Official hockeyfights.com All-Time Top 10

[Odjick29]

quoteOriginally posted by EDDIESHORETOEBLAKE
I also have Sandy in my top 20 - the guy was an absolute monster in his prime, and IMO, is underrated now . . .

Timmy Hunter is someone I would most likely find a spot for in my Top 20, but Holmgren, for me, is closer to a Top 40 guy (as is Cochrane) . . .

I think both Domi and Berube deserve Top 10 consideration . . . and although I may overrate Simon, I thought he may have been the most devastating fighter I've ever seen for a couple of years . . .

Kocur is my current Number 1 all-time (along with Probie), so I have no problems with where he's rated, and I also have no problem with Twist's ranking - the thing that powers Twist, in my mind (aside from the "fear factor"), is that he was the acknowledged league champ for at least three full seasons, which is something that only a few players can say (maybe only Probert) . . .


Good points on Simon and Twist...I remember Simon being a monster destroying anything that came his way...I remember him raping Domi twice in one game and I was astonished...too bad he isn't the same fighter he used to be...

[Bull Terrier 92]

ESTB Yes, good points. I'm glad that we agree on McCarthy. I honestly feel that he put up one of the best 3 year runs of any heavyweight ever between 1993-94 and 1995-96. Wins over Probert, McKenzie, Domi, Grimson, Simon, Baumgartner, Churla etc. A stunning accomplishment for an enforcer who began his domination just 1 year removed from Jr. hockey.

I would probably put Paul Holmgren in the same class as guys like Nystrom, Jonathan and Wensink. Excellent fighters who were perhaps a notch below the super elite of the late 70s - Wilson, Fotiu and Gillies. Holmgren probably had a few more losses than Nystrom, Jonathan and Wensink but balanced everything out with a slightly better card IMO.

I really enjoyed watching Glen Cochrane fight, but felt that his card was a tad weak during his prime years in Philly. Overall it was decent but not spectacular. I believe his most frequent opponent as a Flyer was Hector Marini. Once he left Philly he began to add some meat to his resume with bouts against Probert, Kordic, McSorley, Playfair, Baumgartner, Byers and a few more against Nilan. Unfortunately he was passed his prime and unable to win many of those fights. Currently I have Glen at #19, but a prime Cochrane with a few more super bouts under his belt would have rated much higher on my list. A very dangerous man in the orange and black.

For me, Chris Simon wasn't able to sustain his dominance long enough to measure up with the truly elite. An impressive rookie season followed by 2 top 5 campaigns were enough to put him on the map but not quite enough to warrent comparisons with men who had 5 or 6 good years behind them. He was probably overshadowed a bit by McCarthy who came into the league at the exact same time.

I'm currently re-working my top 10, and the one individual I'm taking a long look at including is Larry Playfair. I've always had him in my top 20, but will probably elevate him to #7 or #8 after watching some footage and observing his high status with many members of the hockey fight community.

[EDDIESHORETOEBLAKE]

Great points fellas . . . I base a lot of my career rankings on "number of fights" which is why I rank a few guys lower than they probably should be . . . I am in the process of re-doing my own Top 10, and a few guys might drop right the hell out . . . [)]

[Bull Terrier 92]

Absolutely, having over 200 career fighting majors to their credit certainly doesn't hurt the standing of guys like Domi and Berube. []

BTW ESTB, does your all-time list stop at 10 or do you go higher?

[EDDIESHORETOEBLAKE]

Well I went as far as a Top 25, but that has changed pretty drastically based upon new information and a little reflection . . . basically, I'm trying to come up with a criteria that I can live with to rank fighters - unfortunately, since I place such a premium on "number of fights"/longevity/fight card, I probably tend to short change a lot of the 70s guys who fought less than 75 times . . . sooner than later, I'll probably post my revamped Top 25 for everybody to sh!t on [p] . . .

How about you?

[slick]

Bob Probert at the top, I agree, but here are a few guys that are not on the list and these guys would have come out on top, in a fight against some of the guys posted.
Gordie Howe
Orland Kurtenbach
John Ferguson
Steve Durbano
Wayne Cashman - hard cash !
Ken Hodge
Larry Robinson, not too many bothered him, after giving Dave the hammer Schultz a rude awakening in the Montreal Forum.

[EDDIESHORETOEBLAKE]

Good point Slick, but do any of those guys make YOUR all-time Top 10? Better yet, what IS your top 10?

[Bull Terrier 92]

ESTB Over the last 2 years I've put together a Top 50 list. Maybe if I'm ambitious enough I can get to 55 by the end of the summer LOL. There are still quite a few guys I would like to get a good look at however - Bert Wilson, Randy Holt etc.

[EDDIESHORETOEBLAKE]

You and me both [D]

[Begbee]

New Top Ten

1)Probert

2)Brown

3)Twist

4)Kocur

5)McSorely

6)Playfair

7)Wilson

8)Gilles

9)Fotiou

10)Plett

I think people won't like Twist being as high as I have him, but at his best his strength made him very dominant, and I think that strength creates match up problems nearly across the board. Imo, most of his losses were aberrations rather than ass whippings.
Plett maybe a little high at 10, but I like him, and can't think of anyone that I would say has a much stronger claim at 10. However, some guys that may well deserve to be on this list, aren't there because I haven't seen enough of them, they are- Dave Richter, Dave Hutchinson(very, very impressive from what Ive seen), and Wesnick. Playfair may deserve to be even higher, but I need to see more footage.

[EDDIESHORETOEBLAKE]

After 64+ ballots, Willi Plett FINALLY makes it onto somebody's all-time Top 10 . . . nice job Begs [)] . . .

[slick]

quoteOriginally posted by EDDIESHORETOEBLAKE
Good point Slick, but do any of those guys make YOUR all-time Top 10? Better yet, what IS your top 10?

[slick]

My top 20 of all time and in their prime.

I've seen some scraps that don't make the front pages because they are not considered enforcers, such as, at the Mtl. Forum, I saw Bobby Orr beat the crap out of Phil Roberto and Ken Dryden ( yea Ken Dryden ) punch out Derek Sanderson, this all happened in the same bench clearing brawl.

When the punches are even at 50 - 50, it's who has the hardest jaw who wins. A good fighter lands the punches, he doesn't receive them.

1...Bob Probert on Detroit
2...Dave Semenko, Wayne's protector.
3...Orland Kurtenbach, not a velcro man.
4...John Ferguson, Big Bad John
5...George Laraque, number one right now.
6...Cris Simon, deadly southpaw.
7...Carol Vadnais, very tough.
8...Tony Twist, the twister.
9...Wendel Clark, wild.
10..Stan Jonathan, middleweight champ, pit bull.
11..Larry Robinson, a super reach, they didn't call him big bird for nothing, only Garry Howatt gave him a hard time.
12..Rosaire Paiement, very tough.
13..Tie Domi, pit bull.
14..Bob Nystrom, the windmill.
15..Clark Gillies, super strong.
16..Ken Hodge, super strong.
17..Wayne Cashman, deadly southpaw.
18..Tim Hunter, very tough.
19..Dave Brown, very tough.
20..Garry Howatt, pit bull.

[EDDIESHORETOEBLAKE]

Probably the most interesting/controversial Top 10 (or Top 20) received so far . . .

[5 and a game misconduct]

That's for sure. [what]