Rank the top 10 fighters in Sabres history

[heartsabres*]

Hmmmm...

1) Brad May -- explosive first punch from either hand, feared by many
2) Larry Playfair -- earned the team a lot of space in his day, feared by many
3) Rob Ray -- game to go with everyone, had his own rule instated about tie-downs; longevity
4) Jim Schoenfeld -- stood up to the Big Bad Bruins almost single-handedly
5) Mike Foligno -- could play, could police, let no one get away with things against his teammates on the ice
6) Jerry Korab -- Kong, especially when he got angry
7) Mike Hartman -- not big, but he would go
8) Gord Donnelly -- a fearsome heavyweight
9) Kevin Maguire -- began the transition away from prissy hockey... nothing like the game he took on the entire Wings by running Chevy after Probert ran Barrasso
10) Danny Gare -- Kid could and would go, he was like the little brother who will fight anyone of his big brother friends and keeps coming back no matter how many knuckles he eats

HM -- Jan Ludvig. Repeated knee injuries ended his time here, but he was a nutbar and fought whenver he had to and seemingly whenever he could when was healthy.

I know Brad May for a fact was feared by the opposing team. Very respected and if I can remember would take martial arts in the offseason.
I remember many players turning down fighting with May just to fight with Rob Ray.
It is not so easy to go back 15 years but I believe it was Scott Pearson who refused to fight him after playing for the sabres, I also remember a washignton player and a canuck player(who were tough) Refusing to fight Brad May.

 

[ckg927]

Nice to see Maguire getting some love on the list.

Also on the HM list-maybe because he didn't get into enough fights(mainly due to him being a goalie): Steve Shields.

 

[TheMistyStranger]

My favorite single fight was one of Jean Luc Grand-Pierre's. You know in wrestling, where they do the forearm pounding on the other guy's back? He did it in a fight, and it went on for what seemed like a solid minute. He basically just pounded the guy down. It was the most one-sided fight I had ever seen.

 

[5 Minute Major]

Best fighter in the pure sense of the word was probably Val James. But he only played 7 games.

Yep.....he took apart Terry O'Reilly, which was no small feat.

I think he kicked the crap out of Cashman as well if my mind serves me correctly.

 

[5 Minute Major]

1- Val James
2- Larry Playfair
3- Clark Gillies....yep, he did play for the Sabres and was still a great fighter
4- Dave Schultze (see above)
5- Brad May
6- Rob Ray
7- Jerry Korab
8- Kevin Maguire
9- Lee Fogolin- rarely challenged and there was a reason for that
10- Matt Barnaby

 

[SabresFan26]

1- Val James
2- Larry Playfair
3- Clark Gillies....yep, he did play for the Sabres and was still a great fighter
4- Dave Schultze (see above)
5- Brad May
6- Rob Ray
7- Jerry Korab
8- Kevin Maguire
9- Lee Fogolin- rarely challenged and there was a reason for that
10- Matt Barnaby

One of the best lists yet imo

 

[SuperNintendoChalmrs]

Says "Top 10 Fighters in Sabres history"... so I'll just stick with their Sabres tenure... with all due respect to Clark Gillies and Dave Schultz.

There's a clear top 3

1. Playfair

2. Ray

3. May


After this point you can go with guys who fought continually with mixed results... like Barnaby, Boulton, Maguire, Hartman... Gord Donnelly.

Danny Gare is vastly underrated. He fought Gillies to at least a draw once, if not a slight advantage. He beat up Mel Bridgman, would fight Stan Jonathan.

Mike Ramsey could handle himself well. Check out his one fight against... it's either Mario Tremblay or Doug Risebrough... that arguably is the most one-sided fight to the advantage of a Sabres player.

Schoenfeld didn't fight very frequently. I don't recall ever seeing a Korab fight.

 

[Royisgone]

Has anyone mentioned Bob Halkidis?

Steve Dykstra?

Perhaps the most underrated fighter in Sabres history is Jan Ludvig. Small guy, tough as nails, and he could really fight well.

I remember him throwing a devastating right that TKO'd Scott Mellanby.

I believe Roby once said of Ludvig: "From the waist up, he's built like a blacksmith".

2 other guys that come to mind are Kevin McClelland and Wayne Van Dorp.

I saw each fight in a Sabres uniform in training camp out at Sabreland. I don't think either actually played as a Sabre in a real game though.

 

[Whammer]

Schoenfeld didn't fight very frequently. I don't recall ever seeing a Korab fight.

Schoney did and pounded quite a few players in his day. Just ask Wayne Cashman and the Bruins. After 300+ PIM's in his first 3 years, he didn't have to fight because no one wanted to challenge him.

In regards to Kong, Terry Ruskowski called and said both Kong's should be in the Top 10. (for those who saw him destroy Terry and give him double-vision)