- Nov 2, 2003
- 31,703
- 4,176
I narrowed this down to just four different teams. Almost all of them won a Cup. Either way they were teams you wouldnt want to meet in an alley.
'68-74 Bruins - There were a lot of tough guys on this team. They werent called the Big Bad Bruins for nothing. You had a lot of players for some or all of these years. Ted Green, Bobby Orr, Wayne Cashman, Terry O'Reilly showed up in '72. Throw in a tough goalie like Cheevers and not to forget Derek Sanderson. This team had a lot of brawls. They won their Cups by talent as well, not just brute force. And hey lets not forget how well Orr was at dropping the gloves either.
'73-76 Flyers - This may be the favourite one. Yes they won two Cups and were dubbed the Broad Street Bullies. They did have Bobby Clarke, Bill Barber, Rick Macleish and Reggie Leach who could score. Not to mention Bernie Parent in net. But they are remembered for their toughness. Clarke could fight as good as anyone then there's Dave Schultz, Dupont, Kelly, Saleski. Schultz had 472 penalty minutes in '74-75 still a record. They bullied their way to two straight Cups and then sent the Russians home in '76. Now thats a tough team.
80s Islanders - This team had some feared fighters/tough guys. Clark Gillies, Denis Potvin, Gary Howatt all were tough as nails. Gillies beat the life out of Schultz in the '75 playoffs. He was rarely tested. Howatt was the goon on those teams and Nystrom was another player you never questioned. Plus Billy Smith might be the most feared goalie ever other than Hextall. The knock on this team was that I can remember a brawl in 1980 vs. the Bruins in the playoffs where the benches cleared and the Isles got their lunch handed to them by the Bruins.
'76-82 Bruins - This team had a ton of hard fighting tough guys. And they were successful too. Didnt win a Cup but were always in the mix every year. Cashman was still there, O'Reilly was still like a tazmanian devil, then there's Al Secord, Cheevers was still there, throw in Milbury and John Weinsink. Not to mention my favourite Stan Jonathan. He never in all of my recollections of him lost a fight. If there is one guy that I cant think of who ever lost a fight it was him. Plus this team was coached part of the time by Don Cherry. I like to point out that 1980 brawl with the Isles. The Bruins owned them. Jonathan bloddied Lorimer, Cashman pounded in Howatt after getting sucker punched and Secord flailed against an unknown Islander. Put this team against the Flyers and it would be pretty close IMO.
'68-74 Bruins - There were a lot of tough guys on this team. They werent called the Big Bad Bruins for nothing. You had a lot of players for some or all of these years. Ted Green, Bobby Orr, Wayne Cashman, Terry O'Reilly showed up in '72. Throw in a tough goalie like Cheevers and not to forget Derek Sanderson. This team had a lot of brawls. They won their Cups by talent as well, not just brute force. And hey lets not forget how well Orr was at dropping the gloves either.
'73-76 Flyers - This may be the favourite one. Yes they won two Cups and were dubbed the Broad Street Bullies. They did have Bobby Clarke, Bill Barber, Rick Macleish and Reggie Leach who could score. Not to mention Bernie Parent in net. But they are remembered for their toughness. Clarke could fight as good as anyone then there's Dave Schultz, Dupont, Kelly, Saleski. Schultz had 472 penalty minutes in '74-75 still a record. They bullied their way to two straight Cups and then sent the Russians home in '76. Now thats a tough team.
80s Islanders - This team had some feared fighters/tough guys. Clark Gillies, Denis Potvin, Gary Howatt all were tough as nails. Gillies beat the life out of Schultz in the '75 playoffs. He was rarely tested. Howatt was the goon on those teams and Nystrom was another player you never questioned. Plus Billy Smith might be the most feared goalie ever other than Hextall. The knock on this team was that I can remember a brawl in 1980 vs. the Bruins in the playoffs where the benches cleared and the Isles got their lunch handed to them by the Bruins.
'76-82 Bruins - This team had a ton of hard fighting tough guys. And they were successful too. Didnt win a Cup but were always in the mix every year. Cashman was still there, O'Reilly was still like a tazmanian devil, then there's Al Secord, Cheevers was still there, throw in Milbury and John Weinsink. Not to mention my favourite Stan Jonathan. He never in all of my recollections of him lost a fight. If there is one guy that I cant think of who ever lost a fight it was him. Plus this team was coached part of the time by Don Cherry. I like to point out that 1980 brawl with the Isles. The Bruins owned them. Jonathan bloddied Lorimer, Cashman pounded in Howatt after getting sucker punched and Secord flailed against an unknown Islander. Put this team against the Flyers and it would be pretty close IMO.
