Top five fighters in Vancouver Canucks history

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.

5. Kevin Bieksa

Honestly, the five spot was the hardest to come up with. I had about six different players in this spot in the many lists I made before finally settling on Kevin Bieksa. Maybe it’s because of the way he carried himself on the ice with the confidence you could tell he didn’t lack at all; maybe it was because of how much he did for someone who will show up later on this list, Rick Rypien.

Anyway, Bieksa has always been one of my favourite Canucks period. Although he wasn’t the most offensively gifted player and wasn’t too flashy, his fighting abilities were something I always admired and was drawn to. Bieksa has had some of the most memorable fights in Canucks history.

Long before his one punch superman punch on Radko Gudas went viral, fans in Vancouver knew Bieksa possessed that lethal and unorthodox superman punch. You can watch a compilation of what claims to be every superman punch that Bieksa has ever thrown in his career, and you’ll notice that most of the clips feature Bieksa in a Canuck uniform.

His fearlessness and willingness to stick up for his teammates, along with how key of a role he played on the 2011 team, lands Bieksa at the fifth spot on my list. Here are some honourable mentions; and truly, it could be any one of these guys at this spot: Craig Coxe, Ron Delorme, Ed Jovanovski, and especially Curt Fraser.

4. Tiger Williams

He just looks like someone you wouldn’t want to mess around with under any circumstances. You mess with the Tiger, you get the claws. I’m not sure if anyone ever said that about Dave “Tiger” Williams, but it’s a pretty accurate statement about the fiery temper and brute force of Tiger Williams. Unlike Rypien, Tiger wasn’t the most fundamentally sound fighter. While Rypien used boxing techniques to win his fights, Tiger was just tougher than anybody on the ice.

According to HockeyFights.com, over the span of his 14 year NHL career, Tiger got into over 200 fights, with 65 of them coming in a Canucks uniform. Much like Rypien, Tiger was not the biggest competitor, but nearly everybody who came into contact with him knew not to mess with him. Tiger was tougher than a two-dollar steak and would fight anyone, anywhere, anytime.

The all-time leader in career penalty minutes was known around the league as “Tiger” for a reason. He amassed 3,971 penalty minutes and picked up over 250 penalty minutes in 11 of his 14 seasons in the NHL. Although the majority of his fights came as a member of the Toronto Maple Leafs, Tiger will go down as one of the toughest fighters the Canucks have ever seen.

3. Rick Rypien

Although many never considered him a true enforcer because of his 5’11, 190-pound frame, Rick Rypien could absolutely throw hands with the best of them. The thumbnail of this article features the Coleman, Alberta native about to feed his signature left hand to former Canuck, Brandon Prust.

Rypien had a well-documented and much talked about battle with depression, and unfortunately, took his own life prior to the 2011 season. Rypien’s battle with mental illness paved the way for the current Hockey Talks and other mental health awareness programs seen throughout professional sports.

When he dropped the gloves, everybody took notice. If you were at the game, you would shoot out of your seat to see what Rypien was going to do to the opponent who had lined up opposite him. Whether it was the 6’7, 243 pound Hal Gill or one of the league’s best fighters in Zack Stortini, Rypien never backed down from anybody.

There are many compilations of some of Rypien’s best fights all over Youtube, but I suggest you watch his fight against Boris Valabik to really grasp what kind of fighter and what kind of player Rypien was. In the video, the 6’7 245 Valabik looks at Rypien in disbelief after he seemingly asks him to fight. Almost as a “really? You’re sure about this?”.

Rypien took a few punches, but blocked a good amount and turned the fight in his favour after getting Valabik’s jersey over his head. He then proceeded to feed Valabik with a multitude of his signature left hands and that was that. Rypien truly is one of the greatest fighters in Canucks history.

2. Donald Brashear

Truly, the next two fighters that top my list are in a league of their own when it comes to both fighting ability and toughness. Donald Brashear knew he wasn’t in the NHL to score goals or to create plays. He was the epitome of an enforcer, and he was a damn good one, too. Brashear brought pure power to each and every one of his fights and didn’t back down from anyone.

In his first full season in Vancouver back in 1997-98, Brashear led the league in penalty minutes with 372. He fought 83 times for the Canucks, and over the years, had some great rivalries with players such as Bob Probert, who he fought eight times, Tie Domi, who he fought seven times, and Marty McSorley, who he fought six times over the span of his 16-year career.

Brashear could brawl with the best of them, and rarely backed down from an opponent. I still remember old hockey video games, where Brashear’s fighting attributes were always near maxed out. Those maxed out fighting abilities are a telling factor of how good of a fighter Brashear was in his playing days. As I said, both he and the player I have at number one are in a class of their own when it comes to Canucks fighters.