Keith Tkachuk are tough. Do you guys think they're tough? Do you think they can fight or do you think they are Gretzkys?

I'm sure they can fight, and in fact, I'm pretty sure I've seen Shanahan fight but I'll have to check on it. But they're not nearly as tough as far as non enforcers go as people like Robinson, Tocchet, Neely, Gillies, etc., IMO.

 

[Bourque]

I'm sure they can fight, and in fact, I'm pretty sure I've seen Shanahan fight but I'll have to check on it. But they're not nearly as tough as far as non enforcers go as people like Robinson, Tocchet, Neely, Gillies, etc., IMO.

Thanks!

 

[stugotz]

Great list you have there, Im a big fan of the fighting side of hockey, Ive composed a top ten list in the past that i based on fight tapes, fight clips ive seen, im only 22 so i didnt get to live the 70's, but i do have many fight tapes from that era, and have seen alot of people go at it. The only era I havent gotten to watch was before the 70's, buys like Howe, Ferguson, Fontinato, etc I never go to watch so dont expect to see them on my list only because i have no opinion on fighters i havent seen.

Here's my top 10:

1. Bob Probert
2. Dave Brown
3. Behn Wilson
4. Nick Fotiu
5. Clark Gillies
6. Bob Nystrom
7. Larry Playfair
8. Terry O'Rielly
9. Stan Jonathan
10. Chirs Nilan

HM: Tie Domi, Marty McSorely, Dave Semenko, John Kordic, Stu Grimson, Donald Brashear, Joey Kocur.

Omissions:

Wendel Clark: Ive seen a couple people mention him, but while im a Leafs fan and a big fan of Clark, he doesnt deserve to be on it, mainly because clark was a spot picker, he would fight alot of non-fighters and beat them sensless, but when it came time to fight the biggest and baddest Clark had trouble, i wouldnt say he's far from the top 20 but not nessissarily in it, because of his weak fight card.

Dave "The Hammer" Shultz: He faught alot of people, but when he faught the big boys he would get beaten, Shultz was great to have on the ice in a brawl, when he would get paired up with a weaker guy, but toe to toe with the likes of Robinson, O'Riely, Johnathan, Gillies etc he would seem to lose.

 

[cupcrazyman]

This season's GHHs (Gordie Howe hat trick = goal, assist, fight in 1 game):

Milan Lucic (Bos) 10/12/2007
Daymond Langkow (Cgy) 10/18/2007
Corey Perry (Ana) 11/3/2007
Sean Avery (NYR)11/10/2007
Rick Nash (Clb) 11/14/2007
Zdeno Chara (Bos) 11/17/2007
Jarome Iginla (Cgy) 12/1/2007

point takin'. but mentioning Corey Perry's name in an Enforcers thread is the funniest thing i've heard all week.

 

[backliner]

...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.

I'm totally with you on Probert. The man was just plain scary, and a rare one who seemed to scare the bejesus out of other enforcers! (Whether they cared to admit it or not!)

Maybe it's an age thing, but I find it interesting that you have left out Dave "Hammer" Schultz of Philly. Not that I mind, since I hated the guy's guts like I never hated before. But if you saw Gillies, Nystrom and some of those others, they played against Hammer, who hung it up in '80.

I would say, though, that after '76 or so, Hammer had definitely lost his belt, and became just another big stiff on the wing.

I'd be curious to know what you place more weight on here, the enforcer who can also play hockey, or the one who is strictly a goon who can duke it out? You have some of both here, Probert filling the former category (when he was healthy), and certainly Gillies was an awesome player, with Nystrom not far behind. But you have also honored plenty of pure goons, like Brown, Kocur and Twist.

Finally, while I couldn't care less that you omitted Schultz, I think one guy belongs somewhere here: Boston's Terry O'Reilly. I know you saw him, as he played until '85, but he always gets left off these lists, maybe because people remember him as a "real" player. But I put him up there with Gillies, as a guy who played serious hockey, never looked for fights, but once in a while, when challenged, he'd step up and crush somebody.

There was a very good reason why very few did challenge O'Reilly: you didn't mess with him. But I have this memory of some Saturday Game of the Week back in the '70s, Bruins-Flyers, and everyone knew going in that Hammer wanted Terry O. The latter said nothing, but eventually the moment came, they lined up and...TO absolutely crushed him, on national TV. That may have been the moment that the Hammer's rep took a beating, and from then on he was nobody.

 

[Puck Dogg]

Tie Domi as all time top- 20 enforcer? I respect the guy for his career and all, but there just is no freakin' way he would make this list. 270 fights and over 1000 NHL games are impressing numbers, but Domi.. meh.

 

[HandshakeLine]

HM: Tie Domi, Marty McSorely, Dave Semenko, John Kordic, Stu Grimson, Donald Brashear, Joey Kocur.

Why Brashear and not Laraque, just out of curiosity?

 

[Lion Hound]

I'm totally with you on Probert. The man was just plain scary, and a rare one who seemed to scare the bejesus out of other enforcers! (Whether they cared to admit it or not!)

Maybe it's an age thing, but I find it interesting that you have left out Dave "Hammer" Schultz of Philly. Not that I mind, since I hated the guy's guts like I never hated before. But if you saw Gillies, Nystrom and some of those others, they played against Hammer, who hung it up in '80.

I would say, though, that after '76 or so, Hammer had definitely lost his belt, and became just another big stiff on the wing.

I'd be curious to know what you place more weight on here, the enforcer who can also play hockey, or the one who is strictly a goon who can duke it out? You have some of both here, Probert filling the former category (when he was healthy), and certainly Gillies was an awesome player, with Nystrom not far behind. But you have also honored plenty of pure goons, like Brown, Kocur and Twist.

Finally, while I couldn't care less that you omitted Schultz, I think one guy belongs somewhere here: Boston's Terry O'Reilly. I know you saw him, as he played until '85, but he always gets left off these lists, maybe because people remember him as a "real" player. But I put him up there with Gillies, as a guy who played serious hockey, never looked for fights, but once in a while, when challenged, he'd step up and crush somebody.

There was a very good reason why very few did challenge O'Reilly: you didn't mess with him. But I have this memory of some Saturday Game of the Week back in the '70s, Bruins-Flyers, and everyone knew going in that Hammer wanted Terry O. The latter said nothing, but eventually the moment came, they lined up and...TO absolutely crushed him, on national TV. That may have been the moment that the Hammer's rep took a beating, and from then on he was nobody.

On Schultz- It was definately an age thing. Yes he played around the time of Gillies, Nystrom, and Fotiu, but IMO in the late 70's guys like Wilson, Gillies, Fotiu and Nystrom proved they were the dominating enforcers of thier time..More so than Schultz did anyway....Plus, I hated the fact that anytime a member of the Broadstreet Bullies had a fight, there were three others willing to jump in if someone starting getting the better of him...Like the Gillies fight. Clark really started feeding him rights and I think it was Kelley that jumped in and grabbed Gillies. On Schultz, at one point he was probably considered the champ, but that was just slightly before my time, and in the encounters I did see of him, I think a lot of that was based on rep alone, and when he did go one on one later, he was exposed as a very beatable fighter.

I didn't rerally put too much weight on playing ability here. I think that is a whole nother thread in itself, and would certainly have the Cam Neeley's, the Brendan Shannahan's, the Wendel Clark's etc. I really just wanted to point out the best enforcers, based first on fighting ability, 2nd on willingness to do his job, and 3rd win/loss records.

To elaborate on that.

A guy like Probert has all three areas covered. He was as good a fighter as anyone I can ever remember. Had the ability to switch hands...he had real solid punching power, threw over hand rights better maybe than anyone cept for guys like Kimble and Churla, but also had the big uppercuts. His stamina was legendary, and the guy had one of the best chins ever! For willingness, Probert never ducked anyone! Took on all comers, whether they were rookies trying to earn thier stripes, or grissled Vets...Probert has arguably the best fight card of all time. But most impressive here is his win/loss. Probert truly dominated for a period of almost 10 years. Really pounded the opposition, and in unlikely scenerio where he did lose a fight or two, he always rebounded win a huge win...two instances are the Crowder, and Ewen fights.

I am and always was a huge Terry O'Reilly fan. Not too many guys out there with wins over Clark Gillies on thier resume's! O'Reilly was a great fighter, and a better overall player than most on the list. I did manage to leave him out of the top 20, not for what he lacked, but for what others on the list did in thier time on thier respective teams. The argument could certainly be made for him to be on that list.

 

[Bullet]

Tony Twist is top 20 IMO

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=38EhaJ3iJGU

 

[vivianmb]

I'd disagree with that. A team doesn't need a consistent 30 goal scorer sitting in the penalty box. Gillies was happy to let his mere presence act as a deterrent. He didn't go looking for trouble. After his first few fights, nobody (except O'Reilly) wanted to challenge him. The fact that so many of the NHL heavyweights never tried their luck with Gillies speaks volumes about how much his fighting ability was respected.

the man NEVER had 100 PIM's in a season., because the rest of the league FEARED him ... and for the record behn wilson did beat him once while he was on philly. but gillies beat wilson more than once also.
as for Nick Fotiou, Jack Carlson(yes "the hanson bros. ")annhialated him in the '76 ( i believe)wha playoffs minnesota vs. hartford.

 

[vivianmb]

What about Steve Durbano? The "Hanson brothers" and "Ogie Oglethorp" were based on him. I also gotta say Link Getez too should crack a top 20 list.

ogie ogelthorpe was based on bill "goldie"goldthorpe.
and the "hansons" were actually the Carlsons .
check out the book "the rebel leauge". about the wha. some cool stories in there.

 

[VanIslander]

A Top-10 Enforcers list of all time without Dave Semenko isn't worth reading.

Seriously.

Cementhead might not have been the quickiest puncher or most nimble fighter but that ox dang sure was unsurpassed in the enforcing dep't.

 

[Lion Hound]

ogie ogelthorpe was based on bill "goldie"goldthorpe.
and the "hansons" were actually the Carlsons .
check out the book "the rebel leauge". about the wha. some cool stories in there.

NBC did a pretty good job with the Bill Goldthorpe segment of the Ice Bowl. Good stuff, didn't know Bob Costas started in hockey. He and I both went to the same high school. Anyway, just thought it was great to see them dip into what the old school guys were really like.

Then to dip into the Milbury and the rest of the B's climbing the glass in the garden and going at it with the fans. Very surprised that they NHL would show that now on tv. Almost like they are changing thier tune, and now showcasing some of the legends, and classic experiences the league once had. I'll bet Bettman wasn't too happy with those clips, or the commentators actually pumping up Crosby for his fight with Ference the other night.

 

[vivianmb]

NBC did a pretty good job with the Bill Goldthorpe segment of the Ice Bowl. Good stuff, didn't know Bob Costas started in hockey. He and I both went to the same high school. Anyway, just thought it was great to see them dip into what the old school guys were really like.

Then to dip into the Milbury and the rest of the B's climbing the glass in the garden and going at it with the fans. Very surprised that they NHL would show that now on tv. Almost like they are changing thier tune, and now showcasing some of the legends, and classic experiences the league once had. I'll bet Bettman wasn't too happy with those clips, or the commentators actually pumping up Crosby for his fight with Ference the other night.

didnt get to see nbc. when i did turn it on i saw costas and turned it right off. what did they say about goldie?

 

[Lion Hound]

didnt get to see nbc. when i did turn it on i saw costas and turned it right off. what did they say about goldie?

They talked about how he was one of the most colorful players ever in the game, but didn't really go into too much detail...Costas though said that he was traveling with the team for w hile from city to city, and doing thier commentary. Apprarantly Goldthorpe didn't like Costas too much, and finally on a long bus ride he leaned over and grabbed the paper Costas was readig and ripped it up into shreds! Costas then replied, "don't worry Goldie...I'll teach you to read!" Of course Goldthorpe had to be restrained by the team after that.

There was more, but I forgot alot of it. There is an excellent Goldthorpe thread on FC now. Real classic stories.