this guy has got to be kidding...
Brashear?? No Colton?? go back to journalism school or at least ask the fans...


By Adrian Dater
February 8, 2010

Picking the top five fighters of all time, as we did here a last year, was comparatively easy next to picking the top five of right now.

I think I blew out my computer's flash drive by watching so many fight videos on YouTube and Hockeyfights.com today. And I came to the following conclusion: Much like the pro boxing world of the last 10-15 years, the NHL is suffering right now from too many generic fighters that nobody knows.

That scary, dominant heavyweight is lacking, the kind of guy who everybody knows and who can sell some tickets. The NHL's last, really marketable fighter was probably Tie Domi, but he and his cement head are retired.

Today, it seems like all the fighters are punching clocks as much as each other. Fighting is up, mind you, to 1.2 per game from the 0.75 the year after the lockout. But it still seems like fighters are in the closet, so to speak. Nobody in the league has that celebrated, cult type of following anymore.

True, maybe today's fighters are bigger and, technically, better than ever. But all that excellence at the craft has created a kind of dull ****genization.

There's no Bob Probert, no Tony Twist, no Domi or Dave Schultz. Those guys, much as the pacifists of the sport want to believe otherwise, helped sell the game.

But with the duty of picking the top five fighters of today - no matter how generic they may seem - here we go.

5. George Parros, Anaheim - If he doesn't kick your *** in a fight, he'll most certainly do so in a game of Scrabble. You've got to love a guy who fights with the best of ‘em, but also got near perfect scores on his SATs and went to Princeton.

4. Donald Brashear, Rangers - OK, OK. He's gotten to the point where he only too often as one big punch maybe still left in him in any fight. He's the Earnie Shavers of the NHL. But hockey fights are 30-45 seconds, not 15, three-minute rounds. So Brashear still is respected around the league for his one-punch capabilities.

3. Brian McGrattan, Calgary - He's one of those guys who just keeps throwin' ‘em, no matter how much that last punch he took to the face seemed to hurt. But Calgary's tough guy giveth more than he taketh, which puts him in the top class of fighters.

2. Shawn Thornton, Boston - Check out the fan scorecards to his fights on hockeyfights.com, and you see a lot decisions for the Boston veteran. The only unfortunate mark on his record was a loss to Philly's Daniel Carcillo at Fenway Park on New Year's Day. Thornton will take his revenge against the punk Carcillo at some point, it's for certain.

1. Derek Boogaard, Minnesota - The man is 6-foot-8, has a mean streak and runs a fight school in the summers - where many of the league's tough guys come to learn - from him. He just doesn't get many bouts, because nobody wants to go near him. And you would?

Derek Boogaard is a 2010 UFA.

I got to see the top 3 in the AHL and they all are brutal. McGratton is just plain vicious...a real a-ss, Boogaard is just ferocious, and Thornton feared no one, and was a good guy off ice too. Glad to see his career is going well.

Re: 4. Brashear



Not a bad article.
I agree with most of what he said.
But the fact that he listed Brashear clearly indicates that he has NO IDEA what the F**K he's talking about.

Orr should be up in that group without a doubt in my mind. And I bet the rest of the league would agree with that.
If not Orr, than Jody Shelley.
I'd even pick Rick Rypien over Brashear.

Sizzlechest, you're absolutely right.
The fact that HuggyBear is in that group tells us that this writer has not done his homework.

I bet he thinks Chris Drury is one of the best Captains in the NHL, too.

Adrian Dater =

quote:

This guy has got to be kidding...
Brashear?? No Colton?? Go back to journalism school or at least ask the fans...

I agree 100%!!!

Parros #5? HA! Might as well put Voros on that list

The fact that the writer, Adrian Dater (I had to Google his bio to see if he was a man or woman) has Donald Brashear on his top 5 fighters list, while he does NOT have Colton Orr on the list tells me 1 of 3 things must be true about Adrian. Either:
1) He is Donald Brashear's agent, trying to boost his client's value; highly unlikely because it is not a contract year for Brashear;
2) He is a relative of Rangers' General Manager Glen Sather, trying to sell us morons on the idea that letting Orr go and signing Brashear was a good move by Uncle Glen. Also highly unlikely, because like the first option, if this was true then Brashear would have been number 1 on the list, not number 4; or
3) Adrian is a STUPID IDIOT who doesn't watch the games and knows nothing about hockey. He admitted as much by saying he watched the fights on YouTube and hockeyfights.com. Another plumber who didn't like getting his hands dirty and his feet wet, so he's trying to be a writer. Leaving Orr off the list and including "Huggy Bear" just means Adrian has ABSOLUTELY NO CREDIBILITY with me as a writer or hockey journalist, and I will NOT waste my time reading any of his future articles. HEY ADRIAN, if you want to know if Colton Orr should be on the list, just ask Todd "Thud" Fedoruk (the sound he made when he hit the ice) or Matt "Where am I?" Carkner...

Colton Orr had his clock cleaned last night by Jody Shelley. Shelley tagged him right on the chin.

Because I have DirecTV, Toronto/San Jose was the only early game I could watch.

I saw that too...he got back up though...man I miss Colton and that #28 patroling the ice...we haven't had anyone like him since Kocur...

S a T h E r you are incompetent.

quote:

Originally posted by NCRanger:
Colton Orr had his clock cleaned last night by Jody Shelley. Shelley tagged him right on the chin.

Because I have DirecTV, Toronto/San Jose was the only early game I could watch.

Shelley beats Orr : TKO

Where did that article come from????

Anyone who needs "blow out my computer's flash drive by watching so many fight videos on YouTube and Hockeyfights.com today." to write that piece of garbage obviously knows little about hockey.

This guy sounds like he's never seen a hockey game (They fight in hockey?).

Most NHL fans can rattle the top five fighters (arguably) off the top of his head: Boogard, Goddard, Orr, Ivanans, McGratten would be my picks.

It came from Versus' web site- i went there to see what game was on and it caught my attention

I wonder how Justin Soryal would do....You have to start somewhere. Just like Orr started with Providence. I doubt Soryal will ever get called up (especially in this organization) and I like Prust but he's no heavy weight. I miss Orr's bombs as much as anyone.
But top 5 in the NHL. You can't go wrong with Orr, Shelley, and Parros to start. I wouldn't want to mess with a ticked off Chara either. Someone mentioned Thorton on the Bruins as well.....That's about as tough as they come I suppose. I know there's more.
I miss the guys from the 80's and 90's (Probert, Kocur, Twist, Grimson, McSorley, Simon, Domi, Vukota, Langdon, Ray....etc....etc). There were so many great fights.

quote:

I miss the guys from the 80's and 90's (Probert, Kocur, Twist, Grimson, McSorley, Simon, Domi, Vukota, Langdon, Ray....etc....etc). There were so many great fights.

Oh man! I miss that time, too.
Bettman has stripped so much character away from the game.

I hope the great game of hockey prevails, though.

I didn't see the list of the top 5 of all time, but I hope guys like Gordie Howe, Derek Sanderson and Terry O'Riely were on that list.