Who was hockey's Pete Rose in relation to effort?

[Crosby2010]

Probably no one in baseball history played the game with so much heart and effort 100% of the time as Pete Rose. Known as "Charlie Hustle" he played as if it was his last. Probably would have bowled over his grandmother for a run. And in reality 10 years apart he did bowl over two catchers just for a run. 1970 All-Star game he ran over Ray Fosse who was blocking the plate. Everyone blames Rose for playing too hard in an All-Star game, but I always asked why was Fosse blocking the plate then? Can't blame Rose. Fosse is said to have never been the same after that. Perhaps, as he hit .307 that year and didn't do that again. But he did play until 1979 and still won two World Series. I don't know how good he may or may not have been, but either way his batting average was good in 1970 before and after the all-star break. The other time Rose bowled over a catcher was the 1980 NLCS when he elbowed Bruce Bochy to score the winning run in Game 4 as Bochy was bobbling the ball. Not to mention the way Rose slid into bases hands first. Maybe Ty Cobb played with more intensity, who knows, but Cobb had more talent than Rose. Rose did what he did based mostly on hard nosed playing and never quitting.

So who is hockey's version of this? Would it be Rocket Richard? Someone who is an all-time great but perhaps had less talent than others at the top but got by more on sheer tenacity and determination? Would it be Messier who would also elbow his own grandmother to win a game? For me I think Richard is the closest to Rose in this respect.

Any thoughts?

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[JackSlater]

Bobby Clarke came to mind for me, both for high motor game to game and the do anything to win mentality. Not an ultra athletic player. Even the odd scandal in the post-playing career.

I am not totally certain of how Rose played, though I know his nickname is Charlie Hustle and I have heard about the running over catchers things. Messier would take cheap shots to win, but he wasn't a player who went all out every game. It's possible that I misunderstand how Rose played, I'm not a baseball fan and just have a general understanding of the sport's history. Richard was known for his will but I'm not really sure how he was day to day as opposed to the big moments, where he is a legend.

 

[Crosby2010]

Bobby Clarke came to mind for me, both for high motor game to game and the do anything to win mentality. Not an ultra athletic player. Even the odd scandal in the post-playing career.

I am not totally certain of how Rose player, though I know his nickname is Charlie Hustle and I have heard about the running over catchers things. Messier would take cheap shots to win, but he wasn't a player who went all out every game. It's possible that I misunderstand how Rose played, I'm not a baseball fan and just have a general understanding of the sport's history. Richard was known for his will but I'm not really sure how he was day to day as opposed to the big moments, were he is a legend.

The big moments for sure Richard is right there with Rose. In fact, outside of Gretzky you can argue there isn't a more clutch forward in the history of the NHL. On a day to day basis I don't know if Richard is there with Rose. I am not sure who is. Rose got the nickname "Charlie Hustle" because even when the pitcher would walk him he would still run or jog hard to 1st base. Everything he did had a motor attached to it. Clarke is good with the winner take all mentality. Ironically the Broad Street Bullies and the Big Red Machine were both the cream of their sport's crop at the same time.

I'll throw another name out there, John Tonelli? Not as physical as Rose per se, but definitely did as much as he did because of effort and will to win.

 

[MS]

Maybe some combination of Maurice Richard's or Bobby Clarke's driven competitiveness and borderline dirtyness and Bryan Trottier's unrelenting hustle ... but probably a slightly less skilled player at his sport than any of those guys at their peak levels.

Hard to draw exact comparisons across sports.

 

[McGarnagle]

Terry O'Reilly?

 

[carjackmalone]

John Tonelli,Stan Smyl,Bobby Clarke.

 

[Bear of Bad News]

Smyl is a nice grab.

 

[PrimumHockeyist]

Kirk Muller had his moments

 

[JianYang]

The nhl season is a physical grinder and the players play an obscene amount of games considering it's physicality.

I don't know if it's even possible to play every single shift as if it is your last, especially for someone who would presumably play alot of minutes to equate their star power to Pete rose.

Maybe Claude lemieux to a certain extent but again, not the same star power as rose.

 

[authentic]

Peter Forsberg perhaps. I think Clarke is a good answer though

 

[MadLuke]

Baseball seem

The nhl season is a physical grinder and the players play an obscene amount of games considering it's physicality.

I don't know if it's even possible to play every single shift as if it is your last, especially for someone who would presumably play alot of minutes to equate their star power to Pete rose.

Maybe Claude lemieux to a certain extent but again, not the same star power as rose.

Considering Lemieux playoff resume versus regular season I am not sure if it work, seem a classic case of someone that rise its game in big one (i.e. exact opposite of playing every shift as a last one), I agree that hockey could not work outside 2way contract 4 liners that try to keep alive their spot in the nhl playing 10 minutes a night (when they are in a situation it is almost true that every shift could be their last in the league, they could be benched for the rest of the game and send down the next day)

Outside the violent intensity, the first name I had in mind was Gretzky, we can underrated how much genetic talent he had, vo2max, vision, brain speed it was really high, but how much of its level was driven by that mental engine-effort since he was a child to the end, still going at it in a 4-1 lead against a random team with the playoff locked...

To deliver so many time in the regular season, playoff, intel tournament, he could have been mostly being better than others, but a part must have been able to canalize effort into result because of that brain and a special level of constant effort.

 

[archangel2]

Lanny Macdinald

 

[Davenport]

Here's a name from way back: Bert Olmstead. His coaches loved him. His teammates? Nope. He never coasted, and was all over any teammate who did. Jean Beliveau talked about how no-nonsense Olmstead could be. His approach did not work in the NHL as a coach.

 

[overpass]

Rose's nickname Charlie Hustle was originally not a compliment. Like a guy playing a bit too hard who gets called a grinder by his more talented teammates.

For an NHL comparable of a guy who played a bit too hard, played forever, and ended up (almost) at the top of an all time leaderboard...what about Dale Hunter?

 

[Davenport]

Rose's nickname Charlie Hustle was originally not a compliment. Like a guy playing a bit too hard who gets called a grinder by his more talented teammates.

For an NHL comparable of a guy who played a bit too hard, played forever, and ended up (almost) at the top of an all time leaderboard...what about Dale Hunter?

Overpass, your avatar brings to mind another gentleman: Ted Lindsay. Despite his size, he succeeded as well as he did because he was fearless and relentless.

 

[Gordon Lightfoot]

Overpass, your avatar brings to mind another gentleman: Ted Lindsay. Despite his size, he succeeded as well as he did because he was fearless and relentless.

Lindsay was my first thought as well, though he might be more of a Ty Cobb.