Enforcers Week: Top Fighters in the AHL and ECHL

Who's out on the ice in the AHL and ECHL, punishing their opponents and dropping the gloves? Jacob Stoller features six of the top fighters during enforcers week.

Year after year, there’s a select group of minor league hockey enforcers that put their opponents on notice whenever they’re on the ice.

Sure, there are fewer fights in hockey as a whole these days, but fisticuffs are far from extinct in minor-league hockey. With both the AHL and ECHL curtailing ‘staged’ fights off faceoffs, enforcers just have to pick their spots better. These days, some of the best pound-for-pound fighters are more than just fighters. The best fighters in the AHL and ECHL are made up of a mixed bag — players with varying paths to pro hockey, talent and ability outside of punching and dodging.

So, while we’re at it, let’s dive right in. Here are the five best minor league fighters in hockey today.

Since entering the AHL during the 2015-16 season, Alex Gallant has been in 56 fights — the league high, by a landslide, according to ahltracker.com. To put that figure into perspective, that’s 11 more fights than the player trailing him for the league lead (Jeremy Gregoire).

The six-foot left wing may not fight as often as he used to — he’s averaged 0.17 fights per game over the last four years, a decline from his first four seasons (0.30) — but he undoubtedly remains as one of the AHL’s best fighters.

This season, Gallant got the upper hand in fights against heavyweights Kyle Marino and Keaton Middleton.

Bokondji Imama is more than just a fighter.

The 27-year-old is an established ‘energy’ player at the AHL level, and he’s even suited up for nine NHL games across the last two seasons. But when the 6-foot-1, 221-pound winger drops the gloves, he’s a force to be reckoned with. Imana weaponizes his low center of gravity to outlast opponents and gain an edge ahead of releasing his punishing right-handed punches.

After spending the past two seasons in the Arizona Coyotes organization, Imana signed a one-year, two-way NHL contract with the Ottawa Senators on July 1.

Before the 2022-23 season, Howe had just one AHL game on his hockey resume. The 29-year-old has spent most of his nine-year professional hockey career in the ECHL, tallying 862 penalty minutes in 236 career games. He split this past season between the ECHL’s Jacksonville Icemen and the AHL’s San Diego Gulls. In 24 games with the Anaheim Ducks’ AHL affiliate, Howe registered 0.29 fights per game – the third-most of any AHL player to play at least 20 games, according to ahltracker.com.

Kyle Neuber is as rockstar as it gets. The back-to-back Kelly Cup champion has a stellar flow. He runs over opponents like a bulldozer, and you’ll rarely see him lose a fight. Neuber has recorded 661 penalty minutes in 228 career ECHL games.

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Justin Nachbaur spent this past season mainly with the ECHL’s Greenville Swamp Rabbits, recording 17 points and 177 penalty minutes in 40 games while leading the ECHL in fighting majors this past season (13), according to hockeyfights.com.

Although it has yet to be officially announced, several league sources confirmed to The Hockey News that Nachbaur has signed a two-way AHL contract with the Coachella Valley Firebirds for next season.

In a lot of ways, Blachman is a retro-style player. The ECHL journeyman is a straight-up enforcer, recording 11 fighting majors this past season (second in the ECHL) and 11 the year prior (first). Blachman, 25, is one of the rare players in minor hockey whose main attribute is his fighting ability. 

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Spkb4vWqcZ4[/embed]

After initially trying out the USHL, Blachman headed north to play his junior hockey in Canada. He split his time between the QMJHL, QJHL, Maritime Hockey League, NOJHL and NAHL. After playing 12 games of U Sports hockey at Concordia University, Blachman turned pro during the 2020-21 season, and he’s bounced around the minor leagues ever since.