Who is the hardest hitter in NHL history?

[FissionFire]

Konstantinov was a pretty brutal hitter in his day.

 

[#66]

That I've seen... Stevens and Tinordi were the first to come to mind. The thing about Tinordi was that he was so big and mobile that it seemed that nothing get past him.

 

[seventieslord]

In my time (beginning around 1990), Scott Stevens is the obvious choice for open ice checks.

On the forecheck, I've never seen anyone hit like Lindros used to in the corners.

couldn't have said it better myself. In our generation, Lindros was the biggest beast of a forechecker ever, I can say that comfortably because players just weren't as big as him before the 90's, and on defense, Stevens eclipses all others, however, he may not be the hardest hitter of all-time. Certainly the hardest I've seen though.

 

[Jysk]

couldn't have said it better myself. In our generation, Lindros was the biggest beast of a forechecker ever, I can say that comfortably because players just weren't as big as him before the 90's, and on defense, Stevens eclipses all others, however, he may not be the hardest hitter of all-time. Certainly the hardest I've seen though.

Amen to that

Stevens and Lindros

 

[JonathanK]

i always loved how rob blake hits with his ass... i'm my time (not being very old) i'd have to go with stevens and phaneuf... i was about 5 when lindros was wrecking people so i can't really remember

 

[Greeneye]

ask kevin stevens how hard rich pilon hit!
nastiest hit ever . can anyone youtube it. ?
steven was unconsious in mid-aid and landed flat on his face. that one still gives me chills when i think about it. nasty.

because pilon's visor hit him in the face...i can't believe you even brought that up.

 

[King_Stannis]

Darius "Eisen" Kasparaitis. Noone could make a hipcheck a work of art like he can.

He gets my vote, too. Broke my heart when he left the Pens.

 

[DANCIN'WITHJANSSEN]

It's gotta be Scott Stevens. Not only was he the hardest hitter, but he did it in a clean and appropriate way.
All of the huge hits(knockout) that he threw had no penalties as a result and were all in the playoffs.
He would not look to throw the huge hits in the regular season, because he didn't want to hurt anyone. In the playoffs however it is all about wins and Scott would take over series with his bone rattling, concussion inducing hits. Just think of the list...Kozlov, Lindros,Willis, Francis, Kariya...thats just to name a few

 

[DickSmehlik]

Did anyone mention Jeff Beukeboom (sic)? I thought he was one of the hardest hitting defensemen ever, especially in the corners.

Who was the Rice guy that used to play for Hartford? Steve maybe? Anyways he was an underrated hitter.

 

[hgo]

dale hunter

Dale Hunter is best known for hitting players after they score goals.

 

[DrVanntastic]

No mention of my man KASPAR?????!!!!

I mean come on, arguably the best hip-checker ever.

No he's not. Best hip-checker list begins with Bob and Barclay Plager.

 

[Malefic74]

Larry Robinson.

In his book, Robinson on Defence, Robinson recalled his hit on Philadelphia's Gary Dornhoefer, a thunderous bodycheck fans with long memories recall even to this day. It happened in the third period of Game 2 of the 1973 playoffs:

"Dorny and I had hammered each other at will. It seems as if we had an unspoken agreement: whenever we met on the ice, it would be a collision. There was no animosity, just two pros acknowledging that the other had a job to do.

"We were leading 2-1 midway through the third when Dorny led a rush up Philadelphia's right side. I was playing left defence and I angled towards him, trying to get a hip into him. He was just inside our blue line when I got my hip into him. Bang into the boards he went, and down he went. When he got up, he was looking at the boards curiously ... we had broken the boards, as it turned out. There was this big dent near the top. Players on both teams skated by the area, sneaking looks and shaking their heads."

 

[Grabo59]

Of all time probably Scott Stevens, right now I'd go with Dion Phaneuf.

 

[DaMick]

From what ive seen...

Denis Potvin
Scott Stevens
Eric Lindros

 

[britdevil]

Stevens is a dirty hitter, therefore I won't put him on any list I make. Only people who can actually HIT a player within the rules should count.

Two elbowing penalties in his career.

Well good mate.

 

[Nalyd Psycho]

Two elbowing penalties in his career.

Well good mate.

The dichotomy of clean/dirty and the dichotomy of legal/illegal are not one and the same.

Scott Stevens was a legal hitter, but also a dirty hitter.

 

[slade]

colby fn armstrong

 

[xeric716x]

colby fn armstrong

in NHL history? not even close.

 

[mytor4*]

in no particular order
Robinson
Stevens
Neely
Potvin
Lindros

 

[Slapshooter]

These are always subjective choices even if one tries to be objective.

I'll go with the same list as "mytor4" above: Scott Stevens, Eric Lindros, Cam Neely, Denis Potvin and Larry Robinson.

 

[Dintrox]

Larry robinson by far

Dornhoeffer hit http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JKd4HJNSbQg

 

[Raoul Duke*]

In my time, or of the last 20 years it was:
Scott Stevens and Eric Lindros.

Those two were on a collision course for history to be written. What is often forgotten is how often Lindros nailed Stevens along the boards, and got the upperhand in the fights they had.

And just like a t-bone car accident. If the original car that got hit went through a split second later, it'd be the other one that took the damage.

Had Eric Lindros looked up and seen that split second before Stevens came across, we could be telling a different story... Because Lindros probably would have delivered an equally devastating hit on Stevens.

And the last 8 years of hockey would have been told in a different light. Of... "Who will stop Lindros' Hart Trophy streak?"

 

[Sm0otHocKeySPeeD]

Kasper

Stevens

-B

 

[Guillemin]

Stevens was devastating a bone crushing hit every night.Neely and W.Clark were as well.They would be my top three.

The thing with Stevens is his hits were very devastating, sure, but it's hard to compare his game with the golden oldies cause of the modern protective equipment.

He's certainly the best I've ever seen, though.

 

[Long Duk Dong]

Ulfie Samuelsson!