Legends / Jan-2026
Bob Probert: The Life, Fights & Tragic Death of Hockey's Toughest Man
Bob Probert wasn't just an enforcer – he was THE enforcer. Standing 6'3" and 225 pounds of fighting fury, Probert dominated the NHL's heavyweight division for over a decade. With 246 career fights and the fear he struck into opponents, Probert earned his place as hockey's all-time toughest man.…
Legends / Jan-2026
Tie Domi: Inside the Mind of the NHL's Most Feared Enforcer
At 5'10" and 213 pounds, Tie Domi defied every convention about what a hockey enforcer should look like. Yet for 16 seasons, he was one of the most feared men in the NHL. With 3,515 career penalty minutes, Domi became a legend in Toronto.…
Legends / Jan-2026
The 30 Greatest Hockey Fights in NHL History
From Bob Probert vs Tie Domi to the Broad Street Bullies era, these are the battles that defined hockey's toughest era. Legendary brawls, unforgettable knockouts, and the enforcer code that governed it all.…
Legends / Jan-2026
Marty McSorley: From Gretzky's Bodyguard to Hockey Infamy
For eight seasons, Marty McSorley protected the greatest hockey player who ever lived. Two Stanley Cups, 3,381 penalty minutes, and one incident that ended it all.…
Legends / Feb-2026
Stu Grimson: The Grim Reaper's Journey From Ice to Faith
At 6'6" and 240 pounds, "The Grim Reaper" was one of the most feared fighters in NHL history. Today he's an attorney. This is his remarkable transformation.…
Legends / Feb-2026
Dave Semenko: The Man Who Protected Wayne Gretzky
Before McSorley, there was Semenko. The original Gretzky bodyguard who changed how teams protected their stars. Two Stanley Cups. One legendary reputation.…
Uncategorised / Apr-2016
Tales from The Aud: Part 1
As a 17-year-old, Derek Paternostro worked under the head athletic trainer for the Buffalo Sabres at the…
Uncategorised / Apr-2016
I dropped my wallet from the 500 level
few days ago, at the Blue Jays game with my daughter, I participated in some unintentional…
Uncategorised / Mar-2016
’49’
n 1988-89, playing in only 68 games, I scored 49 goals. I actually scored the 50th twice….
Uncategorised / Mar-2016
Chip-it-off-the-boards type of guy
was tooling around with some Mission sticks. I had this one stick that I just loved…
Uncategorised / Feb-2016
Games people play
Feb-2016
Azerbaijani refugees and my lost Summit Series postcards
Photos courtesy JP Melville These days, I only really ever play a rare pickup hockey game. Most…
Feb-2016
The Cat was a metal head
I was working at Attic Records, a large independent record company based in Toronto. We distributed…
Uncategorised / Feb-2016
Great Scott
The Zambonis are a band from Connecticut that’s written hockey songs since 1991. Dave Schneider read…
Uncategorised / Jan-2016
My worst hockey memory of all
e had a really good start to the 1992-93 season, even though we were missing Gretzky…
Uncategorised / Dec-2015
Our John Candy year
hen I was 12 years old, I started to really get into hockey. The previous years,…
Uncategorised / Dec-2015
Spring hockey in New York
In 1985-86, goalie John Vanbiesbrouck won the Vezina trophy and was a part of the New…
Uncategorised / Dec-2015
Kenny Dryden was scared of my shot
Which goaltender gave you the most problems? Gerry Cheevers. I did score some goals on him, but…
Dec-2015
Want to be a goal scorer?
How many times do you see a player wind up and slap the puck 100 miles…
Dec-2015
The trade wasn’t my fault
In 1985, Manitoba-born Ray Neufeld was enjoying life as Ron Francis’s winger in Hartford. Then he…
Nov-2015
60 at 60
Last spring, I happened to be talking to Darcy Regier, the former Buffalo Sabres general manager,…
Uncategorised / Nov-2015
A letter to my younger self
Earlier this week on The Players’ Tribune, hockey great Bryan Trottier wrote a letter to his…
Nov-2015
THE FIRST GAME PT 3
For there to be an NHL career, there must first be an NHL debut, the first game. These are the stories of that first game. (Part 2)
Nov-2015
THE FIRST GAME PT 2
For there to be an NHL career, there must first be an NHL debut, the first game. These are the stories of that first game. (Part 2)
Nov-2015
Pronger vs. Pronger
He knew where everybody was on the ice and where they should be. He was able to see the game so well from everybody’s perspective. He played against the fastest players in the world.
Series / Nov-2015
A JET, A ROCKET SHIP AND ME.
Phil was an incredible defenceman, a guy who could easily play forward as well. An excellent skater with an unbelievable eye and reach. Phil could stop on a dime and the puck would come off his stick like a rocket ship.
Nov-2015
FIGHTING CARLOS TERRESAN
When you’re in the middle of a brawl and the place erupts, you don’t know what’s going on: you’re not looking for a guy in street clothes on the ice.
Nov-2015
THE MUSIC AND THE GAME
Al Iafrate was nuts about music. From the second he showed up, you could tell that he was a different dude. Russ Courtnall, Al and I lived together in the Westbury Hotel.
Nov-2015
THE FIRST GAME
For there to be an NHL career, there must first be an NHL debut, the first game. These are the stories of that first game.
Oct-2015
THE BALLAD OF WOLSKI’S TAVERN
I lived 38 steps from the bar. I’d walk through the front door and out the back and I was in my apartment. One day, I ran practice from Wolski’s.
Oct-2015
THE BLUE MONSTER’S BACK NINE
“This is the greatest hockey player! This is my wife, we’re from Saginaw, and we used to watch
him play and he is the greatest hockey player!”
Oct-2015
FREE AGENT
He ended up making the team that year and I ended up getting cut. He played there for about 10 years and won a Stanley Cup with them. That’s the way the world works.
Coaching / Oct-2015
PERE MURRAY AND HIS LOYAL HOUNDS
Père Murray was a living legend. The legend, as legends always do, has broadened and brightened following his death. He was short in stature and stocky, but his size was deceptive.
Oct-2015
GOD PUT ALL THE GOONS IN COLUMBUS
They had to get Bill Goldthorpe out of jail to practice. They had to get him out of jail to practice and then take him back, because by the time the playoffs came around he had to be in shape.
Oct-2015
THE BALLAD OF JUNEBUG TANNER
There were about six of us in the waiting room. The hospital staff was a little leery about us pulling up in a Greyhound and telling ‘em we were a hockey team.
Coaching / Oct-2015
THE RAGE IN JOHN BROPHY
When I played for Halifax in the Habs’ system in the AHL, we weren’t allowed to lose to either Moncton - who were Toronto’s farm team - or Fredericton - who were Quebec’s
Oct-2015
FIGHTING IN THE NAME OF
Larry Robinson was beside me and he turned to me and said, “Hey Rocky, I’m so glad you’re here, you really deserve it, I really thought you should have had your shot in Montreal.”
Oct-2015
THEY SIGN SIXTEEN YEAR OLDS?
When I told my father about the scout, he couldn’t believe it. He couldn’t believe a pro team was interested in a 16-year-old. “You’ve never lied to me before,” he said. “Pa,” I told him, “I’m not lying now.”
Oct-2015
WHERE’S THE REST OF YOU?
I was never the biggest guy in the room, so I always heard “Where’s the rest of you?’ or,”Are you carryin’ Frank Beaton’s bags?” from the guys. I always had to prove myself.
Oct-2015
RAININ’ HARD IN ‘FRISCO
A local disc jockey, Danny Nebrith, read the story and said, “How’d you like to go into a recording studio and make an album?” When you’re a kid, everything seems like fun.
Oct-2015
BOB
For the first few years, Harold Ballard didn’t know my name. He called me ‘Bob.’ But I liked him well enough. I once told him, “I don’t care what you pay me, as long as you sign my cheques,” and he thought that was pretty hilarious, so we got along well.
LIFE AND TIMES OF RED KELLY
Gordie didn’t show all that much in the beginning, then he improved. He was sort of lackadaisical; you’d say. He was a great teammate.
Sep-2015
TAMBURICA AND THE GROUP OF SEVEN
I was introduced to music as a kid in Northern Ontario. I was in an orchestra in which I played a string instrument very similar to the Russian balilaika– a tamburica– which was Croatian in origin.
Sep-2015
POETRY WITH BOBBY HULL
The first time I met Bobby Hull, I was asked to present him with a poem I’d written. At the reception, Bobby already had a little crowd around him when we were introduced.
Coaching / Sep-2015
AMERICAN CANADIAN
USA Hockey found out that I was available and so Walter Bush, who ran the national team, got a local congressman to put a bill through congress making me an American citizen.
Sep-2015
BURNING DOWN THE HOUSE
I asked him: “Can you take bad news standing up or sitting down?” I brought him into the kitchen and it was like charcoal. Even worse for Larms was the fact that the next day I was called up to Chicago.
Countries / Sep-2015
THE DEATH CERTIFICATE
I was unrestricted and unsigned and it was getting late in my career. I pretty much knew that a one-way ticket in the NHL was not gonna come and a two-way contract was not what I was looking for.
Sep-2015
REPLACING JACQUES PLANTE
They saw me and they said, “Hey, get in here you’re playing, we gotta find your equipment. [Laughs] Jacques Plante had an asthma attack, and you’re it.”