Both. I don't know who lumps him in with fighters but he obviously wasn't great at that. He was still a very tough hockey player though. Maybe dirtier than tough but only Bettman worshipers would really care about that. Dirtier than
Matt Cooke? Sure, but he is known as a leader and a superstar because he has six Stanley Cups and is second all time in points. He is also known as a mean, dirty hockey player but if you only want people to acknowledge that then you are lost.
Some of these clips you posted are a joke to shed tears over. You are still crying about Otto even though Otto went up to Messier and instigated that fight. It didn't start with Otto on his knees.
Jason Arnott throws a bare fisted punch at a Ranger that is in a headlock and laying on the ice and all you could shed a tear over is Messier responding.
Things looked pretty calm with Zelepukin until Zelepukin jabbed Messier in the face with his left.
These cheap shots suck when they happen against your team but they are necessary if hockey is going to be played with the passion it should be. You better hope the strike gets resolved so you could see hockey without elbows and cheap shots and expect games to get out of hand for no reason. He probably got away with murder because he would not hesitate to throw his elbows or use his stick and he was also always protected.