Who was the best enforcer ever?

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GoneAway

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I was gonna say Bob Probert until I remembered that several years back in a charity hockey game, Tiger Williams beat the snot out of a Junior A player after being "pushed" around by the kid all night.


So my vote goes to the Tiger.
 

jb**

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Lordchezz said:
I was gonna say Bob Probert until I remembered that several years back in a charity hockey game, Tiger Williams beat the snot out of a Junior A player after being "pushed" around by the kid all night.


So my vote goes to the Tiger.
Dave Shultz IMO was fearded more than anyone. But you can't go wrong with Probert at all, espeically for the fact that his jersey is the only one I own. Being a Flyers fan I have been treated to some of the best: Dave Brown, Berube, Ben Wilson, Geln Cochran, Mel Bridgmen, tocchet
 

pld459666

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I agree with the pound for pound comment

Gee Wally said:
Schultz and Wensink are right up there...


but , the toughest guy I ever saw ...pound for pound...was Stan Jonathan.


But for the best enforcer ever, I like Probert in the late 80's early 90's

The guy could pound your lemon in and score 40+ points

While he played with Kocur there weren't 2 other guys I'd want over them.

The Bruise Brothers.
 

pld459666

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ya have to imagine the kid was itching for it

Lordchezz said:
I was gonna say Bob Probert until I remembered that several years back in a charity hockey game, Tiger Williams beat the snot out of a Junior A player after being "pushed" around by the kid all night.


So my vote goes to the Tiger.


At a charity game I'm sure that Williams was just looking to skate around. and if the kid was pushing him around you know he was also talking smack as well.

Good for Tiger.
 

MB1

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Bob Gassoff . . . no comparison . . . even the Flyers were afraid of him.
 

Gee Wally

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pld459666 said:
But for the best enforcer ever, I like Probert in the late 80's early 90's

The guy could pound your lemon in and score 40+ points

While he played with Kocur there weren't 2 other guys I'd want over them.

The Bruise Brothers.


Probert was tough...one ot the toughest , no doubt about it.

It's hard when you span generations.
It turns into a Marciano - Ali type of thing. makes great pub talk though.

Another was John Ferguson...he was tough and mean. Mean as they come.
 

mcphee

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I'd take Ferguson because he was tough,mean,and knew the job better than anyone else. The trouble with enforcers is often it becomes about them. Fergy knew when to fight,when to run a goalie, and could play alongside Beliveau and not hold back the line.
 

pld459666

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I have a hockey tape where

Gee Wally said:
Probert was tough...one ot the toughest , no doubt about it.

It's hard when you span generations.
It turns into a Marciano - Ali type of thing. makes great pub talk though.

Another was John Ferguson...he was tough and mean. Mean as they come.

Jonathan bloodied a Habs player and I can't remember who it was, but the guy bled all over the Referee.

The Montreal player was considerably taller than Stan but who wasn't?

Great little fire hydrant Jonathan
 

Pepper

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I'm pretty certain it was Bouchard who was bleeding like hell after the fight with Stan.

Pound for pound the toughest NHL-player ever along with Tiger Williams, that's for sure.
 

c-carp

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Lordchezz said:
I was gonna say Bob Probert until I remembered that several years back in a charity hockey game, Tiger Williams beat the snot out of a Junior A player after being "pushed" around by the kid all night.


So my vote goes to the Tiger.
The one and only Bob Probert in my opinion.
 

crosby_87

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Peter Worrell has established himself as feared in the NHL i think. I know hes not near the best ever, but he deserves some mention :handclap:
 

Habs Icing

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mcphee said:
I'd take Ferguson because he was tough,mean,and knew the job better than anyone else. The trouble with enforcers is often it becomes about them. Fergy knew when to fight,when to run a goalie, and could play alongside Beliveau and not hold back the line.


If we consider the effect players had in their era then I'd say John Ferguson. The man dominated other teams. You think the Habs are small now, well they were small when they were winning their cups in the sixties and it was all because Ferguson destroyed anyone that went near his teammates. An excellent hockey player on top of that. And I don't remember if Sam Pollock saidthis before he drafted Lafleur and gainey but I can recall him telling an interviewer that Ferguson was his best acquistion.
 

Steelhead16

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I think it's interesting that John Ferguson, Tiger Williams and Bob Probert keep popping up as the best. If you go back and look at those 3 careers there is a 2 year overlap from one "Best Enforcer" to the next. I went back and checked the numbers because I could make an argument for all 3 guys. All 3 played in an All Star Game, all 3 could score and fight and seemed to be able to distinguish between the right and wrong times to do so. Ferguson had the highest points per game but had the shortest NHL career. Williams had the most PIMs but had the longest career and Probert was probably the most feared guy of his time but I think that's because the game was changing and there weren't as many tough guys in the league during his career.
So after all of this heavy reading I still can't pick one. They all played in a different era and there are too many variables. I think they were all the best of their time, Ferguson passed the torch to Williams and Williams passed it to Probert and unfortunately I think the NHL has extingushed the flame and it won't be lit again.
 

c-carp

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Steelhead16 said:
I think it's interesting that John Ferguson, Tiger Williams and Bob Probert keep popping up as the best. If you go back and look at those 3 careers there is a 2 year overlap from one "Best Enforcer" to the next. I went back and checked the numbers because I could make an argument for all 3 guys. All 3 played in an All Star Game, all 3 could score and fight and seemed to be able to distinguish between the right and wrong times to do so. Ferguson had the highest points per game but had the shortest NHL career. Williams had the most PIMs but had the longest career and Probert was probably the most feared guy of his time but I think that's because the game was changing and there weren't as many tough guys in the league during his career.
So after all of this heavy reading I still can't pick one. They all played in a different era and there are too many variables. I think they were all the best of their time, Ferguson passed the torch to Williams and Williams passed it to Probert and unfortunately I think the NHL has extingushed the flame and it won't be lit again.
great post steelhead. I hope the Physical stuff picks up again as well. the NHL misses the boat on this whole aspect.
 

td_ice

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Mister Hockey said:
Bob "Battleship" Kelly, I never saw him loose a fight.

I'll second that.

And Bob would agree with you. I heard him in an interview, and he said exactly that. That he never lost a fight. I never saw it happen, or heard of it.
 

Stiffler

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How about Chris Nilan? Talk about a great enforcer and a more than decent hockey player. He even scored 21 goals in the mid 80s...
 
onice said:
If we consider the effect players had in their era then I'd say John Ferguson. The man dominated other teams. You think the Habs are small now, well they were small when they were winning their cups in the sixties and it was all because Ferguson destroyed anyone that went near his teammates. An excellent hockey player on top of that. And I don't remember if Sam Pollock saidthis before he drafted Lafleur and gainey but I can recall him telling an interviewer that Ferguson was his best acquistion.

Not only that, but the year before he retired, his teammates voted John Ferguson MVP. Everyone in that dressing room knew how much big John meant and they made sure he knew how respected he was by the people who mattered most to him: his teammates.
 
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