Shultz was a TERRORIST, attacking clean, non-aggressive, good players was part of his game. NO ONE WAS SAFE ON THE ICE. That was the image he wanted to present.
It was for this reason, that EVERY TEAM needed a policeman to protect their players. A feature in the game that we hockey fight fans have enjoyed for over 40 years there after.
The thing that "disgusted" me most about the incident with Rolfe was not what Schultz did, IT WAS WHAT THE RANGERS DIDN'T DO.
They all stood by while Rolfe was beaten to a pulp by Schultz. That should never ever happen to a teamate! That is why
Nick Fotiu was brought in by the Rangers!
And that is why I love the "true" enforcers there after like
Bob Probert,
Dave Brown,
Terry O'Reilly,
Nick Fotiu,
Clark Gillies etc. These are the guys riding in on the white horses to protect their teamates from impending danger and allowing them to produce results for their prospective teams!!!
Schultz was smart as a fox. He knew where and when to do things and when it would be an advantage to his team. He has been called a great AGITATOR by Flyer Frank earlier in this thread and he is 100% correct. No one did it like
Dave Schultz, back then or to this day.
Another point you made was about Schultz reducing his penalty minutes to be on the ice more for increased scoring opportunities.
I disagree that he would have scored more because had he "toned" down his act, he would not have received the "extra space" he was getting because of his perceived "loose canon" routine.
Yes Schultz was decent passer but he was not a great skater. Many of the guys you mentioned, including
Bob Kelly, were far superior skaters.
If you look at the whole picture, Schultz did not need to be a big scorer like some of the others mentioned. He added another dimension to the Flyers and indirectly to rest of hockey for years to come!!!