Tough Guy Encounters

[Joser Jose]

Got any close encounters with tough guys?

I worked at the HP Pavilion and got to interact with a ton of fighters.*
One time I asked Stu Grimson who he was gonna beat up later that night while he was hanging out with Kariya, he looks at Kariya, smiles, looks at me and says" You know that little black thing we call a puck? I'm gonna beat the s!!t out of that little guy". He winked at me and went on his way.*

I'm a big Berube fan and walked by him and said, " What's up Chief?". He stopped and gave me a cold, 5 second stare like I just blindsided Bondra . Froze me. He smiles and says, "Not too much, you?" and shakes my hand.

For the most part, my encounters were subtle head nods and no words at all (Probert, Brashear, Domi, Tinordi, Simon, Twist, Chase, Clark) which is fine. These guys were not there to be social. Especially the tough guys, who knew how much they were gonna have police that night?*

[Broons66]

Cool sh*t man. I've met most of the B's tough guys; O'Reilly, Jonathan, Wensink, Miller, Byers, Belanger,and Thornton. The absolute funniest of the bunch is Byers.

[lilburtis9363]

Ive met Rob Ray numerous times. First thing i noticed is that he has a bowling ball for a head. Cool guy, played some street hockey with him i remember him setting me up for a one-timer and roofing it. What an awesome feeling, Rayzor is a great guy.

Eric Boulton was a neighbor for a while. He was kind of a cocky a-hole with a short fuse. My buddy ding dong ditched him back in middle school and boulton chased him in his truck.

Saw barnaby out eating at damons after he was traded to the pens. He was seriously nuts, laughing like crazy at the sabres getting scored on. Not too long ago he was driving hammered with only 3 tires in his car not too far from where i was living. He had a whole bunch of screws loose.

[Joser Jose]

Byers seems pretty cool. How was Wensink? I think he's my favorite Bruin tough guy with Jonathan at a close second.

[GOON 21]

I use to work at the hotel where the Ranger players would stay all the time, i was in School when the Rangers won the cup and that was a crazy time


I use to post a few of the stories from time to time around here but havent in a while, one of the best was Kocur when he was traded to the Rags he stayed at the hotel for months (actually it may have been a year or so) but i actually walked his dog (Mouslon was the dogs name) for him a couple of times, it was a gorgeous blonde lab lol


I was a bellman/concierge (great job btw, especially college job) but i would interact with the guys alot -- I went out with Kocur and watched a monday night football game with him at a loca place with him (I think it was a Chiefs-Bills game when Montana was on the Chiefs) and he lost a small wager lo ------------ I didnt talk to him about fighting much (occasionally) but i remember talking to him about Troy Crowder and i alwasy remember Kocur telling me that he thought he was overrated i have a bunch more involving Mike Hartman, Kypreos and even guys like Tony Forientino (skinny guy, i was in elevator with him 1 time and said i could take him kick his azz lol to myself!) to guys like Ed Kastelick (he was a preseason invitee with the Rags) along with a big/heavy guy named Backbock who fought Dave Brown several times in pre-season as a Capital if i remember correctly


There are a bunch of stories and some involving non-fighters that i remember as well, i actually told Bernie Nichols that Claude Lemuiex was just traded to the devils (it was 1 of my first days on job) and he said "Oo really? i hate that guy " and also i remember Eric Lindro meeting Darren Turcotte (maybe for first time) at a nearby golf tournament


It was a GREAT job and tons of good stories, this is when i was a kid and a hockey FREAK at that time in my life, good stuff 4 sure and a great job



PS - I have some even FUNNIER stories about the NY Knicks at that time (stories with Anthony Mason, Hubert Davis, Bo Kimball, etc, etc)

[kam]

The closest I ever got was my sister every now and then was a guest speaker or assistant in one of the law classes that Grimson was in after he retired. Said he was incredibly polite and never led on to what he did or used to do, since 99.9% of the people in our area have no idea who he is if asked he would just say he used to play hockey. My sister isn't a fan and after telling her his nickname she wanted to bring it up but she was usually in a situation where it might be unprofessional or embarrass him so she never got the chance.

[Broons66]

Originally Posted by Joser Jose

Byers seems pretty cool. How was Wensink? I think he's my favorite Bruin tough guy with Jonathan at a close second.

With eexception to Byers and Belanger, I met all those guys at card/memorabilia/autograph shows, which are pretty regimented, get in line with puck, pic, jersey, and only get to say a few things while they sign. Met Nilan also, don't consider him a Bruin, remember his scowl and not having a sense of humor. Met ultimate B's homer also, the great Derek Sanderson, never looked up at me, just signed.

[Sharpsfan]

One time i was working on a new house construction must have been near dirk grahams house because id see him roller blading up and down the street . I didnt talk to him just waived one time as i drove by him . thats when he was still in minny .

[fansince65]

My brother used to live next door to Bob Probert , I have attended a few BBQ's at his house and even went fishing with him on more than one occasion , he could put away a 24 of beer in a couple hours and you would never know he had a drink , easy going guy , never seen him get mad at anyone , he would never talk about his role with the team he played for at the time , had some real good times with him over the years .

Met Domi on a few occasions , had a few brown pops with him at Don Cherry's restaurant/bar in Toronto , he always has a smile on his face , when he found out I knew Probert he opened up a little , said he respected him more than any other tough guy he ever fought , I got the impression he meant everything he said ..

[FitzG]

John's a great guy will answer any question good or bad and happy to take a picture with you. His hair is short and straight now so it takes a second to dial him in but those Clint Eastwood eyes give him away,lol

Originally Posted by Joser Jose

Byers seems pretty cool. How was Wensink? I think he's my favorite Bruin tough guy with Jonathan at a close second.

[FitzG]

Got the same thing from Sanderson was not impressed. He lives in my home town been behind him a few times his tag is PRO16 (Mercedes all blacked out) Met with Ferny Flaman several times he truly thought I was a nutcase asking him all these fight questions but he put up with me. The fighting wasn't a big thing to Ferny just part of his job out there.(but I made it a big thing,lol)

Originally Posted by Broons66

With eexception to Byers and Belanger, I met all those guys at card/memorabilia/autograph shows, which are pretty regimented, get in line with puck, pic, jersey, and only get to say a few things while they sign. Met Nilan also, don't consider him a Bruin, remember his scowl and not having a sense of humor. Met ultimate B's homer also, the great Derek Sanderson, never looked up at me, just signed.

[Joser Jose]

Years ago there used to be a magazine exclusive to NHL heavyweights. It came out in the preseason and they ranked the top 25 heavyweights in the league with a profile of each ranked fighter. My buddy worked at the arena with me and he made it a goal to get each of fighters autograph on their profile page. He got everyone but Twist and Baumgartner by the way. The funniest autograph story o
in his mission was how he got Mark Janssens. He asked Sanderson if he could get Janssens for him and Sanderson thought that was hilarious. He told all the boys around him that Janssens had an autograph request and they were all shocked. I guess Janssens didn't get too many of those. He was pretty cool and thought it was awesome he made the top 25 but even more awesome that someone made Sanderson fetch him for an autograph!

[Broons66]

Originally Posted by FitzG

Got the same thing from Sanderson was not impressed. He lives in my home town been behind him a few times his tag is PRO16 (Mercedes all blacked out) Met with Ferny Flaman several times he truly thought I was a nutcase asking him all these fight questions but he put up with me. The fighting wasn't a big thing to Ferny just part of his job out there.(but I made it a big thing,lol)

What's totally fvcked up is Sanderson spoke at my hIghschool my Jr. year at an assembly. Something he was doing for Tucker Anthony as part as promotion. Total speech about the perils of drugs/alcohol. The Bobby Orr park bench story, whole nine yards. When it came time to meet Derek, and thank him for his speech, it was total business, sign and move along. Oh well, got a Derek signed puck, photo, and a sig on an old school B's jersey with O'Reilly, Wensink, Jonathan. Still need Park and Grapes.

[FitzG]

My memory is shot but I think O'Reilly, Wensink, Jonathan and Secord all signed together last year in Boston some where. Cashman may have been there too. I hope Jonathan doesn't hide from the media after the shooting and we still see him around.

Originally Posted by Broons66

What's totally fvcked up is Sanderson spoke at my hIghschool my Jr. year at an assembly. Something he was doing for Tucker Anthony as part as promotion. Total speech about the perils of drugs/alcohol. The Bobby Orr park bench story, whole nine yards. When it came time to meet Derek, and thank him for his speech, it was total business, sign and move along. Oh well, got a Derek signed puck, photo, and a sig on an old school B's jersey with O'Reilly, Wensink, Jonathan. Still need Park and Grapes.

[2,5,10GameMatch]

Originally Posted by GOON 21

along with a big/heavy guy named Backbock who fought Dave Brown several times in pre-season as a Capital if i remember correctly

Bobby Babcock, Scarborough boy.