All-time most devastating body checkers

[silverback]

I love fights as much as the next guy, but a great hit can be just as entertaining. Who are the most devastating body checkers to ever play the game? They can be from any era and they don't have to be fighters, but they have to be guys who hit with ferocity pretty regularly. Break them down into forwards and defensemen. Here are some names I can think of (admittedly, not very many):

Forwards
Wendel Clark
Chris Neil
Jordin Tootoo
Michael Peca
Peter Forsberg?

Defensemen
Scott Stevens
Larry Robinson
Leo Boivin
Fernie Flaman
Darius Kasparaitis
Vladimir Konstantinov
Dion Phaneuf
Rob Blake

[Mr. Pink]

I recall that Wensink laid probably the best check I have ever seen on a young Larry Playfair. Wensink knew what he had done and seemed to feel bad about it, even trying to help Playfair up!

[silverback]

Originally Posted by Mr. Pink

I recall that Wensink laid probably the best check I have ever seen on a young Larry Playfair. Wensink knew what he had done and seemed to feel bad about it, even trying to help Playfair up!

Did Wensink regularly hit hard or was it more of a rarity?

Couple more names I thought of:

Forwards
Derek Boogaard
Matt Johnson

[Rugged]

Scott Stevens, Ulf Samuelsson, Darius Kasparaitis and Eric Lindros immediately come to mind.

[silverback]

Forgot about Lindros.

[Isles4life]

I think Scott Stevens left the biggest wake of devastation.

[Rugged]

Going off memory, I remember Pat Verbeek (although smallish in stature) being a tough SOB in the hitting department. I'm sure Gordie Howe cleaned some clocks in his day, too.

[2,5,10GameMatch]

Cam Neely was one of the best hitters.....

The Wensink hit on Playfair was illegal, a forearm shiver/elbow, I saw it last night, Playfair kicked his ass a few times for that later on..

Brian Glennie was the best hip checker that I ever saw.

[Odjick29]

Pound for Pound Steve Webb is up there, the guy always looked for the devastating hit and he wasn't that big

[Humpzilla]

Originally Posted by Odjick29

Pound for Pound Steve Webb is up there, the guy always looked for the devastating hit and he wasn't that big

http://youtube.com/watch?v=bB9O8GYQ54I

[lefthook1]

I don't know if he is all time, but shawn burr was vicious back in the day. I am also not trying to be a homer here, but he always had some good open ice hits

scott stevens
vlady

[Deadman]

Doug Jarrett threw some of the best hip checks ever. Lou Nanne (previously mentioned) was also outstanding. Also, Bobby Baun was decent.

One of the best body checkers out on open ice was Jeremy Roenick in his early days. The young Roenick threw a number of incredible open ice checks, several where guys were out cold. ....and Roenick's hits were always clean. Now... if you like youre open ice hits on the dirty side, there's always Bryan Marchment.

[peacemaker]

Mike Peca
Dallas Drake
Cam Neely
Wendel Clark
Scott Stevens
Rob Blake

[peacemaker]

Teemu Selanne, until he got his clock cleaned by Peca, was a devastating hitter too...

I am not sure if he ever threw a bodycheck again post-Peca.

[tyfighter27]

Peter Forsberg? Are you joking?