THN Enforcers Week: Top 5 Fighters in Penguins History

The Pittsburgh Penguins have had a fair share of superstars over the years, but also a good number of enforcers.

When you think of the Pittsburgh Penguins, you don’t often think about their history of tough guys.

The Penguins have almost always been a franchise centered around pure skill and beating their opponents on the scoreboard rather than with their fists.

Players like Mario Lemieux, Jaromir Jagr, Sidney Crosby, and Evgeni Malkin have long had to fend for themselves, but they’ve had a few helping hands along the way.

While the Penguins don’t usually strike fear in opponent’s eyes, they have house numerous bruisers for seasons at a time.

Let’s take a look at the top five fighters in Penguins history:

Honorable mention to Troy Loney, who is the Penguins’ franchise leader in fighting majors with 60 according to hockeyfights.com.

134 GP, 378 PIMS, 31 fights (with the Penguins)

One of the toughest guys in NHL history, and most well known as ‘Wayne Gretzky’s Bodyguard,’ Marty McSorely got his start in the NHL with the Penguins.

At 20-years-old as a rookie, McSorely dropped the gloves 20 times and racking up a total of 224 penalty minutes in the 1983-84 season.

While that was a majority of his work with the Penguins, McSorley returned to Pittsburgh to start the 1993-94 season and had one of the greatest dances hockey has ever seen against Bob Probert.

The two heavyweights stayed on their feet and tossed punches for almost two whole minutes before officials finally stepped in to end the melee.

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

McSorley’s time in Pittsburgh was short, but without his time in a Penguins’ sweater, who knows where his career would have gone.

150 GP, 435 PIMS, 15 fights (with the Penguins)

15 fighting majors doesn’t seem like much in the grand scheme of things, but there is no doubting the impact Rick Tocchet brought to the Penguins.

More than just a former Philadelphia Flyers tough guy, Tocchet was a huge help to the Penguins offensively scoring 179 points in his three seasons in Pittsburgh.

The Penguins never had much protection for their superstars, especially in the early 1990’s, but Tocchet was able to provide both a tough edge and scoring ability.

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L1SdAHLfEms[/embed]

In the 1992-93 season alone, Tocchet put up 252 penalty minutes, and fought Buffalo Sabres’ forward Brad May on three separate occasions as the Penguins won their only President’s Trophy.

194 GP, 714 PIMS, 43 fights (with the Penguins)

Jay Caufield is an underrated fighter in Penguins’ history, but he has to own one of the most obvious stat lines in enforcer history.

In his 194 games played with the Penguins, Caufield only scored 10 points (3G-7A), but notched 714 penalty minutes.

At 6-foot-4, 247 pounds, Caufield led the Penguins in penalty minutes his first year in Pittsburgh with 285, good for fifth all-time in franchise history.

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-zfSuKpLE6I[/embed]

Despite having a small, but bruising part in Penguins’ history, Caufield’s name is engraved on the Stanley Cup a pair of times from the 1991 and 1992 runs.

135 GP, 352 PIMS, 36 fights (with the Penguins)

Filling the shoes of one of the most skilled fighters in NHL history in Georges Laraque can’t be easy, but Eric Godard knew what his role was.

In the late 2000’s to early 2010’s, it was clear fighting and enforcers were beginning their decline of prominence in hockey, Godard did what he could to keep it alive.

Averaging over a two-minute minor per game with the Penguins, Godard made an immediate impact when he arrived in 2008.

During the 2008-09 regular season, Godard picked up 171 penalty minutes and 21 sparring matches.

Arguably Godard’s biggest claim to fame with the Penguins has to be his involvement against the New York Islanders in the infamous brawl game on February 11, 2011.

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

The Penguins and Islanders combined for 346 penalty minutes, and Godard ate 31 of them (most from Pittsburgh) and was suspended 10 games for leaving the bench to help goalie Brent Johnson with his own skirmish.

202 GP, 851 PIMS, 31 fights (with the Penguins)

Averaging well over four minutes in penalties per game in Pittsburgh, Paul Baxter has to be the toughest fighter in Penguins’ history.

His 409 PIMS in 1981-82 is the most for a single season in franchise history, and the 851 he recorded over in just three years is sixth most.

31 fights with the Penguins lands him outside of the top-10, but it’s still staggering the kind of enforcer numbers he put up.

Playing in the early 1980’s, fighting was much more common and during his record setting 1981-82 season, Baxter dropped the gloves 20 times.

Only 5-foot-11 and 200 pounds, Baxter wasn’t the biggest fighter in the game, but he always left a mark, even on the score sheet.

During his time with the Penguins, Baxter was a solid puck moving defensemen who picked up 94 points; that includes 43 in the famed 1981-82 season.

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