Top 10 Toughest Bruins

[doc5hole]

Edestrand was well known for beating up Orr but other than that?

His fights were brief and forgettable, but he always dismissed his opponent with amusing proficiency. BTW, 2-0 vs. Orr, one of few guys Orr had a tough time with (Paiment -- Rosie, not Wilf, and Quinn obviously and Flett).

 

[doc5hole]

Carlelton over Cashman- Carlton on the list? missing that Mick; also, Neely was not a bad fighter- forget the end of the line guy who fought Wendell Clark; he fought to hurt. Nothing staged there.

I'm a huge Cash fan, but I gotta admit he took as much as he gave, which is a lot. Way too close to .500 for a guy who fought as much as he did over the first five years of his career. Carleton was a scary beast, Chara-like in his day.

Neely, like Orr, seemed to be an especially dangerous man when angry.

 

[MasqueOfTheRedDeath*]

Rob DiMaio and P.J Stock should make this list. How many surgeries did Rob have to fix his nose? It was scary. Also, a cheap shot artist like Clarke deserves to be nowhere near the top ten all time. He was tough because he had backup. The guy was a putz, first class level.

 

[jgatie]

Rob DiMaio and P.J Stock should make this list. How many surgeries did Rob have to fix his nose? It was scary. Also, a cheap shot artist like Clarke deserves to be nowhere near the top ten all time. He was tough because he had backup. The guy was a putz, first class level.

Truer words never spoken. Clarke was a dirty cheapshot artist who only fought when somebody forced him to; more like Tomas 'The Turtleneck" Plekanec than any true tough guy. I'll never forget the net-front scrum in '73, when Clarke was carving up anyone he could with his stick and an apoplectic Bobby Orr tried to get at Clarke and rip his face off. Clarke turtled like Claude Freaking Lemieux.

 

[Therick67]

Nope not at all. Nilan was one mean guy and could fight. So, he had about 30 fights in his 2 plus seasons with the Bs but that one fight sums it up for you? The guy was feared, and he didn't get Knuckles Nilan because he was a punching bag.

Milan is one tough guy but the game has changed, he really has not walloped on anyone outside Komisarik. He wins fights but he doesn't crush guys like Nilan did. Please don't screw up my meaning here into something I didn't say. Milan is a tough SOB but to me, he doesn't crack the top 10. 35 years of watching and remembering Bruin hockey, it's not like I just started last week.

Go ahead and list all those guys Nilan 'walloped' as a Bruin for me, because I recall him getting fed by McKenzie more than anything.

Milan isn't/wasn't a goon like Nilan, he can play the game and has fought plenty of tough guys, walloped or not. He can also throw some body checks.

Been watching hockey for 35 plus years myself. Nilan as a Bruin shouldn't be ranked ahead of Lucic, he just shouldn't be.

 

[Shoebottom]

The toughest is Chara. Whatever your interpretation of that word is. With all due respect to past Bruin goons and tough guys, he can beat them all. He can play through pain. And he can intimidate like no other player.

Campbell should be in the top ten just for his willingness to absorb pain. How tough do you have to be to fight every game knowing you probably gonna lose anyways?

Lucic
Neely
Belanger
Stock
Miller
Byers
S Thornton
Oliwa

Can't go past 1986

 

[BoyntBergie]

I'm a huge Cash fan, but I gotta admit he took as much as he gave, which is a lot. Way too close to .500 for a guy who fought as much as he did over the first five years of his career. Carleton was a scary beast, Chara-like in his day.

Neely, like Orr, seemed to be an especially dangerous man when angry.

I have to confess to having never even heard of the guy before this thread. Then I read that he was on Sanderson's wing when Orr scored the Cup-winner. Learn something new every day.

I'm intrigued further by his numbers though. Several people list him as one of the all time toughest B's, yet his PIMs were straight up Lady Byng like. His NHL season high was 45 in 76 games. 67 in 111 career games as a B.

Found this too:

 

[Therick67]

I have to confess to having never even heard of the guy before this thread. Then I read that he was on Sanderson's wing when Orr scored the Cup-winner. Learn something new every day.

I'm intrigued further by his numbers though. Several people list him as one of the all time toughest B's, yet his PIMs were straight up Lady Byng like. His NHL season high was 45 in 76 games. 67 in 111 career games as a B.

Found this too:

I've heard of him, but never about how tough he was...

 

[jgatie]

Found this too:

Boy, Bobby wasn't scared of anyone. Love the two-hander at the beginning. He'd get 4 games for that today.

 

[bobber]

Back in the day I believe it was the now extinct Toronto Telegram that asked the refs who were the toughest players in the league. I think it was a top ten thing. Orland Kurtenback (sp) was ranked number one. Orr ranked number two.

 

[jgatie]

Back in the day I believe it was the now extinct Toronto Telegram that asked the refs who were the toughest players in the league. I think it was a top ten thing. Orland Kurtenback (sp) was ranked number one. Orr ranked number two.

"The best fighter in the history of hockey was Bobby Orr. Nobody had better leverage on his skates and nobody had quicker hands, so he could have licked anybody he wanted to . . . if he wanted to."

- Johnny 'Pie' McKenzie