Over the 50 years since the Vancouver Canucks first arrived in the National Hockey League, they have had some skilled fighters and some very tough customers — here’s my list of the top five fighters that have donned a Canucks uniform.
Ah, the good old pugilist. Although the game has clearly taken a shift into speed and skill over size and strength, the Vancouver Canucks have had some skilled fighters over the course of their history, I thought it would be fun to try to name my top five fighters in franchise history.
Before I get into my list, I’d like to share what people replied with when I asked on my Twitter account to hear other people’s top fives. The majority of people had Rick Rypien, Donald Brashear, and Gino Odjick in their top three, and hardly any four or five spots were the same. To write this article, I used the help of hockeyfights.com, older Canucks fans who saw all the players I’m writing about play live, and good old Youtube.
When compiling this list, I took into account how tough and fearless a player was, along with their size and fighting ability. Here is my list of the top five fighters in the history of the Vancouver Canucks.