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Top 50 Most Legendary Fighters to Lace Up for the Canucks
IBatch replied to Kevin Biestra's topic in Canucks Talk
Twist was also a hard puncher ... from the same era Probert, Simon, Twist, and Brown also hard terminally scary hard punches - and later on Boogard. Kocur broke a helmet and bruised the far side of a blokes mouth and gums ... and broke orbital bones jaws and cheekbones...hit so hard he kept injuryjng his hand. When it comes down to it the fighters themselves from the early-mid 90’s almost unanimously said Kocur was the hardest puncher (Tuff Guys ranked the enforcers with their input and fight experts) back then he was listed at 6’ 205lbs so not really huge either but still a heavyweight by boxing standards then. Brown broke Grimsons face in four places the second time he fought him early in his career. All the above guys knocked guys out with one punch at one time or the other Kocur did it the most though - and when the fighters themselves say he has the hardest punch they’ve ever felt - and those top 25 fighters include 1. Probert, Brown, Bomber, Twist, Simon, McSorely, Ewen, Berube, Grimson, Severyn, Gino, Churla, Sandman, Vokata, Peluso, Domi, Crowder etc - it has to mean something. Later on Boogaard owned the hardest punch and also did some damage to Fedoruk...but not nearly to as many faces as Kocur did - or Brown for that matter. Twist was an all out goon - and was a contender when he played too ... But Kocur was a legend well before he hung them up and anyone fighting him feared his right hand...including Brashear when he started in MTL (fought him but wanted no part of his fisticuffs). -
Top 50 Most Legendary Fighters to Lace Up for the Canucks
IBatch replied to Kevin Biestra's topic in Canucks Talk
He’s one of the better fighters still in the game. After Neal retired the only true enforcer left in the game is Reaves - and he wouldn’t make the top 25 from 1974 onward. Which says a lot. McQuaid is not an enforcer but rarely loses either - just like his big brother Chara (who only fights hard if you hit him - otherwise I’d happy to tangle his opponents up because he doesn’t want to hurt them). Guddy breaking Hamonics jaw is kind of shameful - but it is what it is and he’s one tough customer. -
Top 50 Most Legendary Fighters to Lace Up for the Canucks
IBatch replied to Kevin Biestra's topic in Canucks Talk
Right around Cooke...ha ha Seriously thought I haven’t seen a Messier fight that stands up to the average Gino fight. The announcers play him up during them...haven’t seen video of one he’s KO’d or dominated anyone / like his legend coming here I think his legend of a fighter is grossly overrated. Shanny, Roberts, Neely, Bridgman, Clark and Tocchet were all better fighters of those that could get points too.. At the top of the pile and one of the very best ever is Larry Robinson. Without him the Habs dynasty would have never lost the PHI flu...he came in and proceeded to beat up each of their tough guys starting with Shultz and worked down the list. Incredible player and incredible fighter that one. Messiers Dad was a minor league brawler so I’m sure he had it in his DNA...but he didn’t fight the leagues toughest/ instead his legend started with an altercation with Robinson in the playoffs where he threatens to use his stick on them if they go after Gretzky. Respect for sure - but really like bringing a knife to a gunfight right? He was strong but not a top fighter. edit: including postseason Messier averaged less then 2 fights over his career ... he did beat the tar out of Otto which is no small thing...but also lost to tough but not really frequent fighters too. Legendary in his own mind and that of the fan base more then anything -
Top 50 Most Legendary Fighters to Lace Up for the Canucks
IBatch replied to Kevin Biestra's topic in Canucks Talk
Fraser fought Probert several times - and Kocur - hardest puncher in league history (who Brashear did too and wisely tied up) and Ben Wilson ... so there are others too. Brown beat the tar out of Grimson he was a middle of the road heavy really (broke his face literally). Gaetz a legendary minor league tough guy who was on our team for a brief time got beat by Probert and badly by Kocur...just to give Fraser some more props given he did well better against both main eventers....Crowder and Brashear are at the top of the list as far as heavyweights go (no matter what team they played for) but I’d agree with your statement. Brashear fought the biggest baddest customers the league has ever seen and rarely lost a fight - both during and after he was in uniform for us. That said I wouldn’t say he was the most exciting guy to watch either. Domi made fun of him in the box because he wouldn’t open up (he’d just lost two in a row but no worse for wear either). Probert also complained about that in his book (hugging) and said Crowder was the best he’d ever fought. All in all this team and the league used to be very tough. Not anymore and not since Brashear left. -
Top 50 Most Legendary Fighters to Lace Up for the Canucks
IBatch replied to Kevin Biestra's topic in Canucks Talk
KO’s are exciting for sure..same with wild abandon with no concern about defense. Gino was always good at the start of his fights and had good defense too (ducked his chin) - but nobody would ever accuse him of grabbing on for fear of losing (although he did this too). Brown demolished Gino and he couldn’t handle the true contenders (4/6 guys at any given time) but he was feared and respected... Edit. Add Gracie to the list - simply because his 30min fight against Shamrock was a big waste of time. -
I’d have the remaining guys as follows; Smith - Hart votes...no pendant without him - would be like Markstrom not getting injured this year and shutting the door so hard we never lost the lead and finished first in our division. McCarthy - really he should be on the list already ... 199 points in 352 games ... our Captain for several years and IF wasn’t hurt in 82 who knows ... he’s one of our best defenseman ever. Monkey business... THN has his at 35 Lanz ... also a leader and three of his 6.5 years with scored at over a 50 point rate as a defenseman. Big guy with a howitzer - the first and arguable better Sami Salo type 227 points during that time ...outscored Cooke ha ha. Would also be in by now without some monkey business THN has him at 37. Oddleifson: Solid playmaker/checker in forgotten teams ... stats almost exactly like Horvats...THN has him at 40. Murzyn: Did the same job as Tanev for a decade ... defensive defenseman often led or was close the team in plus minus ..only a minus once when Keenan had destroyed the team - minus one. Except he also fought anyone who did something to his goalie or teammate - which was often. Blocked shots before equipment improved to help with that and didn’t shove boards down his shin pads like Craig Ludwig did. Fraser: Five years of Fraser and we are still taking about him. Cooke won’t be talked about at all 30 years from now. But I bet Fraser will. 67 points and fought and did fine against Ben Wilson...who dropped Gilles so bad it took two years for him to man-up and try again (he recovered his reputation). The players themselves talk about Fraser with reverance which matters too - as one of the toughest hombres in his era.
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I’d have the remaining guys as follows; Smith - Hart votes...no pendant without him - would be like Markstrom not getting injured this year and shutting the door so hard we never lost the lead and finished first in our division. McCarthy - really he should be on the list already ... 199 points in 352 games ... our Captain for several years and IF wasn’t hurt in 82 who knows ... he’s one of our best defenseman ever. Monkey business... THN has his at 35 Lanz ... also a leader and three of his 6.5 years with scored at over a 50 point rate as a defenseman. Big guy with a howitzer - the first and better Sami Salo type 227 points in 417 games during that time ...outscored Cooke ha ha. Should also be in already - before EP. THN has him at 37. Cooke played 566 games ...same as Salo...Lanz scored 9 less points then Salo and 24 more then Cooke. Monkey business guys and gals. Oddleifson: Solid playmaker/checker in forgotten teams ... stats almost exactly like Horvats...THN has him at 40. Murzyn: Did the same job as Tanev for a decade ... defensive defenseman often led or was close the team in plus minus ..only a minus once when Keenan had destroyed the team - minus one. Except he also fought anyone who did something to his goalie or teammate - which was often. Blocked shots before equipment improved to help with that and didn’t shove boards down his shin pads like Craig Ludwig did. Fraser: Five years of Fraser and we are still taking about him. Cooke won’t be talked about at all 30 years from now. But I bet Fraser will. 67 points and fought and did fine against Ben Wilson (a top all-time heavyweight) who dropped Gilles so bad it took two years for him to man-up and try again (he recovered his reputation). The players themselves talk about Fraser with reverance which matters too - as one of the toughest hombres in his era. edit: With all due respect to Larionov and BB - you shouldn’t be on this list before any of the above. Cooke shouldn’t even be an available nomination. BB - well Lanz has outscored him... and Fraser scores 67 points AND fought and did well against some of the toughest best fighters the league has ever known. No romantically attached statements here. If Tanev gets in with a few playoff games - where is Murzyn? He was the soul of our defensive conscious for a decade that mattered more to the clubs history then the last one ... and also played a lot more meaningful games. Ugh. Come on guys really think about it. Voted Smith (again) and not even nominating at this point given I feel the top 50 is already on the list.
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Top 50 Most Legendary Fighters to Lace Up for the Canucks
IBatch replied to Kevin Biestra's topic in Canucks Talk
Sure did. Fraser and Williams lead the list when it comes to talent and fighting ability. Gino leads the list for legendary status as a Canuck. Keane, Williams and Ripper lead the list in pound for pound (Keane was the most feared fighter not in the NHL at one point - nobody has done that before or since as a middleweight)...Walker is pretty close too. Crowder and Brashear lead the list as best fighters and overall fighting skills. Coxe leads the list as best fight(s) as a Canuck (both with Probert) - including Proberts first NHL fight ever...wow what a way to start your career...that said Crowder’s were more impressive given the result as a NJ devil - watch Daneyko’s blurb about what Crowder did when he joined the league - and how that changed everything for himself and New Jersey (team felt three feet taller) - first fight beat Probert in a top ranked battle - second fight fed Coxe his lunch and dropped him. Then went and proceeded to decimate the best of the best for a couple of months before Berube scored a clear decision. Brashear made mince meat out of so many top fighters it would take paragraphs just to list them. And not including the ear punch fights. Despite this he wasn’t my favourite fighter. Case in point at a live game and he beat the tar out of Odgers - a decent fighter but really outclassed. Parker at the time was considered an up and coming heavyweight contender and went with McAllister (who did great!)...bully. Edit: I was ten feet away when Brashear started to pound away at nose bandaid (that’s Odgers) - but even though he was turning his face into a bruised mess stopped watching to the main event 40 feet away McAllister and Parker - thought he’d be dead meat given how fearsome Parker’s reputation was (before the NHL he was already considered the next heavyweight champ) - but NO! They exchanged punishing blows and Parker went down! The went back to Brashear who decided to let Odgers live. Honourable mentions to Antoski - who while here supplanted Gino as our top heavy given his quality of opposition and massive build. A tier below Brookbank and McAllister. As far as skill and fighting ability I should have said Neely (who Brashear handled easily when starting his career in MTL - Neely didn’t get one punch in) and Mel Bridgman. Both these guys would have fed Bertuzzi his lunch. -
Auld matched his winning percentage and had about the same stats (and that was after that team peaked) no the WCE team never did to Cloutier what our team has done to Markstrom this season. Markstrom is the main reason we are still in it...he goes down and we lost our lead quickly. Skudra also had similar stats...any way you slice it - Clouiter was one of the most mediocre number ones we’ve had - better then most of the goalie graveyard guys - but not much better - they had a lot less to work with. Markstrom has won 10 less games and played around a dozen more now - playing for one of the worst Canuck teams ever. Factually I’d say the worst defense by quite a margin until this last season.
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This exactly. Cloutier has the worst sp of any goalie ever to play 25 playoff games ... ouch. He stuck around longer then he should have with good veteran options available each year - and had a above average defends to work with. Markstrom has been laid out to dry by ours so far, when Hutton and Stecher are winning best defenseman awards..well they certainly don’t compare to Jovo’s or Ohlunds that’s for sure. Markstrom is a good example of why other goalies that played for us on bad teams were the reason we did as good as we did (Brodeur and Smith) largely are based on their play. The WCE team won or challenged for banners despite Cloutier - did sure he had his moments - but so did practically all dead puck era number ones too. Comparing the two I’d say Markstrom now has the edge as he’s considered a top ten at the moment. Depending on his next contract that could change if he reverts to his penchant for letting soft ones in. He’s facing a heck of a lot more shots then Clouiter ever did - and a lot of them are in the danger zone.
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Hmm. Well I’d say it’s safe to say that if he played in the 70-80’s or even 90’s that nobody would be even nominating him yet. Lanz, McCarthy, Smith, Oddleifson, Fraser and Murzyn body of work more then stands up against his - and who cares what he did when not here that’s not supposed to count for anyone else so shouldn’t with him - don’t know why a third liner who scored 10-14 goals with us five of his ten seasons the rest less then that can compare to these guys. I doubt anyone who watched the rest of these guys play would put Cooke higher then them, including maybe Sandlak. And for those voting Boeser - Lanz scored about as many points in his three best seasons...and he was a defenseman who played 6.5 years with us. McCarthy is close to doing the same, he was our Captain and also a defenseman - really those two should be in around where Horvat is... Fraser...and he was one of the leagues top enforcers at the time and also scored his fair share...Oddleifson a two-way player with almost identical stats as Horvat too... anyways fire away.
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Well said. Not to mention the players infront of Cloutier were a lot better too.
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Top 50 Most Legendary Fighters to Lace Up for the Canucks
IBatch replied to Kevin Biestra's topic in Canucks Talk
As far as fighters go - and given the metrics of what Biestra stated - something I’ve suggested too - and Baratheon acknowledged by posting it - it’s the Rick Rypien award. And it doesn’t the matter if a guy played one game or 1000 with us - his entire body of work matters, from a pure fighting standpoint and quality of competition this is how I’d rank the fighters. I’ve watched the Canucks for a long time / but have also particularly enjoyed the fisticuffs aspect regardless of uniform and watched 1000’s of fights and think enforcers were both loved and required - and very much missed. Watch Ken Daneyko’s blurb on how Crowder changed everything for his team when he came in...even better Ice Gaurdians. Go find the blurb form Gilles about his nemesis...and how the second time he fought him things were different...and Fraser did well against the pre-Probert heavyweight champ was too. For reference material I have a half dozen magazines from the 90’s which include legends like Dave Brown and 80’s tough guys in their twilight phase. Gino was as high as 13...Brashear number one three years in a row just while with us. 1. Brashear - hugging or not / demolished or dominated the competition of which only Gino, Crowder, Coxe, Fraser and Williams matched 2. Crowder - best start of career of anyone on this list. First Probert (a rare loss for Bob) - then destroyed Coxe and plowed through most of the league. 3. Coxe. Best fight(s) ever with Probert period. And aside from that great too. 4. Williams. Maybe not the best - but fought everyone. Tough guys from the 70-80’s were animals. Tiger heart - at 5’11 190lbs not a heavy but beat a lot of them. 5. Fraser. Punch power counts and same with the guys he dropped with. Fought the best and handled him self quite nicely (although not as well as Brashear and Crowder did). 6. Gino. The most legendary of the group. Super high quality of competition but couldn’t beat the best of the best ... Brown (a legend) handled him easily. 7. Kurtenbach. He’s a tough one as hard to find video of him. Although he’s ranked as a top 10 all-time Ranger (and Kocur is also on that list) - given that nobody tapped his pads without a death wish and what’s available on this site and others (thanks Smithers) - will take their word for it - considered a top fighter of his time. 8. Antoski. For those that were around to watch this behomoth. He really was our main eventer and nuclear deterrent (even over Gino) and answer to Sandy McCarthy who was starting his own reign of terror at the time. Huge, imposing, and the other enforcers didn’t like dropping with him at all. Great quality of competition over his limited (to accident) career. Had the potential to become a top fighter in the league given his size and fighting ability. 10. Neely...made the mistake of dropping them with number one on this list when he was in MTL....ouch. But he was a feared fighter and one tough hombre. 10. Bridgeman. Another power forward that was as tough as they come. 11. Rypien. RIP. It’s a testament to his career that he made that much of and impact - especially considering who’s still left. And I’m being nice about this. 11. Hunter .... he hunted his best before becoming a Canuck - like Williams, Brashear and Gino drooped them with anyone anytime regardless of the cost to personal safety. 12. Momesso - belongs above the below because - well you know. 13. Stern punched for us and against us. Fought all the time. 14. The Strangler was a feared and respected fighter. Look what we got for him. 15. Cochrane - for a little while was considered one of the best...until Probert fed him his lunch. 16. Delmore - likes to feed Blackhawks their lunch. 17. Snepsts - well let’s just say we could invert 12-17 and that’s ok. Fought all the tough men - and did just fine. 18. Keane. Best or one of the best middle weights ever. Really he should higher but this is still pretty great. 19. Bieksa...quality of competition hurts - but 3 losses is exceptional no matter how you cut it. 20. Holt. About the same size as Rypien and a Bieksa - similar outcomes. 21. Diduck. Someone on this site suggested he was a punching bag. That person didn’t do his homework. Fought 22 times for us..and rarely lost. 22. Murzyn. Usually went for the arms and a take down - but was a good puncher in his own right and usually the first one to answer the bell (like Butcher) because he was on the ice so often. When making this list I several players were very close.. and I asked myself in their prime and if they went fought who would win (it helps when they actually did).. also for guys that only fought a relatively few times (Jovo) just left them out. -
Top 50 Most Legendary Fighters to Lace Up for the Canucks
IBatch replied to Kevin Biestra's topic in Canucks Talk
True stuff. Rypien got his bell rung five seconds in fighting Carkner - guys that big and that good arm blocks won’t work ... Crowder didn’t play long for us but is one of the better fighters on this list. His first fight was against Probert which he won - then came into our barn and creamed Coxe. Actually went on for a couple months beating everyone until Berube got the better of him. Probert wrote a bit about Brashear and Laraque in his book about not opening up and believe called his little hooks to the back of the head “butterfly kisses ” at one point too - proud man, didn’t like losing to anyone, and swore each year he’d hit the gym hard and get him in the next one. Had high praise for Crowder and Clark though and even Domi except he didn’t like the belt dig - which he made sure to let him know in their next fight. Said he reminded him of Stan Jonathon (Domi), get you in tight and throw those haymakers. -
Top 50 Most Legendary Fighters to Lace Up for the Canucks
IBatch replied to Kevin Biestra's topic in Canucks Talk
Sure is. Ugh. I don’t want to do this and maybe shouldn’t - but out of respect for the guys on the list 28 career NHL fights is a drop in the bucket compared to everyone but Cooke (which is of course a joke). It’s 100% facts for sure - like quality of competition and how things went when it was too high. Brashear was the best fighter we’ve ever had regardless of weight class. If anyone is willing to go back and look at his fight card and compare it - and re-watch them that is on the fence I look forward to your reply. Watched 30 Fraser fights yesterday after one poster said he had more one punch KO’s then anyone. Well guess what - he had - well one. Five others resulted in knockdowns and his Probert fights weren’t impressive (more hugging then huggy bear). Maybe there are others but I couldn’t find them. Go see what Brashear did to Neal and then re-watch the Neil Rypien fights. He fought Probert 9 times and handled him. Boogard, Parker, Sandman, Belak, Domi, Laraque, McSorely, Grimson, Odjick, ...plus everyone else that was tough the 1000 games he played lost to him at one point or another - his winning percentage is unreal even without the quality of competition. Rypien fought three good enforcers in his career. Carkner, Jansen and Neal - like Bieksa the quality of competition matters and affects the record of which he was 19-7-2. Brashear fought that many times in one year for us and didn’t lose a bout - was named fighter of the year by THN and Tuff Guys three times in a row for us and fighter of the decade in 2010 by THN - and the quality of competition was never better. Where is his due? People forget or just never watched him ... Yes everyone knows Rypiens story- and he was exciting to watch. But we also have to do justice to the other guys too. Neely had that many fights with us and Kurtenbach was so tough guys left him alone (ranked in the top 9 all-time NYRs players and that’s an original six team). And Keane was considered a top middleweight of his generation, in the same realm as Clark, Jonathon and Corson. Domi and Ray we’rent far off in weight class either - and Williams was even lighter. -
Thanks for taking the time to do some research. He wasn’t my favourite player during his time here (Dana) but he was certainly reliable - and really did whatever it takes for the team - and the old Rolling Stones song “don’t know what until it’s gone” was certainly applicable with him - standing up for his teammates was in his DNA. Check out a montage of a game in 1995 where Peca nailed Selanne (think it was Feb)...he was involved just like everyone else. Voting by your heart at this stage is absolutely understandable. Cooke scored some wickedly timely goals for us. Those moments never leave you.
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I don’t mind EP in the top 50 - but not ahead of most guys already on this list. Gelinas led our team in scoring in the dead puck era with musical goalies....and was part of our 94 team ... good nomination. I’d have him ahead of three on this list already ...
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Voted Smith...changing lanes going to nominate Reinhart ... Also McCarthy is my next up - razor thin but have to go with the main reason we added our first banner..
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Well in that case Murzyn vs Cook needs to be considered too (a decade of service too). He basically had the same job Tanevs had for the past decade. A shutdown top pairing prime Linden era defenseman. Regularly led or was close to the team lead in plus minus while he was here - and did things Tanev isn’t willing to do (not often at least). A decade as top four - or the other guy on the top pairing actually (Lumme Murzyn played together for a very long time) .. I’m not even voting for him (yet) because I believe others on this list are more deserving. Apollo I’m not trying to pick on you or Cook. And don’t give consider about what else he did after he left (in fact I’m impressed he stayed in the league as long as he did / those intangibles teams obviously felt were worth the risk). Torres played like he did too -one the edge - but also fell off it a few times. But really he’s the last guy on this list that deserves votes even with the longevity- and there are several others not in yet I’d also consider greater Canucks. Your one of my favourite posters in here given your undying love for the Sedins, Edler and the WCE era. However I think when it comes to middle six players Cook wasn’t as many we’ve had over the years (Fraser says hi from existing voting options). He was decent - even pretty good - and my sister wanted to marry him ha ha - but really for one example - Momesso’s five years was more endearing for me personally. Cook stirred the pot and then went slithering away, expecting someone else to back it up and it was tiresome after awhile - same with his teammates on several teams including ours. Guerin threw him under the bus ... and he infuriated Mario Lemieux when he made him a total hypocrite ... these things existed while he played for us too. Momesso hit it head on and kept players from hurting Ronning. And hit harder without leaving his feet - then dropped the gloves if his opponent didn’t like it. And PGP were not bad - AND played his part in our 1994 run. Cook is high in games played - but we also need to consider what others did in a few less years ... middle six players are not the cream of the crop ..Cook I’d have in 60-70’s. Sandlak is getting his due at the moment with nominations and who wouldn’t want him on their team? Maybe he’s polarizing. But really we’ve had some great players over the years and Cook in the top 50 means other greater players are not getting considered enough for me personally. Sorry Apollo. Don’t mean to pick on you. Just can’t imagine a world where Cook is a top 50 all-time greatest Canuck and when your pumping his tires with those guys still not nominated plus the ones on the list I just can’t keep quiet / even though I truly admire you as a proud member and constant protector of the Sedins legacy.
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Canucks can only sign two of Toffoli, Tanev or Markstrom
IBatch replied to Me_'s topic in Canucks Talk
Easier said then done ... Marksrom might only sign with a NTC - and a or a NM clause...and the team might like that too given salary is left on the table. I do agree that we could sign a vet instead - a good one Halak just did at just over 2...and that’s a good way to save salary -plus given how fickle the position...there really aren’t many good ones year in year out ... Rask might be the most consistent right now although MAF isn’t a bad example either (although he’s had his ups and downs too at one point or another). Murray ... well Jarey almost stole his job this year - Jones in SJ was pretty much lost his too. IMO the ED lowers Demkos trade value significantly - not many teams would stake their future as their number one and they’d be rolling the dice that Seattle wouldn’t pick him up as a back-up future goalie too. In the end with the team trying to compete now they don’t have much choice other then just sign JM...don’t think they have the stomach for a move like your suggesting although in the future it just might turn out the right thing to do. -
Top 50 Most Legendary Fighters to Lace Up for the Canucks
IBatch replied to Kevin Biestra's topic in Canucks Talk
Only other one that I re-call at a start of a fight was Bieksa super man vs Gudas. But a lot of these guys at one point or another got that one punch in to drop their opponent ...Brashear did it to Belak in CAL (also lost when Belak was in NSH), Goodard, Domi, Neal etc and once to Laraque and Orr late in his career plus..Jovo on Deadmarsh...just watched 30 of Fraser’s fights - only one like Farrish...But good quality of competition that’s for sure - a pretty good scrap with Wilson, and Kocur who’s arguably got the hardest punch in nhl history - either him or Boogard. Stood up to Probert 3 times - and wasn’t manhandled - but did no serous damage either. A half dozen or so he did knock someone down with a punch (impressive)...Brashear did the same the year he broke Gino’s record (in around the same number of fights) After that guys weren’t as quick to drop with him. That said his Farrish fight doesn’t happen very often...the only recent one I can remember (that was even more brutal) was Asham on Beagle ten or so years ago (KO’s at or near the start of the fight) and two guys I can’t remember (Winchester or something ... played in OTT at one point had his jab slipped and lights out).. -
Top 50 Most Legendary Fighters to Lace Up for the Canucks
IBatch replied to Kevin Biestra's topic in Canucks Talk
Out of everyone on this list Stern comes to mind as a guy who fought for us and against us probably the most - but that Walker vs Petit was one of the best by the guy wearing the Canuck sweater at the time...Ronnie fought 39 times in under 100 games for us...pretty incredible when you look at it that way..then became a regular combatant against us in CAL..Paul Kruse and Sandy McCarthy that was one tough team too. I guess Hunter went the opposite way which kind of evened things out. -
Vrbata ... ha ha. The new rules where each team has to be represented is a joke IMO. It’s all part of Bettmans communistic view of the vanilla he wants the league to have to keep money rolling in. It’s also an insult to those prior that actually had to be a star to get in - hence the word All STAR. All star selections matter when evaluating a players career ... the only thing I’ve really enjoyed was the fans voting in Scott - kind of gave the league the middle finger (and they weren’t happy about it - some didn’t want to let him play)...but his teammates loved it - because they loved having enforcers covering their backs and carried that giant on their shoulders and he was the MVP (another middle finger). It sucked in the 80’s when the Oilers were sending three lines and two goalies to the games ... but it is what it is - and it meant a lot more when Gradin, Rota, Snepsts etc got the call. Horvat .... well let’s just say Gelinas would also have played one year ... and several others had the rules been the same back then. Used to look forward to the all-star game - not anymore even though we have to send someone deserving or not. Too many excellent players don’t get in when they should. On that rant - the same thing could be said about SO points .... every year since it’s happened one or two teams with better winning percentages lose out because a skills competition is weighted so high in the standings. Not only does is make a mockery of the record books with goalies getting a win instead of a tie - and 90 points which used to be a solid season now a joke - and 100 points which used to be an amazing accomplishment commonplace. Check TO’s history out...how many 100 point seasons all-time as an original six team did they manage pre-shoot out. What Vancouver did in the early 90’s when they set a team record for goals and points was every bit as impressive as the best WCE teams and almost as impressive as when we won Presidents Trohpies... Edit: For TO they managed it 3 times. Twice 100 and once 103...other then that their high-water mark was 92.
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Top 50 Most Legendary Fighters to Lace Up for the Canucks
IBatch replied to Kevin Biestra's topic in Canucks Talk
Maybe he was respecting him by leaving him off the list - just to avoid the inevitable difficult explanations as to why he wasn’t as good a fighter as some of his predecessors. Or just for is explanation earlier (Maki) ... which is good enough for me. Quality of competition matters, as does unfortunately longevity, and we also have Walker and Keane on that list - one had as good as or a better fight then any of Rypiens given who it was (Petit), the other was the most feared fighter not in the league before joining it (Keane) and considered one of the best middleweights of his entire generation...ugh. The heavyweights of most eras would have punched through Rypiens arm block - even Sortini got wise to it throwing his ridiculous forearm “shivers” and why that guy stayed as long as he did (not long) is anyone’s guess. A better heavy - Carkner - took less then five seconds to drop him. Neal did fine and Brashear gave him probably one of the biggest beatings of his life. Earlier I said RR should be a top ten all-time middleweight- which says a lot given Keane, Corson, Jonathon, Wendel Clark, Tiger Williams and even Domi who was one inch shorter and 5-6 pounds heavier most of his career...those guys fought the best of the best at some point or the other and for a lot longer...so I’m probably been a homer - but as a homer have to consider everyone else who played for us. 30 fights is quite a bit for sure - but for five players on this voting list it was matched or bettered in around one season of play. -
McCarthy, Lanz, Oddleifson are razor thin - all good picks at this point. Nice pic.