1. Gino Odjick
“Gino! Gino! Gino!” The fans at the old Pacific Coliseum would fill the arena with this chant when Gino Odjick dropped the gloves with an opposing player. Odjick is second to none when it comes to the greatest fighters in the history of the Vancouver Canucks.
He was fearless and could fight anybody — and he made sure you knew it, too. Fans will never forget the time in which he tried to fight, well, everybody on the St. Louis Blues in game six of the Western Conference Finals during the 1995 Stanley Cup Playoffs. Odjick lost both his jersey and most of the equipment protecting his upper body, but that didn’t stop him.
Odjick fought Adam Creighton to the ground and when the refs separated the two, Odjick set his sights on a couple more Blues players.
It was moments like this one that made Odjick not only a fan favourite, but a legend in Vancouver. When he battled a rare heart condition in 2014, Canucks fans everywhere showed up outside the hospital Odjick was staying at began to chant the familiar “Gino” chant that Odjick had heard oh so many times throughout his life. As the chants grew louder, Odjick waved down to the crowd from his 10th story window — much cheering ensued, just like it did when Gino would hype up the fans at Pacific Coliseum.
So there’s my top five fighters list! I enjoyed hearing from so many of you on Twitter and discussing some of the greatest fights in Canucks history. I would love to hear your top five list in the comment section below!