Who's the Toughest Goon in NHL History?

[Fatass]

Goon implies the only role for the player was fighting because they wouldn’t be in the league if fighting wasn’t allowed. So the historic tough guys, who could actually play, wouldn’t qualify.

 

[Dread Clawz]

Worrell and Boogard have to be top 5 on any list. Absolutely massive dudes who were always willing.

 

[Bring Bak Damphousse]

Teams now barely get to like 600 as a team.

Sprague Cleghorn would grease up the end of his stick so he could spear people fast and easy. He'd practice doing so, so the other team could see him doing it and know what they're in for.

Dude was also born in the 1800s so he's gotta be up there.

Steve McIntyre was big and crazy, so maybe him as a name that hasn't been mentioned yet ?

Cleghorn fits the bill, his D partner Billy Coutu was pretty bad too.

 

[Ghost of Murph]

Hart and Norris winners listed in this thread. People need to learn what a goon is. A goon is a player who has little to no purpose on the ice other than fighting, dishing out illegal hits, and intimidating other players.

Tough guys, great hitters, and top fighters are not automatically goons. Most of the players in this thread had roles other than those of a goon.

 

[blackjackmulligan]

Ben Wilson
Probert
Both Kordics
Dave Brown

Way to many to list. How about what tough guy was a punching bag? Francois Leroux? Enrico Ciccone?

 

[PavelBure10]

Ben Wilson
Probert
Both Kordics
Dave Brown

Way to many to list. How about what tough guy was a punching bag? Francois Leroux? Enrico Ciccone?

Punching bag

Kelly Buchberger and Jeff Odgers

Toughest SOB's

Probert, Brown, Wilson, Jonathan, Gaetz, Kocur, McSorley, Semenko, Domi, Twist, Ferguson

 

[Perfect_Drug]

Did Derek Boogaard ever lose one.

Probert could actually play.

I'd give at least couple of these fights to Laraque:


First and last are Laraque, the other 2 are debatable.


This is a hard list to disagree with:

All-Time Most Feared Fighters in the NHL

Hockey has always had a reputation for being more than just a graceful glide across the ice. It is an intense and sometimes brutal contest. The best hockey fighters in the history of the NHL are celebrated as legends in the sport. They are the warriors who stood toe-to-toe and sometimes dropped...

www.ranker.com

 

[voyageur]

Bob Probert. - Dominate, plus useful.
Joey Kocur. - Maybe the hardest hitting player ever.
Tie Domi. - Possibly the toughest guy on this list.
Stu Grimson. - A real monster... 6'5, 240-250lbs.
Rob Ray. - Got rules changed because of him. Domi/Ray had like 10 plus fights.

I actually heard a good story about Joe Kocur going back to his Saskatoon Blades years, when Brian Skrudland was captain, and they hazed him by shaving his privates, for which Kocur promised revenge. Amd would chase Screwy off the ice in the NHL. Not sure if he ever got it, but I do remember he ended Jim Kyte's legacy on the Jets.

 

[Silky Johnson]

Troy Crowder.

 

[RooBicks]

Probert usually is the consensus but I've seen him lose fights while I never saw his former teammate Joey Kocur lose one.

Yes, but part of that was that Probert was king of the hill and the enforcer measuring stick for YEARS during an era when teams were loading up on enforcer types and I doubt if the guy ever turned down a fight. Also worth noting: of all those fights, he almost never lost, and never lost badly. And he NEVER lost twice to the same guy - second time around always went badly for them.