Colleen Flynn with The Hockey News breaks down the Colorado Avalanche top 5 enforcers of all time The modern-era Colorado Avalanche is not considered a brut team, but back in the day, there were some bruisers. And way back in the day before the franchise moved from Quebec, the all-time penalties in minutes leader was (and still is) Dale Hunter. But here are the top 5 enforcers for the Avs since the team’s move to Denver. 1. Cody McLeod, nickname "Mac" 659GP, 1,359PIM, 129 fights (with the Avalanche) Colorado’s most-fights-in-history award goes to Cody McLeod — who fought 129 times in his decade with the team. The 6-foot-2 forward only had one season without more than a century's worth of penalty minutes during his time with the Avalanche. One of McLeod's most memorable fights was against Chris Thorburn [https://youtu.be/WIzzTFVnBOI] in 2016. 2. Jeff Odgers, nickname "Odgie" 205GP, 634PIM, 72 fights (with the Avalanche) While the 6-foot tall forward didn’t score many goals in the three seasons he was with the Avalanche, he put up numbers on the fight board. Odgers never shied away from a scrap and held his own against other big-time enforcers at the time like Tie Domi [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zhe69gNJ0z4] and Bob Probert. 3. Ian Laperriere, nickname "Lappy" 307GP, 552PIM, 66 fights (with the Avalanche) In his four seasons with Colorado, Ian Laperriere threw down nearly six dozen times and was always the player defending his teammates on the ice. One of his most notable brawls was against Dion Phaneuf in the 2006-2007 season [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R70pMsnuu9w]. Image [https://thehockeynews.com/.image/c_fit,h_600,w_600/MTk5OTIzNDA0MTcyNjk5MjY0/usatsi_3638518_168400956_lowres.jpg] 4. Adam Deadmarsh, nickname "Deader" 453GP, 723PIM, 47 fights (with the Avalanche) At 6 feet tall, Adam Deadmarsh may not have had a physically big presence, but his fighting personality was huge. He played one year in Quebec before the team moved to Colorado where he played another six seasons. He won the Stanley Cup with the team in 1996 but his name needed to be corrected as it was initially spelled Deadmarch on the Cup. He didn't get a chance to win a second one with the Avs since he went to the Los Angeles Kings just past mid-season in 2001. It was part of a trade that brought Rob Blake and Steve Reinprecht to the Avalanche, who then won the Cup that season. One for the books was when he threw hands with Darren McCarty [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ER8gOfA_P7A] in a historical game that included a bench-clearing brawl and goalie fight between the Avalanche and the Detroit Red Wings in 1997. 5. Adam Foote, nickname "Footer" 592GP, 809PIM, 17 fights (with the Avalanche) The only defenseman in the top 5 list, Adam Foote was quite notably an Avs enforcer, even though he didn't rack up the fight totals. Foote was 6-foot-2 and had a mean right cross [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=emHq_W3WmBU] but fought with intensity and grit. Foote was drafted by the Quebec Nordiques in 1989 and played 13 seasons with the Nordiques/Avalanche before he left for the Columbus Blue Jackets in the 2005 offseason. But after a three-year stint there, he was traded back to Colorado where he played until he retired after the 2010-11 season. He may not have won all his battles, but he never backed down from a challenge. And he always protected his teammates.
