Hockey is known for being a sport that you need to have a few screws loose in order to play competitively. However, certain players are known for being crazier than others, and for various reasons.
Let’s look at some of the craziest players in NHL history.
Darcy Tucker
When you have a penalty that is introduced after one of your hits, you have to be somewhat crazy. And that’s what happened to Darcy Tucker in 2002.
During Game 5 of the First Round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, Tucker made a massive hit on Michael Peca, the New York Islanders’ captain. The hit resulted in a torn ACL and MCL, and for the following season, the NHL made clipping a penalty.
Tucker was a very good player, especially for a sixth-round pick, but it is unfortunate that he is remembered equally for his play and for his hits on the rink.
Sean Avery
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Like Tucker, Sean Avery had his own rule implemented, but it is not what he is mostly known for. The so-called “Avery Rule” prevents players from screening a goaltender while facing them.
What Avery is more known for is being a player who accrued insane numbers of penalty minutes and who had his fair share of controversies. He led the NHL in penalty minutes during the 2003-04 and 2005-06 seasons, with 261 and 257 minutes, respectively.
Avery has also been the subject of several controversies throughout his career. He was traded away from the Detroit Red Wings in 2002 because he allegedly wasn’t professional enough, he was fined for talking about a player who had leukemia and heckling a fan, and he was suspended in 2008 for commenting about how several NHL players were dating some of his ex-girlfriends.
Avery was certainly an interesting player and one of the craziest to ever play the game of hockey.
Matthew Barnaby
A long-time agitator, Matthew Barnaby was certainly one of the crazier players in history. During a season in his junior career, he accumulated 476 penalty minutes in just 63 games, an indicator of what was to come.
During his NHL career, which spanned from 1993-2007, he led the NHL in penalty minutes twice, with 335 minutes in 1995-1996 and 265 in 2000-01. Additionally, he ranks 18th in NHL history for penalty minutes accrued.
Barnaby was a player who had a notable impact on his teams, either through his scoring contributions or by being willing to fight at any time.
Ron Hextall
The long-time Flyer, Ron Hextall is known as one of the most aggressive goaltenders in NHL history. He was known for being an extremely mobile goaltender, and he would frequently come out of the goal area to support the defense. As a result, he became the first goaltender to score a goal in NHL history in 1987, and he would become the first to score a goal in the playoffs in 1989.
Hextall was also no stranger to serving penalty minutes and receiving suspensions for his actions, something that is not often in more recent times. He was the first player in NHL history to collect 100 penalty minutes in a season, and he would do so during each of his first three seasons; his mark of 113 penalty minutes in the 1988-89 season still stands as the record today.
In his career, Hextall would collect three suspensions of more than six games, and he would never stop coming out of the goal, with his play style being adopted by Martin Brodeur.
Ryan Kesler
Throughout his career with the Vancouver Canucks and Anaheim Ducks, Ryan Kesler was a very capable two-way center, being able to play on offense and defense as the possession changed. He was effective on the penalty kill, and would often take the opposing team’s best player on defense.
Kesler would also earn a reputation as an agitator and a trash-talker, and someone who would continuously annoy and pester opponents. He was never someone who racked up a lot of penalty minutes, having 100 in a season only once, but he was most certainly someone who would be able to hold his own if he needed to.
Kesler was not crazy in the sense of being a fighter, but more so in the sense that his play style saw him everywhere on the ice, which led to a higher risk of injury, but a risk that never seemed to affect him until the tail-end of his career.
Dale Hunter
Dale Hunter is second in NHL history in terms of penalty minutes served, something that certainly qualifies him to be one of the crazier players in history. In his career, mostly spent with the Quebec Nordiques and Washington Capitals, he became the only player in history to accrue 3,000 penalty minutes and 1,000 points throughout his career (with 3,565 and 1,020, respectively).
Hunter’s most obvious moment of infamy was his hit on Pierre Turgeon during Game 6 of the Patrick Division Semifinals. While Turgeon was celebrating a goal, Hunter checked him from behind, resulting in a separated shoulder for Turgeon and a 21-game suspension for Hunter, which was the longest in NHL history for an incident on the ice.
While he is primarily remembered as someone who would be willing to hit anyone at any time, Hunter never accrued many injuries or suspensions (apart from his one from hitting Turgeon), which enabled him to play in over 1,400 games during his career.
Dave Williams
The lone man with more penalty minutes than Hunter is Dave Williams. Nicknamed “Tiger,” Williams accrued 3,971 penalty minutes throughout his career in only 962 games.
Williams would accrue more than 300 penalty minutes in a season six times throughout his career, and in three other seasons, he would have more than 290. He was never known for taking any cheap shots, and he was never suspended, but he was just someone who would get in fights and help the team in any way that he could.
In 1981, he made his lone All-Star Game appearance, and he would end up leading the Vancouver Canucks to the 1982 Stanley Cup Playoffs. He was a good player, but he will end up being remembered as the leader in penalty minutes in NHL history as opposed to how good he actually was.
Chris Chelios
The Hall of Famer is known as one of the most durable defensemen in the history of the NHL. Despite being known for his hits (along with his lockdown defense), Chris Chelios was never suspended during his career and the lone dirty hit he is really known for was against Brian Propp during the 1989 Eastern Conference Finals.
Chelios was nicknamed “Sweet Hands Chelios” by his teammates early in his career, and in the 1990s, he earned the nickname “Honey Nut” due to his smooth style of play and the similarity between his last name and (Honey Nut) Cheerios.
He would play until the end of the 2009-10 season, still playing at the age of 48. With his longevity, it is no wonder that he was one of the craziest players in history.
Tie Domi
Tie Domi was known as his enforcer during his time in the NHL, and he backed it up by being involved in the most fights in NHL history with 333 during his career. He was suspended several times during his career due to incidents on-ice, and he would spend parts of 16 seasons in the NHL.
Domi was first suspended in 1995 when he punched Ulf Samuelsson in the face and knocked him unconscious; he was suspended for eight games. In 2001, he was also suspended for elbowing Scott Niedermayer in the head. Earlier in 2001, Domi was fined when he punched a fan who fell into the penalty box while he was in it; the fan was heckling Domi, and when Domi sprayed him with water, the fan began climbing the glass before it collapsed.
Domi was a crazy player who gained a reputation for getting in (and winning) fights throughout his career. He also ranks third all-time in penalty minutes, with 3,515.
Marty McSorley
The man who ranks fourth in all-time penalty minutes with 3,381, Marty McSorley gained a reputation on the ice as someone who cared just as much about fighting and getting in other players’ heads as he did about actually playing the game.
McSorley played with the Edmonton Oilers and Los Angeles Kings during Wayne Gretsky’s time on both teams, leading to the nickname of “Wayne Gretsky’s Bodyguard.” He also accrued the most penalty minutes in the league during the 1992-93 season, with 399.
His career ended on February 21, 2000, when he hit Donald Brashear in the head with his stick, which gave Brashear a major concussion and left him unconscious. McSorley was ultimately suspended for a full year, after which, he never returned to the NHL.
