Carter Brooks provides his list of Top-5 Jets enforcers for THN When you think of the Winnipeg Jets, you’ll likely either reminisce back to the original Jets of the 1980’s and 1990’s, or you’ll skip right through to 2011 and on, where the Jets 2.0 entered the picture. Two very different teams in different eras with different playing styles. When it comes to making lists including both iterations of the team, things can get tricky. But, rest assured, this list of the Top 5 Winnipeg Jets Enforcers will certainly contain memories for fans from each decade of the team’s existence. Image [https://thehockeynews.com/.image/c_fit,h_600,w_600/MTk5OTM1ODM0NjEzMzU5NzE5/enforcers-week-logo-final.jpg] 1. Tie Domi 1,020 GP, 3,515 PIMS, 270 fights (44 with the Jets) [embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lpFEao6-d_U[/embed] Standing only 5-foot-10, Tie Domi might not have looked like a traditional heavyweight enforcer. But once the gloves were off, few were as fearsome as the man with 3,515 penalty minutes. Although the majority of those minutes were racked up with the Toronto Maple Leafs and even some with the New York Rangers, it would be foolish to rank Domi anywhere other than first on the Jets’ all-time enforcers list. Ranked No. 3 in the NHL’s all-time penalty minutes leaderboard, Domi was a force to reckon with, a whirling dervish, and twice recorded seasons of 340+ penalty minutes while with Winnipeg. 2. Chris Thorburn 801 GP, 968 PIMS, 111 fights (55 with the Jets) Image [https://thehockeynews.com/.image/c_fit,h_600,w_600/MTk5ODQ4NzE2NTcwNDY5NDc5/usatsi_9036665.jpg] A fan-favourite in Winnipeg, Chris Thorburn owns the record for most fights with the relocated Jets. At 55 tilts, his record may only be challenged by 30-year-old Adam Lowry, who has 26 fights on his scorecard. Thorburn, a valued member of the GST line (including Tanner Glass and Jim Slater) quickly earned management’s trust with his knowledge of opponents and his techniques when the gloves came off. Despite his penalty minute totals, Thorburn also managed to find the net on the regular, potting 24 goals over his six seasons in Winnipeg. 3. Laurie Boschman 1,009 GP, 2,260 PIMS, 91 fights (49 with the Jets) [embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zFIIzMp_xLc[/embed] Laurie Boschman may have played for five different NHL clubs, but the most noteworthy days of his career were spent in Manitoba. Playing out his junior career in Brandon with the Wheat Kings, Boschman became one of only 16 players to have finished his NHL career with 500+ points and 2,000+ penalty minutes. He earned 1,333 of those minutes with Winnipeg, to which he played parts of eight seasons. Boschman also never failed to hit double digits in scoring, once potting 32 tallies and 76 points (to go alongside a paltry 180 penalty minutes) during the 1984-85 season. 4. Dustin Byfuglien 869 GP, 1,094 PIMS, 16 fights (9 with the Jets) Image [https://thehockeynews.com/.image/c_fit,h_600,w_600/MTk5ODQ4NzEzMzQ5NTA2Njg4/usatsi_12510857.jpg] There may never again be a player as special and unique as Dustin Byfuglien. He was truly a one-of-a-kind piece to the puzzle through the early years of the Jets 2.0. Standing 6-foot-8 on skates and weighing in at over 270 pounds in his equipment, Byfuglien literally did it all for Winnipeg. Whether it was manning the point on PP1, throwing ferocious bodychecks in the open-ice, dragging multiple players out of net-front scrums or throwing down in a good old fashioned donnybrook, Byfuglien really didn’t need to do much to make his presence felt, night in and night out, but it happened, nearly every game. 5. Gord Donnelly 554 GP, 2,069 PIMS, 152 fights (47 with the Jets) [embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BzTkiNd27Hc[/embed] Much like that of the Jets’ No. 1 enforcer Tie Domi, Gord Donnelly also spent just three seasons in Winnipeg. But the damage inflicted by his knuckles was felt heavily throughout the hockey circles. Suiting up in just 173 games for the Jets, Donnelly amassed a whopping 726 penalty minutes. He fought 47 times for the club while averaging 238 penalty minutes a season. *Honourable mentions include Jim Kyte, Shawn Cronin, Kris King, Jimmy Mann, Keith Tkachuk, Adam Lowry, Anthony Peluso and Mark Stuart.
