The late Bob Probert (1965-2010) is the closest thing the NHL has to a heavyweight champion. Over the course of 16 NHL seasons, he fought 232 times, according to HockeyFights.com, and he retired with an even 3,300 penalty minutes. As fighting continues to fade from the modern game, it’s difficult to conceive of a new contender emerging for his all-time belt.
The respect Probert garnered from his peers is unparalleled. In the foreword to Probert’s autobiography Tough Guy (written with Kirstie McClellan Day), Detroit teammate Steve Yzerman (who became a Red Wing two rounds before Probert did in the 1983 Draft) recalls the 1988 NHL All-Star Game: “All the greats, like Wayne Gretzky and Mark Messier, were there, and the first thing they wanted to do was meet Probie. I remember them coming over and asking me, ‘Can you introduce me to the big fella?’ He was revered by players, and it wasn’t just because he was a tough guy, it was because he was a great player.”
Perhaps the most succinct description of Probert’s game comes from one of his contemporaries, enforcer Chris Kotsopoulus: “He was like a battleship cruising the ice ready to take on all comers. Plenty of guys were just simply scared sh–less of him.”
But for Probert, hockey never seemed to exist in a vacuum. Booze, drugs, and addiction were close at hand away from the rink, and on the ice, it’s not that his work wasn’t appreciated, but its cost didn’t become clear until it was too late.
