We Just Ranked The 10 Best Fighters in NHL History
Fighting isn’t as much a part of the NHL as it used to be, but its key participants and specific fights will forever stay ingrained in the minds of many fans. From the enforcers all the way down to the goalies, fighting in hockey has created some of the best moments in sports history.
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For starters, seeing as it’s the only sport that technically allows fighting, why do hockey players fight? To put it simply, hockey is the only sport where the players are allowed to police what goes on. Typically it’s to set the tone or send a message. Often in a playoff series when a team gets beaten fairly soundly they will instigate a fight to let the other team know they won’t just be laying down.
Another common occurrence is the protection of star players. If a player on another team is getting too physical with a star player, one of the more physical guys, also known as an enforcer, will go at the offending player to let it be known that it won’t be something they’re allowed to get away with.
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Some of the best hockey teams of all time are also known to be some of the most physical. Two teams that come straight to mind are the New York Islanders from the mid 80s and the Philadelphia Flyers from the mid 70s, also commonly known as the Broad Street Bullies. Both teams were talented offensively, but they were also strapped with enforcers on all four lines.
For years, fighting was a big part of the game. In today’s league, it is a rare occasion to see two bruisers go toe-to-toe in a real hockey fight. Sure, there are still some big guys in the league who can throw down with anyone. However, there are very few true fighters like there have been in past years. Don’t expect to see any current players on this list.
READ: These are the 10 Best Hockey Players Ever
Key Takeaways
- NHL’s past years had more fights than today's game.
- All 10 fighters on the list are former players.
- Tie Domi, Dave "Tiger" Williams, and Dave Schultz were all part of some of the best hockey fights of all time.
- Bob Probert is considered the best NHL fighter of all time.
10. Terry O’Reilly
A Boston Bruins legend, Terry O’Reilly was one of the most famous enforcers in NHL history. After being drafted 14th overall in the 1971 draft, the enforcer didn’t take long to earn the nickname “Bloody O’Reilly” with five consecutive seasons where he amassed over 200 penalty minutes.
He’s fought several bouts against Dave Schultz and Tiger Williams, which proved he could go toe-to-toe with some of the toughest players in hockey history. One of his most memorable moments occurred at Madison Square Garden, where he climbed over the glass to confront a fan that struck a Rangers’ player and stole their stick. He was suspended for eight games for his infamous role in the melee.
9. Tony Twist
Tony Twist never saw much ice time, playing just 445 games, but he still managed to put up six 10-fight seasons, including a career-high 15 fights during the 1992-93 season. He intimidated everyone in the league, including other enforcers that knew the damage he could do. Darren McCarty, a former Red Wings enforcer, has said he once had his coach save him before engaging in a fight with the devastating Twist.
His NHL career ended when he broke his pelvis in a motorcycle accident. Twist threw down with some of the biggest fighters in NHL history on a regular basis, including a couple of names on this list.
8. Stu Grimson
Stu Grimson was an intimidating 6 feet 5 inches tall and weighed 240 pounds, making him one of the heaviest NHL players of all time, and perhaps the most feared guy of the 1990s. By the time he officially retired in 2003, the “Grim Reaper” had amassed more than 2,000 career penalty minutes.
Grimson had a career-long rivalry with Bob Probert and the two squared off a dozen times. Although Probert typically got the best of him, the two combined for some of the greatest hockey fights of all time. Grimson could take a punch better than any other fighter, which helped him take down a lot of other enforcers. However, a concussion suffered during a fight with Georges Laraque in 2001 ended his career.
7. Rob Ray
Rob Ray created the fighting technique where players would remove their jersey and shoulder pads to prevent their opponents from grabbing onto them, which was later banned. Ray finished his career with 241 fights and led the league in penalty minutes for two seasons. He served at least 150 penalty minutes in every season but his last. Ray fought with another elite fighter on this list, Tie Domi, 13 times. Those were regarded as some of the best brawls in NHL history.
Like O’Reilly, Ray also has a fan fight under his belt. In 1992, he beat down a fan that ran onto the ice and approached their bench.
6. Chris Nilan
Chris “Knuckles” Nilan saw more fights than almost any other player in NHL history. Nilan averaged more penalty minutes per game than any other player in league history and also holds the record for most penalty minutes in a single game (42). Nilan is also just one of only nine players to exceed 3,000 career penalty minutes. This mark is even more impressive when you consider he missed over 200 games during the final five years of his career.
5. Joey Kocur
Joey Kocur fought 217 times during his NHL career. That's a lot. Kocur started his career by earning the most penalty minutes in the NHL during his rookie season. During the 1985-86 season, Kocur amassed 377 penalty minutes, the eighth-highest total in NHL history. He managed to do that in just 59 games, taking the role of hockey enforcer to the next level, while burning up the pages of the NHL fight logs in short order.
The forward joined fellow Red Wings enforcer Bob Probert to form the aptly named “Bruise Brothers.” He earned the nickname as his infamous right hook was so strong it once broke an opponent's helmet.
4. Tie Domi
Tie Domi was just 5-foot-8, making him one of the shortest hockey players of all time, and especially short for the role of enforcer. However, he made up for it by being the toughest. He made a name for himself when he knocked a player out with a so-called sucker punch in 1995, earning him an eight-game suspension. Domi retired with the third-most penalty minutes of all-time. He finished his career with a whopping 274 fights. Domi also had some of the most epic battles in NHL history with Bob Probert. He was infamous for his post-fight celebration against Probert, where he mimicked putting on a boxing title belt.
Domi was also involved in a fan altercation when an opposing fan climbed into the penalty box. Domi repeatedly hit the fan until they were pulled apart. He was fined but not suspended.
3. Dave “Tiger” Williams
Dave “Tiger” Williams is the career penalty minute leader with 3,971, more than 400 higher than the next-closest player. In today’s NHL, this record will likely never be broken. He is set apart from the other players on this list by his ability to score. The 1980-81 season was likely his most impressive, leading the Canucks’ with 35 goals while also serving 343 penalty minutes.
After being drafted 31st overall in 1974, Williams finished his career with 246 total fights. He led the NHL in penalty minutes three times during his career.
2. Dave Schultz
Dave “The Hammer” Schultz holds the all-time record for penalty minutes in a season with 472, which he earned during the 1974-75 season, a year in which he also won the Stanley Cup with the Philadelphia Flyers. Schultz was a founding member of the Broad Street Bullies. He led the NHL in penalty minutes four times, and also had seven 10-fight seasons and two 20-fight seasons. Only four times in NHL history has a player accumulated over 400 penalty minutes in a single season. Schultz did it twice.
Schultz began using boxing wraps to protect his hands and wrists during fights, something other enforcers copied. The trend was short-lived, as the NHL banned it under the “Schultz Rule.”
1. Bob Probert
Bob Probert racked up 3,300 penalty minutes in his career and it took him just 935 games. For comparison, the players ahead of him totaled 3,381 PIM in 961 games, 3,515 PIM in 1.020 games, 3,565 PIM in 1,407 games. “Tiger” Williams blew everyone else away with 3,971 PIM in just 962 games.
Probert threw down with some of the league’s best all-time fighters and he got the best of them all. One of his more memorable fights came toward the end of his career when the Av’s Scott Parker tried to make a name for himself by initiating a fight with Probert. Parker was knocked out in under 11 seconds. No other fighter has Probert's track record, making him our choice to top the list.
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