Top 10 Adams Division Tough Guys

A tip of the lid to Down Goes Brown for an educational rundown of the Top 10 Norris Division Tough Guys.

Never missing an opportunity to steal someone else's idea, here's my list of top Adams Division pugilists.

A little background: The Adams Division existed from 1974-93, with a variety of lineups influenced by relocations, realignments and expansion. At various times it included the Leafs, North Stars and Senators, but for the purposes of this list I'm going with the post-1981 lineup of Boston, Buffalo, Hartford, Montreal and Quebec. Each team is represented with at least one guy on the list, though the Whalers and Nords made it a little tough. For some reason that is lost on me, the Adams got rid of most of its goons during the mid-to-late '80s, so a lot of the guys on this list toiled in relative obscurity while Probert and Clark and Grimson were getting all the



Dale Hunter - Probably one of the most hated players of all time, but undeniably a tough bastard to play against. Like Stan Jonathan he was one of those scrappy little guys who would drop 'em with anyone. He fought Ulf Samuelsson 7 times, which is a small bit of redemption for his transgressions.

His years as a Cap make it easy to forget that Hunter played 7 years in Quebec, and had a key role in the "Good Friday Brawl" in the '84 Adams Division Finals.





Lyndon Byers - Byers' contribution to the Bruins juggernaut of the late '80s was pretty straightforward... patrol around and make sure nobody messes with Bourque or Janney (Cam Neely didn't need that kind of protection). He was never really in the upper rung of elite heavyweights, but he knew his role and was always on call.

Here's a vid of LB in a vicious bout with the Sabres' Clark Gillies:




Jim McKenzie - "Underrated" seems to be the word most often used to describe McKenzie. A clean, toe-to-toe type of brawler who was really the only tough Whaler other than Verbeek.

Anyone who can stand in against the Twister is a badass in my book:




Larry Playfair - Brad May and Rob Ray did so much to define the concept of "Sabres enforcer" that Playfair is almost forgotten. But this was an old-school, bruiser of a man who would've been right at home in Slap Shot.

Here are fights 2 and 3 of his feud with Chris Nilan:



Jay Miller - Miller was a classic "goon", peaking at 20 points but reliably racking up 250-300 PIMs per season. One of the best southpaws of his time, Miller held long-running feuds with heavyweights like Nilan, Kordic and Kocur.

Here he is against Nilan... a real Adams Division heavyweight matchup:



Brad May - May was actually a somewhat useful player, coming close to scoring 20 goals a couple of times. But his role as an enforcer, especially during the time when he and Ray were both racking up 300+ PIM on the same team, overshadows his other contributions. I don't know if any other team has ever had two players with 300 PIM, but I doubt it.

May takes on Shayne Corson in this vid:




Stan Jonathan - Like a bulldog, Jonathan was pound-for-pound the meanest breed of fighter. Considered a lightweight, he stood a mere 5'8" and rarely fought an opponent at an advantage. Though he never racked up huge PIM numbers, he held his ground as one of the top pugilists of his era. He was also a pretty solid hockey player, scoring 27 goals one year.

Here's Jonathan's infamous beatdown/forced-retirement number on Pierre Bouchard. One of the most vicious fights of all time:




John Kordic - It's easy to forget that Kordic was only 27 when he died of cocaine overdose. By that time he had already established himself as a premier tough guy for the Habs. In particular he tortured Basil McRae with numerous beatdowns, going undefeated in 10 fights. He also fought Jay Miller 12 times, which again is even more remarkable when you consider that 11 of those bouts occurred in a span of two and a half years.

His nickname was "Rambo". Wicked.

Kordic vs. Miller, 1-4:



Rob Ray - God I used to hate this guy. Any time the league makes a rule specifically aimed at your shenanigans, you've moved into Sean Avery territory. In Ray's case, it was the fact that he would do a striptease before every fight, which of course made every bout ridiculously one-sided until they started requiring tiedowns. But you can't deny that Ray was one of the truly elite goons of the 1990s. There was a period when he was probably the best fighter in the league.

A great matchup between Ray and Tie Domi:



Chris Nilan - "Knuckles" was the premier fighter in the Adams Division, period. He racked up an astounding 300 career fights, taking on everyone from Paul Coffey to Bob Probert. To date, he still has the highest PIM average of any player, ever. He was penalized 10 times in one game. They had to change the rules when he got selected for the All-Star Team. He beat down Torrie Robertson 10 times.

I could go on all night. This guy was nails.

Here's Nilan taking on Stan Jonathan, two mean SOB's representing bitter rivals in a nice scrap:





Let me know if you'd have done it different...

YouTube: Best of the Bruins

The month of September is a peculiar time for hockey fans. On one hand, it signals the end of a long, hot, hockeyless summer. On the other hand, we experience only shades of the game during this month. Summer practices, training camp, and a few lousy exhibition games pacify us through the final agonizing month of the offseason. The longest month of the year, no doubt.

So circle October 9th on your calendar and while away your September with these nuggets of YouTube awesomeness. I scoured through a bunch of Bruins clips, most of which feature Milan Lucic beating the shit out of somebody, to find the best Bruins videos on the web. Enjoy.

#5 -- Bruins locker room after they win the Cup, 10 May 1970

Imagine being in the room 15 minutes after the most famous goal in hockey history. If you don't feel like waiting through the entire nine minutes, hit the highlights: a delirious Eddie Johnston at 0:45, Wayne Cashman looking reminiscent of Reggie Dunlop at 3:30, Bobby Orr looking (and sounding) reminiscent of Peter Parker at 4:20, a brilliant interview with Phil Esposito at 6:45, and Don Earle getting champagne dumped on his head (3:15) and poured in his mouth (8:05).





#4 -- Bruins vs. Canadiens

Lovely tribute to hockey's greatest rivalry, with a sweet-looking logo montage at the beginning. So stirring, it might inspire you to punch someone from Montreal.




#3 -- Bobby Orr

It's hard to imagine a Carly Simon song fitting nicely into a hockey video, but this somehow pulls it off. Maybe it's the fuzzy 1970s footage. In any case, this is about as high-quality as an amateur video montage can be -- and is the most popular Bruins clip on YouTube with over 200,000 views and 2,100 comments. Each highlight played at three-quarters speed allows you to really appreciate the otherworldly talent that #4 brought to the game. Don't like the song? Turn down the volume and enjoy every one-handed shot, seamless pivot, and wicked slapper.





#2 -- Bruins Pregame Intro

Nothing fancy -- just a simple recording of the pregame video at the Garden, as seen from a corner seat in the rafters. But you can sense the nervousness and anticipation in the crowd, and before you know it you're transported to the feeling of 5 minutes before faceoff at an April home game.




#1 -- Welcome to the Show

Is it the best video in the batch? Maybe not. But it gets me freaking psyched for the season.








First exhibition game -- September 22nd vs. the Habs.

What the Yelle is going on here?

Surprise! The Bruins, who gave no indication they were planning on making any more moves this offseason, have signed Stephane Yelle.

To date, the reaction from Bruins faithful has been a collective "Er... Ok?". A team loaded with young, offensive minded centers and virtually no cap space -- of course they'd sign an aging, low-scoring center!

But Yelle brings something to the table that has been lacking on the Bruins roster the past couple of seasons -- faceoff prowess. Last season, Marc Savard was the only Bruin to take more than 300 faceoffs and have a winning record. While Yelle finished at 50% on the nose last season, he has historically been in the 53-55% range each season.

Also, Yelle gives the Bruins the ability to remove a top-line center from the penalty kill. Time will tell how it works out, but the safe money is that Savard gets some extra breathing time. That might turn out to be Yelle's biggest contribution to the offense, as we certainly shouldn't expect to see this too often from a guy who'll be lucky to score 10 goals.

In sum, the Bruins are paying bottom-dollar for a serviceable 4th-line center, penalty-killer and faceoff specialist. Yelle's contract is only for this season, and he'll be paid less than Petteri Nokelainen and Shane Hnidy, so presumably this addition is strictly aimed at deepening the roster and providing some injury insurance (remember late last season when David Krejci was the #1 center? Yeah, so does Peter Chiarelli). Though it might cost Vladimir Sobotka some ice time, worse moves have been made.

Possible forward lines:

Sturm - Savard - Ryder
Lucic - Bergeron - Kessel
Axelsson - Krejci - Kobasew
Schaefer - Yelle - Sobotka

Obligatory mention of Bryan McCabe: Check out this hilarious video of Chara treating McCabe like Patrick Roy's wife.

Bruins Prospect Preview (or, the legend of the one-eyed Swede)

If you have made it all the way to this corner of the interweb, chances are you are already familiar with Hockey's Future, the best online resource available for researching prospects. Considering I rely pretty heavily on them for scouting notes on young players, I thought I ought to go ahead and give them a shameless promo up front.

But we're not here to talk about the possibility of my getting reimbursed for that comment. We're here to talk about new talent in the Bruins organization.

One of the most positive developments that the B's have pulled off in the Pete Chiarelli Era is the shift away from using veterans as key roster pieces (compare to the veteran-laden rebuilding effort in Toronto, which might go on for another 10 years) and the quick development of young talent to replace them. This season we should see a major shift forward as several youngsters are on the verge of losing the "prospect" label and becoming full-time contributors in the big league. In particular, Milan Lucic and David Krejci will be expected to take some of the ice time freed up by Glen Murray's departure.

Looking deeper in the organization, this is what's coming down the pipeline:

G Tuukka Rask - The Bruins have done the right thing with Rask, signing veterans Tim Thomas and Manny Fernandez to keep the ship stable while Rask develops in the AHL. All indicators suggest that Rask will be the next elite goaltender to break into the NHL, and frankly we can afford to wait as long as necessary to be sure that he's truly ready when the time arrives. But there is no question that Rask is the heir-apparent to the starting spot in Boston, so if either of the Bruins' goalies go down with injury or are otherwise unserviceable, don't be suprised to see Chiarelli "cheat" a little in hopes of finding instant success.

RW Blake Wheeler - A steal from the Coyotes organization, Wheeler has the size and skills to be a long-term contributor in the NHL. There are persistent questions about his character, though, and that might be the biggest obstacle to his development. He'll likely start the season in Providence, but I expect he'll be playing regular minutes in Boston by the end of the season. Certainly the best winger prospect in the Bruins system right now.

D Matt Lashoff - Having done pretty much everything expected of him in the AHL, Lashoff should be ready to break through this season. Like Wheeler he'll probably start the season in Providence, but as soon as a defenseman is injured in Boston he's the obvious choice for a callup. At this point he would seem like a good third-pairing prospect, and might get some PK time given his defensive skill.

C Vladimir Sobotka - The list of centermen in Boston is a bit crowded, and Sobotka may end up being the odd man out. He played 48 games with the Big B's last season and scored only once... not much of a recommendation for a smallish forward with average speed. Winning only 48.6% of his faceoffs doesn't help. He'll get another shot this year, but consider him trade bait if he doesn't improve quickly. At best he might develop into a second-rate agitator.

C Zach Hamill - Another center most likely to spend the majority of the season in Providence. Hamill seems to have a little more upside than Sobotka and I don't get the sense that he's as vulnerable to being traded. Someone to keep an eye on in a couple of years.

C Carl Soderberg - The white elephant of the Bruins organization. Folks on the other side of the pond say he's got the skill to be a contributor at the NHL level, perhaps even a potential All-Star, but an eye injury and general lack of interest in playing in North America put a damper on that enthusiasm. Apparently he has agreed to play in the Bruins system this season, but teams have been known to wrongfully hitch their wagons to a moody European scorer in the past.

Isles ensure another 10th-place finish

In a move sure to delight their competition in the back-middle of the Eastern Conference, the Islanders have parted ways with head coach Ted Nolan. Garth "Milbury" Snow cited "philosophical differences" as an excuse to give Nolan the axe.

These "philosophical differences" must have been something along the lines of "wanting to win" vs. "not wanting to win". Snow's primary role in the Islanders organization is to keep Charles Wang and his checkbook nice and happy... and since Wang doesn't seem to know squat about hockey I suppose it was pretty shrewd of Snow to just fling another coach under the bus. Count 'em up -- the Islanders are averaging about 1 coach per season so far this decade. Nice.

Word on the street (or expressway or whatever they have in Long Island) is that Snow didn't like Nolan's handling of the Islanders' young prospects. Yes, they have prospects. Who knew? Apparently Snow wanted young stars like Kyle Okposo to get more ice time... perhaps so they could squeeze out an extra 5th-round draft pick when traded. Of course, this directly contradicts Snow's insistence that the Islanders aren't performing well enough right now because they should have made... hee hee... made the pla -- BWA HA HA HA HAHAHA!!! Sorry... hee hee... almost got through that one without cracking up...

Ahem... bottom line here is that it's another season, another pathetic failure by the Islanders. The third-best team in the greater New York area continues to ensure its permanent seat on the Contraction Possibilities List by quickly disposing of anything that might signal an ascent into contention. The best thing that could happen to the Isles, who are truthfully NOT even close to being a playoff-caliber squad, would be for them to simply ditch their collection of castaway vets and tank the next 5 seasons in a row. Attendance would stay flat and they might pick up the next Ovechkin who could bring about some real buzz.

Even as a Bruins fan, I have to wipe a tear at what has happened to the once-mighty Islanders. There but for the grace of God...