The Top One Armed Bandits!
 

We all know and hear about the NHL's top fighter's, many of whom needed to use both hands to survive. Many did it so smoothly that you never knew until the devastating punch was released. The Bob Probert's, Jim MacKenzie's, Stan Jonathan's, Behn Wilson's, Tim Hunter's, Jay Miller's, PJ Stock's etc.

But how about the guys who fought most of their careers as one armed bandits and did it successfully?

How did they do it and why were they so successful? Guys who almost never used their lesser arms and still found a way to win.

These are the guys that I want to hear about.

I'll get things started with a good old Boston Bruin named Terry O'Reilly. Terry was a tough guy for sure but was almost exclusively a lefty. Though he was very successful as a fighter, I always felt he could have been much more effective if he used and developed his right hand.

Please feel free to add some of your choices so that we can find out who these One Armed Bandits were!;)

For me it's :

B.Wilson- although he did on a very rare occasion (Fotiu) use his left..but almost exclusively used his right.

D.Brown- Everyone knew it was coming but couldn't get away from it

Playfair- Very rarely used the left, didn't need to

Twist- read D.Brown

Simon- devastating lefty one trick pony

Semenko- his lack of a left sealed his fate vs T.Hunter


Here are a few that are considered one handed but were effective with their left :

JK- partially because his right was so mangled , but also it really helped him offensively when he did later in his career.

Todd Ewen- just watching some of his Ducks stuff...he was quite effective with his left. Mainly due to his right hand being badly damaged.

Stu Grimson- had a pretty good left later in his career.

Simon comes to mind first. All lefts but it was pretty sledge hammer like. Ironic that he is right handed but fought left handed and probably made him better for it.

Dont recall Laraque throwing anything but lefts either.

Pretty much got the ones that sprung to my mind as well.

Maybe i'll add Curt Fraser and to a degree Donald Brashear. Glen Cochrane, Ron Delorme. John Erskine.

Good Call on Big Behn
 

Your right on Wilson, for the most part he used only his right but in a variety of ways, straight rights, hooks and the best uppercut in the business. I don't know why I put him into the switching hands column. Oh well, brain cramp!

I found Wilson to be one of the most consistent and skilled fighters ever.

That is why I have him as number one all-time. Yes, ahead of Bob Probert, one of my personal favorites and Dave Brown.

He fought all the big guys era to era and usually with very good results. He is the only man in hockey they never really got "beaten bad" and that's saying alot with the guys he played against.

He wasn't a favorite of mine as he was a bully, disinterested at times and not the enforcer I would have liked to see, but I have to give him a ton of respect.
He feared no one and if he had been more intense and more of a team guy, he would be universally recognized as the best out there to date.

Some question his ability against lefties but I don't. I think he was very clever and would be smart enough to figure them out and take control of the fights. Unfortunately he didn't get enough opportunitities to do so.

One fight that never happened but I would have loved to see would have been him against Dave Brown. IMO, he would have beaten Brown in a series of fights because of his chin, balance, strength and his ability to manuever his opponent into his strength, his inside game. That is where I think he would have beaten Brown. He was a great boxer and I thought he had more punching power than Brown as well.

I agree with your assessment on Wilson beating Brown. As far as bully to bully - do not think Brown would have it so with Wilson. Wilson was a tank. Not sure if he (Wilson) is hurting Brown but he certainly will not be overwhelmed.

BTW: Is there any evidence that Wilson faced guys consistently that were 6' 4" 225lbs and larger ??? - Different kettle of fish was Probie's card - even Brown faced guys his own size and bigger - that being said, do not see Brown imposing his bully self on the other bully Wilson -

Now, I take issue with your having Wilson #1 - It would certainly have been interesting to wade through a 5 fight video series Wilson/Probert - Almost a push! However, Wilson by no means faced the card that Probert faced over the years - both in number and in multiple fights with the same opponents most of which he avenged any stain on his record. So, Probie sits in the #1 spot for me based on the raw data - I mean Wilson barely had a 100 fights.

You penalize Wilson for lack of fights - remember he retired in what would have been his prime due to back issues - but don't penalize Gillies who had much fewer fights or Fotiu who had even fewer? I don't understand that logic.

A little bit more on Big Behn
 

With regards to Wilson fighting big guys how about the following:

Barry Beck-A draw ( I would say win)
Dave Semenko - A win
Bob Probert - A draw
John Hilworth- A Knockout win (Devastating Power)
Willi Plett- Multiple fights - Mostly wins and draws with only one loss
Paul Mulvey- A win.
Clark Gillies- A win and a draw(Some say loss), I say draw.

I can go on but you get the point, these are all "big men", 6'3 or 6'4 and over at 220lbs and over.

With regards to his card, yes 100 fights is much less than Probert but his card is still loaded with excellent fighters and from multiple eras and he fought anybody and everybody who was a "heavy" during his day with the exception of Dave Brown.

Big Behn was only knocked off his feet a couple of times in his career
(a Paul Baxter blindside sucker punch and a John Wensink hook in his rookie year which did not hurt him). Paul Baxter was immediately beatdown twice in the same game for that punch by Big Behn.

That's a pretty impressive chin for 100 fights against top flight competition.

The key with Behn Wilson, that NO other fighter in the NHL can make, is that he was NEVER decisively beaten by anyone. This is what sets him apart from everyone else and IMO 100 fights is enough to base an opinion on.

One thing people have to take into account, and don't get me wrong, Probert is one of my favorite fighters, but Probert's last several years in the NHL with Chicago were not his best and definitely effect my thinking in ranking him vs Wilson.

Behn Wilson on the other hand, left abruptly from his back injury so there was no decline in his performance.

To add to things, I personally liked many top 10 guys much more than Wilson.
They were character guys, who played with intensity and who protected their teamates and did not "bully" smaller and weaker opponents.

But they were not better fighters than Behn Wilson IMO.

The popular choice would be to pick Probert or Brown but IMO, Behn Wilson was a better fighter, but he was by no means a better enforcer than them!

Brown and Twist are the most obvious ones. But Lyndon Byers with his looping right and right uppcuts stand out for me . Did LB ever throw a left?

Tie Domi could throw both hands, but i see him primarily as a lefty. Maybe i shall watch some more of his fights though.

The logic is quite simple and sound, namely, no-body is touting Gillies or Fotiu as their #1 - Henceforth, we must hold at least the top 3 to a higher standard. If you r gonna walk in the top 3 with 96 fights or so you better have some quals other than oohs and ahs - because Probert consistently demonstrated against bigger and arguably tougher competition by a factor of at least 3x that of Wilson -

Rob Ray threw 99% rights in his career but they were pretty ferocious so why mess with a left unless it's to get a guy to let go of your right! :cool:



Wilson was an outstanding fighter in almost every way but he wasn't Probert. probert gets the edge for switching hands by a wide margin and a slight edge for hand speed in my opinion.

I do have Big behn at number 2 all time though, he had the edge on Brownie in a few categories, more tools in the box, so to speak but it's close.

You're talking about 3 of the best hockey fighters ever though so having any of them at number 1, 2 , or 3 isn't really "wrong".

On subject; Bobby Nystrom was pretty much a righty although i have seen him resort to a left. Most of those "speed merchants" like him or berube, especially John Kordic overwhelmed people with their primary hand.:approve:

Nice post spiderarms about Behn Wilson. I've done similar ones before citing the outsized guys, strongmen and noted punchers he faced. Sometimes all three wrapped in one. It's really hard to nitpick behn or not give him his due in virtually every hypothetical. He did mix it up with guys like beck or 6-6 archie henderson and never got pushed around or outsized. Cracked on the chin by men like clark or fraser and hardly ever even fazed. I've always said he's very close to a perfect blueprint for a fighter. Phenemonal strength, chin and incredible balance.

Some were quicker, some hit harder but it virtually never seemed to matter. He also had a very respectable card in that around 100 fight career. Some pick on his percieved lack of showy power but he did knock a man unconscious and break another one's face:B). Just a GREAT fighter. Probably the very best of his era.:approve:. Again, as had been mentioned here and elsewhere, i think it's very, very telling that every one of his 6-8 "losses" were by an edge. Never dominated or even badly beaten. No bad matchups, no off nights, no decline etc.

He's tied at #2 for me. I flip flop with 2a and 2b. I wouldn't bother anyone who had/has him at #1.

Kordic stands out to me also maybe when he fought Jay a couple times would throw a fluffy right. Another during the 80's was Gord Donelly cannot remember to many thrown with his right hand