The San Jose Sharks and Hockey Fights
Mar 28, 2020 14:06:05 GMT -8
Fugazi and carolinasharksfan like this
Post by John96 on Mar 28, 2020 14:06:05 GMT -8
No hockey going on but with the down time and nothing much better to do on a Saturday afternoon I thought I'd do a deep dive into a part of the game I am passioinate about; fighting.
Not everyone shares my views or love of this aspect but it is undeniably unique and entertaining. I have made hockey fights a hobby of mine for more than a decade and will go on a journey through the San Jose Sharks' history with fighting and tough guys.
Jeff Odgers:
Odgers was an original Shark and a team captian in his later years with the team. No one has fought more for the Sharks than Odgers and it isn't close. Odgers played from 1991-2003 and in that time played through a changing of guard in NHL tough guys. in 1991 Odgers was a clearly a heavyweight listed at 6'0 and 200lbs, similar to a lot of the other standbys in the NHL at the time but by the end of his career was clearly undersized among that class. That said, Odgers never backed down. Even his last years he was fighting monsters like Eric Cairns, Georges Laraque, Stephen Peat, and Peter Worrell. Added to that, Odgers wasn't a hugger. When he fought, he fought. He didn't fight to lose, he wanted to get punched in the face, punch you in the face, and see who was tougher. I love that. It was balls-out fighting and Odgers lived and died fighting that way. As an aside, I love the handlebars he rocked in his last few years with the Thrashers, what a beauty. Another cut from the same cloth but a bit more seasoned was John Kordic. They made this gem in Odgers' and San Jose's rookie season.
Didn't matter who, where, or when, Odgers fought the same way. Not bad a gainst a similarly built guy in Alan May, one of the league's busiest fighters in the early 90s.
Didn't work out well against one of the league's best at the time in McSorley, who put Odgers on back in this scrap.
Here is Odgers with Cam Russel, who was the same kind of guy as Odgers but had a bit more of a glass jaw (you'll see Russell later).
Odgers standing right in the pocket with the best to ever do it (and a Windsor native).
Odgers in the playoffs with another all-timer in the Grim Reaper. Love the willingness by Odgers but probably shouldn't have fought range with thre 6'5 Grimson.
Link Gaetz:
Enough on Odgers, lets go onto another original Shark, how about one of the first super-heavyweights ever. That's right. The Missing Link, Link Gaetz. Love this quote, "In the first round we drafted Mike Modano to protect the franchise," says Lou Nanne, then the general manager of the North Stars. "In the second round we drafted Link to protect Mike. In the third we should've drafted a lawyer to protect Link."
A couple cups of coffee in the league with Minnesota was all Gaetz had before a full season in the NHL. That 'full' season with the Sharks in 1991/92 , that included a stat line of 48 games, 6 goals, 12 points, and 326 PIMs. Wow. The man was wild and his reputation only grows as time passes.
Nobody fought more in the NHL in that season than Mike Peluso (35 FMs) but he wasn't in the same class as Gaetz.
No one should ever forget Gaetz and Probie doing battle in the Cow Palace. One of the FOTY and maybe one of the FOAT. How can you top two of the absolute toughest ever going toe-to-toe in a no-holds-barred slugfest like this? It is 2020 and safe to say fights like this do not happen anymore.
Doug Zmolek:
Maybe the complete opposite of Link Gaetz. Zmolek was a US kid who played college hockey before joining the Sharks and turned himself into a tough guy. He was no heavyweight and often overmatched in his fights but he went with a lot of the heavyweights in the league in his time in teal. Not too many wins at all, much less memorable ones, so here's him taking on another tough light-heavyweight and one of my personal all-time favourites and doing pretty well.
Not so well against a monster like Grimson.
Shawn Cronin:
Cronin the Barbarian was a southpaw but a bit of a hugger though to his credit during his two season with the Sharks his card is littered with some of the toughest guys in the league; Grimson, Churla, McCarthy, and Crowder. Also had a handful of bouts with Marc Potvin, one of the busiest guys in the league in the early 90s, here's Cronin making short work of him when he was a King.
Fast forward to the Sharks memorable 1995 playoffs against the Calgary Flames. Flames were clear favourites like a sophomore Sandy McCarthy who had established himself among the league's best fighters but he didn't really gain a clear edge over Cronin in this bout.
Dody Wood:
Mid 1990s now and here is Dody Wood. An undersized kid who fought his way up the minors into the NHL with a smart, tactical, approach to fighting that gave him the edge against many of the guys he went up against. Guess you would call Wood a light-heavyweight but I'd forgive you if you thought differently after this fight against Alek Stojanov (Windsor guy).
Remember how I said Brashear was a monster? He was, but before that, he was a rookie who had to learn his way around the league and here he is getting punched ot the ice by a much smaller but more seasoned Wood.
Here's Wood in the same game as that Brashear fight putting on a show with another entertaining light-heavyweight in Chris Murray (didn't play long in the NHL but man oh man did he have some fun fights).
Owen Nolan :
Wood was a good fighter but in 1995/1996 the Sharks acquried a guy by the name of Owen Nolan. A first overall pick. A power forward. A captain. The guy who would take the Sharks from spunky expansion team to legitimate playoff team. I loved Nolan. When I was really getting into hockey, he was the only Shark worth a damn. Nolan was the kind of player every fan loved to have on their team.
He didn't care if you were an agitator trying to draw him into a penalty.
Or a legit heavyweight who was looking for trouble.
Nolan didn't just fight gritty. He played gritty. He played the game the way it is supposed to be played. Didn't matter if it was maybe the last true goon crosschecking German rookie, Nolan didn't play around. Wish more guys had this kind of attitude. You think Nolan cared if anyone on the ice, Odjick included, wanted to fight him? I don't.
Obviously can't mentione Nolan and the extra-curriculars without bringing up him running Ed Belfour in the 1998 playoffs. Note Craig Ludwig. Ludwig was a good, very good, defenseman known for his physical play and shot blocking but did he want to throw punches with Nolan? Not a chance. Think Nolan knew that? I do, and that is why he did what he did. Man I miss Buster.
Andrei Nazarov:
The Russian Bear. The Russian Huggy Bear. So aptly named because his method of fighting left a lot to be desired. For all the good I talked up Odgers for, the opposite could be said for Nazarov. I can give him credit as he was willing for a guy who basically had no prior experience fighting coming from overseas and lasted for a long time in the NHL as an enforcer. He was an often dirty fighter (check him headbutting Stephane Quintal or scratching Bob Probert) and he never wanted to open up and really throw with any of his peers. He wasn't very good and his most memorable moments were him losing his marbles. He had a decent little rivalry with Coyotes' tough guy Jim McKenzie and had some animosity with Matt Johnson. They had many run-ins in their time and though Johnson usually got the better of it, here's Naz pulling out a win.
Marty McSorley:
Fun fact- I was once emailed by Kristie McLellan Day to help with her book on this guy. Sad fact- I couldn't. Anyways, what do you say about McSorley? He is an all-time great NHL tough guy, 99's bodyguard and one of the toughest SOBs to ever play. He got to the Sharks in his 30s but he still had something left in the tank. McSorley gave San Jose on the league's longstanding heavyweights, a gate keeper if you will. Even though his prime years were behind him at this point he still gave his all to this team and was a fearsome competitor. Here he is with maybe the baddest dude in the league at the time.
And if you think that was a fluke, here is doing it again.
His second season he had maybe the best three fight stretch of all time as he had absolute wars with Rob Ray, Reid Simpson, and Darren Langdon k-to-back-to-back. Look at these, all slugfests and two marathons with Simpson and Langdon. McSorley was a warrior.
Bryan Marchment:
No bones about it, Marchment was dirty and Marchment was a cheapshot artist. Hits from behind, elbows, and of course, the knees. Marchment was looking to hurt guys when he took the ice but unlike almost any other who played the game in that style (Cooke, Torres, Marchand), Marchment often faced the music for his misdeeds. He didn't shy away from the fact that his play drew the attention of the other team's tough guys and rather that cower behind a visor, his teammates, or the refs, Marchment stood up for himself. How many of those other cheap shot artists willingly went with guys like Domi, Brashear, Laraque, and the like. Some? Nope, try none. Marchment wasn't a straight-laced fighter but he could go when he had to.
Here he is teeing off on a defenseman cut from the same cloth.
Bottom line is you didn't have to like the way he played but I think we can all agree this team has missed, sometimes sorely so, Marchment's brand of hockey. He was a guy the other team had to worry about because he was unpredictable and tough. Enough on Mush though, onto the next.
Ronnie Stern:
Stern was an interesting case. He was a busy fighter throughout the early and mid 90s with the Canucks and Flames, division foes of the Sharks but missed the entire 1997/1998 season with a knee injury and recovery. The Sharks tough guys underwent a changing of the guard, Nazarov was traded, McSorley left in free agency and in came Stern and Myhres in the new threads. Stern was a wide open, toe-to-toe, fighter not disimilar to Odgers but Stern could go with both hands. Grant Marshall was basically a clone and a just a wild man when the gloves came off.
Brantt Myhres:
Myhres tagged up with Stern to create a decent one-two punch for the Sharks but Myhres struggled with substance abuse problem during his time in teal. Thankfully he sought and got the help he needed and recovered enough to continue his hockey career and currently works to help other players who maybe troubled in the same manner he was for the Los Angeles Kings. As a fighter Myhres seemed to have all the tools. He could really throw and he had the killer instinct. Put Cam Russell on his back in this one.
Short but sweet fight with super-heavyweight Chris McAllister.
I liked Myhres but he often ended fights early after his intial flurry of punches and either went down on his own or tripped the other guy to get things overwith. He seemd to shout after good fights too, trying to fire up the crowd and would take his stuff off in the box. Never cared for that kind of show. But here it is with one of the pound-for-pound toughest guys in the league at the time in Ryan VandenBuscche.
Once Myhres and Stern left the Sharks they went through a big of a dry spell as far as toughness went. They had some guys in town to try (Rudy Poeschek and Paul Kruse) but they didn't stick and the couple guys they had who could go weren't true tough guys. Scott Thornton and Mark Smith were on the team but they weren't heavyweights. Still I remember waking up one morning and my dad telling me about this fight (he's a Wings fan).
Maybe he had a thing against European defenseman because he did likewise to Alexei Semenov (future Shark) too.
Smitty could go too for a middleweight, always loved his back-to-back fights with everyone's favourite player, Sean Avery.
Or another couple good set-tos with a the best agitator of all time.
But gritty as those guys were, they didn't stack up against some of the mutants around the league at that time. It was the era of super-heavyweight. The guys who played 2-4 shifts, cracked helmets, and broke faces. San Jose had no one and it finally caught up to them on home ice against the Blue Jackets.
And that leads to this man.
Scott Parker:
The Sherrif. Parker had a big reputation when he came into the league and though some would argue he never lived up to it, I would argue he did and I would say his best work came in his one full season with the Sharks in 2003/2004. Obviously the Shelley incident was the publicized reason he was brought in so no surprise they duked it out three different times that year with the one at the Tank being the most memorable and satisfying for us Sharks fans.
One thing though, Parker battled injuries throughout his time in teal and he broke his hand in this fight at the end of the regular season.
And I can't help but wonder how differently that playoff year goes with Parker around. Think about, Blues, Avalanche, and Flames. Those were tough teams and they all tried to goon it up at some point to varying success. Who else remembers Chris Simon wreaking havoc or Bob Boughner suckering Cheechoo? Does that happen with Parker in the lineup? Don't know for sure but I do remember the best Sharks team for a long time was the team that had Parker around.
Ryane Clowe:
I loved Clowe. I really did. He was what I wanted to be as a hockey player. Quick hands, physical, and tough. Unfortunately I was none of those things. Clowe made quite the impression his first year, his first fight was an excellent one as Drew Remenda put it, going toe-to-toe with the rugged Jim Vandermeer.
And it just didn't stop. Year after year Clowe just refined his game and became a beast of a power forward out west, for a time he was the Milan Lucic of the west coast. It didn't matter if you were a joe schmoe or an NHL heavyweight, you had your hands full when you dropped them with Clowe. There's almost too many examples so I'll rattle them off rapid fire and post my one favourite. Going to show restraint and not post all the times he worked over Troy Brouwer, Justin Abdelkader, Jared Boll, Kyle Clifford, Matt Greene, Cory Sarich, and George Parros and beat up a host of others. One scrap I really enjoy watching now that he's burned the Sharks over and over was a young buck (and Windsor guy) named Zack Kassian and seeing him bite off way more that he could chew. Canucks and Sharks games were chippy in those days and Clowe put a foot in the ground in a game that got off on the wrong foot. Also going to use this time to point out how big of a spot-picker Kevin Bieksa was.
Sure he'd fight Patrick Marleau, but would he even think about dropping them with Clowe? Not a chance.
But while I drone on and on probably best to just shift focus over to the legendary Marbles goodbye tribute, which should've played on the jumbotron at the Tank.
Douglas Murray:
Toughest Swede ever? Douglas Murray was maybe the biggets player I'd ever seen up to that point. He looked like he was 10' wide. I loved Murray almost as much as I loved Clowe, the only difference is probably because I played forward and not defense. Crankshaft is one of those interesting characters that should probably be a footnote in the book of the NHL because he came out of nowhere to become one of the meanest, biggest, hitters out there and was an absolute speciman. To his credit too, he turned himself into a useful player and was a solid defenseman for a few years until he hit his decline. True he was more of a hitter than a fighter and he had some dandy bodychecks but he didn't shy away and even took the bull by the horns in his first couple years. And one thing I adored about Murray was that when he was ready to go, he always tried to ditch the visor. I know that's frowned upon now but most guys who worse a visor didn't like fighting in those days but Murray proved it wasn't a fake shield to keep him from fighting.
With his college rival Parros in the playoffs.
We all know Murray was just a unit and strong as anyone in the league and it showed against another strong guy in Chris Stewart and to this day I've never seen anyone make Stewart look as feeble as he did here. This was a really good job by Murray against a tough power forward.
Again have to plug the perfect tribute video done by our very own Marbles.
Jody Shelley:
The first in a line of Doug Wilson moves to bring the Sharks' hated enemies into the fold before T.J. Galiardi, Adam Burish, and Raffi Torres, Shelley was traded for in the 2007/2008 season to fill the void left by Scott Parker, the guy who was acquired specifically to protect San Jose from Shelley. I didn't like the move at first and I'm sure not many fans did. Anyone but Shelley right, but I'm sure like a lot of others, Shelley grew on me. He was a no-nonsense, straight-laced, enforcer and everyone knew it. He didn't pretend to be someone he wasn't. He knew his role and he played it game in and game out. How many times did he fight George Parros or Raitis Ivanans in those Ducks and Kings games? If he was there, you knew the other team had a dance partner if they wanted one. To be frank, Shelley was never one of the league's true top fighters, as a Shark, Blue Jacket, or anyone else. But he was a true pro. He fought the other heavyweights, he won some, lost some, but he always showed up. He had enough screws loose to keep the other team honest but when/if he crossed the line, he faced the music (like he did with Parker) and had enough screws set straight so he could play the game without hurting his team.
So with a 50/50 guy lik Shelley, allowme to point out the highlights of one side of that ledger, starting with one tough mofo in Eric Godard (who Shelley beat twice but who also beat guys like Steve MacIntyre and Derek Boogaard).
And my personal favourite as a guy who lives in Leafs' Nation, Shelley knocking Colton Orr who was on a tear this season.
Micheal Haley:
Brad Winchester, Jamal Mayers, Andrew Desjardins. Scrappy guys but none of them stacked up with a guy like Haley. The one heavyweight they brought in, John Scott, didn't play enough to really register for me so. I was waiting for a guy like Haley to join the fold here and when he came I couldn't have been more amped. Say what you will about Haley the player but he fufiled the role he was brought in to fill. Haley regularly stepped out of his weight class to go after guys like Ryan Reaves, Chris Stewart, or Milan Lucic. Have to respect that. Got to admit that I loved seeing him take it to spot-picker Darnell Nurse for suckering Roman Polak, never mind Drew Remenda's lame whining.
Had a great tilt with a fellow middleweight in Ryan White in the desert and dropped him in the end.
That's it, my run-down of tough guys in Sharks' history. Just a fun little thing I did whilst drinking beers, passing time, and watching fights. Hope at least one of you enjoys this, here are some other memorable battles that no doubt deserve to be seen, including Pavs against my favourite podcaster.
Not everyone shares my views or love of this aspect but it is undeniably unique and entertaining. I have made hockey fights a hobby of mine for more than a decade and will go on a journey through the San Jose Sharks' history with fighting and tough guys.
Jeff Odgers:
Odgers was an original Shark and a team captian in his later years with the team. No one has fought more for the Sharks than Odgers and it isn't close. Odgers played from 1991-2003 and in that time played through a changing of guard in NHL tough guys. in 1991 Odgers was a clearly a heavyweight listed at 6'0 and 200lbs, similar to a lot of the other standbys in the NHL at the time but by the end of his career was clearly undersized among that class. That said, Odgers never backed down. Even his last years he was fighting monsters like Eric Cairns, Georges Laraque, Stephen Peat, and Peter Worrell. Added to that, Odgers wasn't a hugger. When he fought, he fought. He didn't fight to lose, he wanted to get punched in the face, punch you in the face, and see who was tougher. I love that. It was balls-out fighting and Odgers lived and died fighting that way. As an aside, I love the handlebars he rocked in his last few years with the Thrashers, what a beauty. Another cut from the same cloth but a bit more seasoned was John Kordic. They made this gem in Odgers' and San Jose's rookie season.
Didn't matter who, where, or when, Odgers fought the same way. Not bad a gainst a similarly built guy in Alan May, one of the league's busiest fighters in the early 90s.
Didn't work out well against one of the league's best at the time in McSorley, who put Odgers on back in this scrap.
Here is Odgers with Cam Russel, who was the same kind of guy as Odgers but had a bit more of a glass jaw (you'll see Russell later).
Odgers standing right in the pocket with the best to ever do it (and a Windsor native).
Odgers in the playoffs with another all-timer in the Grim Reaper. Love the willingness by Odgers but probably shouldn't have fought range with thre 6'5 Grimson.
Link Gaetz:
Enough on Odgers, lets go onto another original Shark, how about one of the first super-heavyweights ever. That's right. The Missing Link, Link Gaetz. Love this quote, "In the first round we drafted Mike Modano to protect the franchise," says Lou Nanne, then the general manager of the North Stars. "In the second round we drafted Link to protect Mike. In the third we should've drafted a lawyer to protect Link."
A couple cups of coffee in the league with Minnesota was all Gaetz had before a full season in the NHL. That 'full' season with the Sharks in 1991/92 , that included a stat line of 48 games, 6 goals, 12 points, and 326 PIMs. Wow. The man was wild and his reputation only grows as time passes.
Nobody fought more in the NHL in that season than Mike Peluso (35 FMs) but he wasn't in the same class as Gaetz.
No one should ever forget Gaetz and Probie doing battle in the Cow Palace. One of the FOTY and maybe one of the FOAT. How can you top two of the absolute toughest ever going toe-to-toe in a no-holds-barred slugfest like this? It is 2020 and safe to say fights like this do not happen anymore.
Doug Zmolek:
Maybe the complete opposite of Link Gaetz. Zmolek was a US kid who played college hockey before joining the Sharks and turned himself into a tough guy. He was no heavyweight and often overmatched in his fights but he went with a lot of the heavyweights in the league in his time in teal. Not too many wins at all, much less memorable ones, so here's him taking on another tough light-heavyweight and one of my personal all-time favourites and doing pretty well.
Not so well against a monster like Grimson.
Shawn Cronin:
Cronin the Barbarian was a southpaw but a bit of a hugger though to his credit during his two season with the Sharks his card is littered with some of the toughest guys in the league; Grimson, Churla, McCarthy, and Crowder. Also had a handful of bouts with Marc Potvin, one of the busiest guys in the league in the early 90s, here's Cronin making short work of him when he was a King.
Fast forward to the Sharks memorable 1995 playoffs against the Calgary Flames. Flames were clear favourites like a sophomore Sandy McCarthy who had established himself among the league's best fighters but he didn't really gain a clear edge over Cronin in this bout.
Dody Wood:
Mid 1990s now and here is Dody Wood. An undersized kid who fought his way up the minors into the NHL with a smart, tactical, approach to fighting that gave him the edge against many of the guys he went up against. Guess you would call Wood a light-heavyweight but I'd forgive you if you thought differently after this fight against Alek Stojanov (Windsor guy).
Remember how I said Brashear was a monster? He was, but before that, he was a rookie who had to learn his way around the league and here he is getting punched ot the ice by a much smaller but more seasoned Wood.
Here's Wood in the same game as that Brashear fight putting on a show with another entertaining light-heavyweight in Chris Murray (didn't play long in the NHL but man oh man did he have some fun fights).
Owen Nolan :
Wood was a good fighter but in 1995/1996 the Sharks acquried a guy by the name of Owen Nolan. A first overall pick. A power forward. A captain. The guy who would take the Sharks from spunky expansion team to legitimate playoff team. I loved Nolan. When I was really getting into hockey, he was the only Shark worth a damn. Nolan was the kind of player every fan loved to have on their team.
He didn't care if you were an agitator trying to draw him into a penalty.
Or a legit heavyweight who was looking for trouble.
Nolan didn't just fight gritty. He played gritty. He played the game the way it is supposed to be played. Didn't matter if it was maybe the last true goon crosschecking German rookie, Nolan didn't play around. Wish more guys had this kind of attitude. You think Nolan cared if anyone on the ice, Odjick included, wanted to fight him? I don't.
Obviously can't mentione Nolan and the extra-curriculars without bringing up him running Ed Belfour in the 1998 playoffs. Note Craig Ludwig. Ludwig was a good, very good, defenseman known for his physical play and shot blocking but did he want to throw punches with Nolan? Not a chance. Think Nolan knew that? I do, and that is why he did what he did. Man I miss Buster.
Andrei Nazarov:
The Russian Bear. The Russian Huggy Bear. So aptly named because his method of fighting left a lot to be desired. For all the good I talked up Odgers for, the opposite could be said for Nazarov. I can give him credit as he was willing for a guy who basically had no prior experience fighting coming from overseas and lasted for a long time in the NHL as an enforcer. He was an often dirty fighter (check him headbutting Stephane Quintal or scratching Bob Probert) and he never wanted to open up and really throw with any of his peers. He wasn't very good and his most memorable moments were him losing his marbles. He had a decent little rivalry with Coyotes' tough guy Jim McKenzie and had some animosity with Matt Johnson. They had many run-ins in their time and though Johnson usually got the better of it, here's Naz pulling out a win.
Marty McSorley:
Fun fact- I was once emailed by Kristie McLellan Day to help with her book on this guy. Sad fact- I couldn't. Anyways, what do you say about McSorley? He is an all-time great NHL tough guy, 99's bodyguard and one of the toughest SOBs to ever play. He got to the Sharks in his 30s but he still had something left in the tank. McSorley gave San Jose on the league's longstanding heavyweights, a gate keeper if you will. Even though his prime years were behind him at this point he still gave his all to this team and was a fearsome competitor. Here he is with maybe the baddest dude in the league at the time.
And if you think that was a fluke, here is doing it again.
His second season he had maybe the best three fight stretch of all time as he had absolute wars with Rob Ray, Reid Simpson, and Darren Langdon k-to-back-to-back. Look at these, all slugfests and two marathons with Simpson and Langdon. McSorley was a warrior.
Bryan Marchment:
No bones about it, Marchment was dirty and Marchment was a cheapshot artist. Hits from behind, elbows, and of course, the knees. Marchment was looking to hurt guys when he took the ice but unlike almost any other who played the game in that style (Cooke, Torres, Marchand), Marchment often faced the music for his misdeeds. He didn't shy away from the fact that his play drew the attention of the other team's tough guys and rather that cower behind a visor, his teammates, or the refs, Marchment stood up for himself. How many of those other cheap shot artists willingly went with guys like Domi, Brashear, Laraque, and the like. Some? Nope, try none. Marchment wasn't a straight-laced fighter but he could go when he had to.
Here he is teeing off on a defenseman cut from the same cloth.
Bottom line is you didn't have to like the way he played but I think we can all agree this team has missed, sometimes sorely so, Marchment's brand of hockey. He was a guy the other team had to worry about because he was unpredictable and tough. Enough on Mush though, onto the next.
Ronnie Stern:
Stern was an interesting case. He was a busy fighter throughout the early and mid 90s with the Canucks and Flames, division foes of the Sharks but missed the entire 1997/1998 season with a knee injury and recovery. The Sharks tough guys underwent a changing of the guard, Nazarov was traded, McSorley left in free agency and in came Stern and Myhres in the new threads. Stern was a wide open, toe-to-toe, fighter not disimilar to Odgers but Stern could go with both hands. Grant Marshall was basically a clone and a just a wild man when the gloves came off.
Brantt Myhres:
Myhres tagged up with Stern to create a decent one-two punch for the Sharks but Myhres struggled with substance abuse problem during his time in teal. Thankfully he sought and got the help he needed and recovered enough to continue his hockey career and currently works to help other players who maybe troubled in the same manner he was for the Los Angeles Kings. As a fighter Myhres seemed to have all the tools. He could really throw and he had the killer instinct. Put Cam Russell on his back in this one.
Short but sweet fight with super-heavyweight Chris McAllister.
I liked Myhres but he often ended fights early after his intial flurry of punches and either went down on his own or tripped the other guy to get things overwith. He seemd to shout after good fights too, trying to fire up the crowd and would take his stuff off in the box. Never cared for that kind of show. But here it is with one of the pound-for-pound toughest guys in the league at the time in Ryan VandenBuscche.
Once Myhres and Stern left the Sharks they went through a big of a dry spell as far as toughness went. They had some guys in town to try (Rudy Poeschek and Paul Kruse) but they didn't stick and the couple guys they had who could go weren't true tough guys. Scott Thornton and Mark Smith were on the team but they weren't heavyweights. Still I remember waking up one morning and my dad telling me about this fight (he's a Wings fan).
Maybe he had a thing against European defenseman because he did likewise to Alexei Semenov (future Shark) too.
Smitty could go too for a middleweight, always loved his back-to-back fights with everyone's favourite player, Sean Avery.
Or another couple good set-tos with a the best agitator of all time.
But gritty as those guys were, they didn't stack up against some of the mutants around the league at that time. It was the era of super-heavyweight. The guys who played 2-4 shifts, cracked helmets, and broke faces. San Jose had no one and it finally caught up to them on home ice against the Blue Jackets.
And that leads to this man.
Scott Parker:
The Sherrif. Parker had a big reputation when he came into the league and though some would argue he never lived up to it, I would argue he did and I would say his best work came in his one full season with the Sharks in 2003/2004. Obviously the Shelley incident was the publicized reason he was brought in so no surprise they duked it out three different times that year with the one at the Tank being the most memorable and satisfying for us Sharks fans.
One thing though, Parker battled injuries throughout his time in teal and he broke his hand in this fight at the end of the regular season.
And I can't help but wonder how differently that playoff year goes with Parker around. Think about, Blues, Avalanche, and Flames. Those were tough teams and they all tried to goon it up at some point to varying success. Who else remembers Chris Simon wreaking havoc or Bob Boughner suckering Cheechoo? Does that happen with Parker in the lineup? Don't know for sure but I do remember the best Sharks team for a long time was the team that had Parker around.
Ryane Clowe:
I loved Clowe. I really did. He was what I wanted to be as a hockey player. Quick hands, physical, and tough. Unfortunately I was none of those things. Clowe made quite the impression his first year, his first fight was an excellent one as Drew Remenda put it, going toe-to-toe with the rugged Jim Vandermeer.
And it just didn't stop. Year after year Clowe just refined his game and became a beast of a power forward out west, for a time he was the Milan Lucic of the west coast. It didn't matter if you were a joe schmoe or an NHL heavyweight, you had your hands full when you dropped them with Clowe. There's almost too many examples so I'll rattle them off rapid fire and post my one favourite. Going to show restraint and not post all the times he worked over Troy Brouwer, Justin Abdelkader, Jared Boll, Kyle Clifford, Matt Greene, Cory Sarich, and George Parros and beat up a host of others. One scrap I really enjoy watching now that he's burned the Sharks over and over was a young buck (and Windsor guy) named Zack Kassian and seeing him bite off way more that he could chew. Canucks and Sharks games were chippy in those days and Clowe put a foot in the ground in a game that got off on the wrong foot. Also going to use this time to point out how big of a spot-picker Kevin Bieksa was.
Sure he'd fight Patrick Marleau, but would he even think about dropping them with Clowe? Not a chance.
But while I drone on and on probably best to just shift focus over to the legendary Marbles goodbye tribute, which should've played on the jumbotron at the Tank.
Douglas Murray:
Toughest Swede ever? Douglas Murray was maybe the biggets player I'd ever seen up to that point. He looked like he was 10' wide. I loved Murray almost as much as I loved Clowe, the only difference is probably because I played forward and not defense. Crankshaft is one of those interesting characters that should probably be a footnote in the book of the NHL because he came out of nowhere to become one of the meanest, biggest, hitters out there and was an absolute speciman. To his credit too, he turned himself into a useful player and was a solid defenseman for a few years until he hit his decline. True he was more of a hitter than a fighter and he had some dandy bodychecks but he didn't shy away and even took the bull by the horns in his first couple years. And one thing I adored about Murray was that when he was ready to go, he always tried to ditch the visor. I know that's frowned upon now but most guys who worse a visor didn't like fighting in those days but Murray proved it wasn't a fake shield to keep him from fighting.
With his college rival Parros in the playoffs.
We all know Murray was just a unit and strong as anyone in the league and it showed against another strong guy in Chris Stewart and to this day I've never seen anyone make Stewart look as feeble as he did here. This was a really good job by Murray against a tough power forward.
Again have to plug the perfect tribute video done by our very own Marbles.
Jody Shelley:
The first in a line of Doug Wilson moves to bring the Sharks' hated enemies into the fold before T.J. Galiardi, Adam Burish, and Raffi Torres, Shelley was traded for in the 2007/2008 season to fill the void left by Scott Parker, the guy who was acquired specifically to protect San Jose from Shelley. I didn't like the move at first and I'm sure not many fans did. Anyone but Shelley right, but I'm sure like a lot of others, Shelley grew on me. He was a no-nonsense, straight-laced, enforcer and everyone knew it. He didn't pretend to be someone he wasn't. He knew his role and he played it game in and game out. How many times did he fight George Parros or Raitis Ivanans in those Ducks and Kings games? If he was there, you knew the other team had a dance partner if they wanted one. To be frank, Shelley was never one of the league's true top fighters, as a Shark, Blue Jacket, or anyone else. But he was a true pro. He fought the other heavyweights, he won some, lost some, but he always showed up. He had enough screws loose to keep the other team honest but when/if he crossed the line, he faced the music (like he did with Parker) and had enough screws set straight so he could play the game without hurting his team.
So with a 50/50 guy lik Shelley, allowme to point out the highlights of one side of that ledger, starting with one tough mofo in Eric Godard (who Shelley beat twice but who also beat guys like Steve MacIntyre and Derek Boogaard).
And my personal favourite as a guy who lives in Leafs' Nation, Shelley knocking Colton Orr who was on a tear this season.
Micheal Haley:
Brad Winchester, Jamal Mayers, Andrew Desjardins. Scrappy guys but none of them stacked up with a guy like Haley. The one heavyweight they brought in, John Scott, didn't play enough to really register for me so. I was waiting for a guy like Haley to join the fold here and when he came I couldn't have been more amped. Say what you will about Haley the player but he fufiled the role he was brought in to fill. Haley regularly stepped out of his weight class to go after guys like Ryan Reaves, Chris Stewart, or Milan Lucic. Have to respect that. Got to admit that I loved seeing him take it to spot-picker Darnell Nurse for suckering Roman Polak, never mind Drew Remenda's lame whining.
Had a great tilt with a fellow middleweight in Ryan White in the desert and dropped him in the end.
That's it, my run-down of tough guys in Sharks' history. Just a fun little thing I did whilst drinking beers, passing time, and watching fights. Hope at least one of you enjoys this, here are some other memorable battles that no doubt deserve to be seen, including Pavs against my favourite podcaster.
