imo there are distinctions between gritty and scrappy and chippy and tough. i can't really articulate what they specifically, at least not without devoting a lot more thought to this, but when i think of gritty the first name that comes to mind, for whatever reason, is john tonelli. no, not a superstar. but what are the defining tonelli characteristics? hard to play against, unrelenting in his will to get the puck, will go anywhere and do anything to get it, will withstand anything to keep it. lives along the boards and in the corners, prefers to go a shorter distance through contact than a longer distance around it.
fwiw, when i think of scrappy i think theo fleury. when i think of chippy i think pat verbeek. when i think of tough, i think cam neely. and then there's a whole universe of other related adjectives: feisty, abrasive, tenacious, physical, heavy, truculent...
