Top 6 Most FEARED NHL Players of All Time! 

I would’ve thought that bob probert would be in there as he’s considered the best enforcer of all time and showed great numbers scoring

Larry Robinson. He could do everything, great defence, great offence, crushing body checks and he single handedly ended up right of terror of the Broad Street Bullies by toying with Dave "the Hammer" Schultz as if he was a little kid.

I saw Gordie Howe and Ted Lindsay play many times at Olympia Stadium. Gordie was incredible to watch. He used to cut his stick handle shorter so it was easier to handle the stick with one hand. I saw him hold off a defender with one arm, stick handle the puck past other players and then fire the puck past the goalie one-handed in a number of games. He made it look so effortless that it was easy to overlook the subtle moves he was making.

Gordie Howe only had two Gordie Howe Hat Tricks during his career. Rick Tocchet has 18 and is the leader in that list.

Larry Robinson deserves to make the list. He had a couple fights early on in his carreer and word got around the league. So feared, he seldom had to fight for the rest of his career. Pointing and stabbing his index finger into opponents' chests was enough to calm anyone down

You forgot Bobby Orr, maybe the most talented Hockey player ever and nobody wanted to mess with him. Too bad his kness didn't last , would have broken many more records.

Interesting fact about those seasons in Chicago for Terrible Ted. He was traded by Red Wings ownership as punishment for his leading role in trying to get the NHLPA off the ground.

A typo on Gordie, 😳 yikes!

I met Gordie on three different occasions, he was won of the nicest person you’ll ever have met, great guy! Hell they name a bridge between Canada and Detroit after him!

Interesting how when Messier ever got in a fight he got the shit kicked out him.

Gordie Howe was a specimen of strength long before steroids became prevalent in sports. And, he was ambidextrous, known to switch hands to score a goal. For a goalie that would mess your head up pretty well. Off the ice one of the humblest people I'd ever met. And he was just so simple of a man.

Bobby Hull , The Golden Jet was a true tough guy , seldom had to show it but when he did ………..

Stan makita. Feared in the NHL until his very own mother asked him to tone it down. Tough as nails and a long career.

What else can you say about Gordie Howe that hasn't been said already. That goes for Ted Lindsay too, so glad I got to meet those absolute legends and shake their hands.

Terry O’Reilly, great to finally see him getting noticed

I used to watch Wayne Cashman,Johnny " Pie Face" Mc'Kenzie,Dave Schultz being amongst my favorite players.

Maurice (Rocket) Richard deserves at least a call out.

I spent an afternoon with Gordie Howe in the Hartford Civic Center after he retired A perfect gentleman. His daughter-in-law was expecting a baby. He was a proud grandpa to be. Pure class. I'm glad he spent time with the whalers, what a specimen of pure resilience 😊

Where's Larry " Big Bird" Robinson? He went at it with O'Reilly on many occasions, put Messier in his place and beat the crap out of Dave Schultz.

"Grodie" was the lesser known of the Howe brothers.

Konstantinov put fear in opponents so much so they wouldn't pass the puck near him. Such a great player but career cut way way too short!

Most feared.... so, excellent player and fearsome physical presence. Let's see.... all time line. Lw Clark Gillies, Rw Rick Tocchet C Eric Lindros. d-men Behn Wilson, Larry Robinson. 1 goalie Billy Smith.

No way that Probert should be omitted from a list like this one.

Eric Lindross should be #1. Brendan shannahan and Rick tochett deserve shout outs, but six is pretty tough. Lindross, circa legion of doom is a no brainer. Nobody wanted anything to do with him, except Scott Stevens of course.

Would add Scott Stevens here. That dude ruined careers with his dirty play and yet always walked away....

Excellent video

Gordie and Ted Lindsay made a pointe to sign autographs clearly, neatly and legible. Unlike the unreadable chicken scratch today's athletes scribble. They knew these kids, and adults,would treasure their signatures for a lifetime. And yes,I still have mine from l970.

Brendan Shanahan was no slouch either.

Good choices. Clark Gillies has to be in the top 10.

You are awesome to mention Terry O Reilly , hockey player

Interesting list. Could never narrow one down to just six. Clark Gillies should DEFINITELY be on it. He and Larry Robinson---who should also be on this list---are both hall of famers smart players went nowhere near. Ask Dave Schultz about Gillies,ask O'Reilly about him,ask just about anyone dumb enough to rattle his cage or that of Robinson. I'm 61 and remember those days well. And what about hall of famer Red Horner,the Leaf who kocked out Shore with one punch after the former had almost killed Ace Bailey with a cheap shot from behind? Anyway,as a Leaf fan it's nice to see Wendel Clark on this list. If he hadn't been injured for probably half his career,at least with Toronto,I think he could have ended up in the hall.

2 of 3 from the production line make the list. Says something.

Its pretty crazy Wendel Clark injured his back badly in his 3rd or 4th season too and still played hard. He says he was doing 3 hours a day on a therapy table from 1991 til he retired.

I recall being at a Boston / Rangers game , I`m thinking it was the late 70`s in NYC. A fan tosses a beer on a Boston player.....off goes O`Reilly right up over the glass and he gets a hold of a guy,. He has him in a head lock & is beating the guy over the head with his own shoe....not a man to piss-off

"Grodie Howe"?? Decent.

I'm a 80s Calgarian kid and even I'll admit Messier had skills.

Awesome to watch the Oreilly game...crazy taz

What about Maurice "Rocket" Richard who back in the day was a rival to Gordie Howe both in the physical play and goal scoring department.

Seriously ... based on the same criteria ... how about some Habs ... Maurice "the Rocket" Richard, his brother Henri Richard [11 Stanly Cups], John Ferguson, Serge Savard, Chis Chelios and Larry Robinson.

Seems video maker has never heard probert....he did points also but didnt let anyone fuck with hes team

Production line. Howe Lindsey and Able. Then Ullman took over Able's spot.

Have to agree with this entire list! I'm old enough to have seen Terrible Ted and Gordie Howe play heaps, and was in Canada long enough to see Terry O'Reilly play. Moved to NZ before I had a chance to see Clark or Messier, but got the Hockey News mailed to me for years before the Internet, and certainly couldn't disagree with their selection, especially Messier. The ones on this list were not only able to take you apart physically, but are legendary for their other skills, like scoring! Great list, mate!

Wow you got Eddie Shore! Two more stories about him I read in Hockey Digest. Once in the Boston garden, he was up on a very high ladder, changing lights at the top of the stadium, and the ladder fell He calmly hung there by the rafter until someone came along, and he asked them to put the ladder back up. and he once missed a flight to Montréal and was going to miss the game, but he got in his car and drove through a snowstorm. His windshield wipers broke, so he hung out the side window and cleaned the snow off the windshield as he went along. He got there the next stage just before the game played at scored the only goal to win the game. ❤

Probert should be one since he was the best ever enforcer of all time in the nhl. I get no awards or cups but this is the most feared players WTF?????

Great great players!

really enjoyed the report

i remember clark and nolan getting heated but knowing better of each other. that fight would never have gone to the ground.

Going to point out that three of the six named in this video are from Saskatchewan. Gordie (Floral, SK), Eddie Shore (Ft. Qu'Appelle), Wendal Clark (Kelvington)

Between me, you and a lamppost, "the Moose" got his nickname for his massive hammer. Thats a true story.

Not saying anyone should be taken off this list but if one were to add a player to it the best candidate might be Newsy Lalonde. He played only 5 seasons in the NHL because there was no NHL through most of his career and because he also played for a few years in a rival league to the NHL at a time when the NHL was not the only top level league. Not sure that we should hold the era of his playing career against him. He averaged well over a goal a game in top level leagues, likely the best scorer until the Rocket came along. Also, even though it was hard to be credited with an assist in his day he is third in NHL history in points per game at 1.6667 (and the NHL didn't even exist till he was 30 so he was not a young man then). Onky Lemieux and Gretzky are ahead of him. Plus he apparently had a mean streak and was not shy about using violence on the ice. In one league he had 359 penalty minutes in only 108 games. So even though he was like Ted Lindsey not a big man he was still very much feared both for his scoring and for his fisticuffs and other rough activity. Other honourable mentions: Sprague Cleghorn, Eric Lindros, Cam Neely, Zedeno Chara, Tim Horton (though it was more his strength than dirty play or fighting - Gordie Howe said it was hard to play against Horton because he was so strong).

“Grodie Howe”?! 😂

I think Rick Tocchet, Booby Clarke and cam Neely could all be in there as well.

Great list! I would have added Clark Gillies and/or Bobby Nystrom, based on the criteria.

These players don't strike fear in any other player!

O'Reilly was a great all around player, talented and tough. As a Leaf's fan I hated to see Wendel Clarke get traded but it brought the Leafs this guy named Mats Sundin. What a great player to watch. Eddie Shore, great skater and mean. Immortalized in the movie Slap Shot (Old Time Hockey). Ted Lindsey known for his toughness. He was not big but would never back down. In the meantime he racked up points and was part of 4 Stanley Cup Championships I believe. Gordie Howe (Mr Hockey).

I think, based on what the criteria is for you video, Ovi could easily be on this list. Thanks for putting together!

Bob Probert deserves a spot on this list.

Billy Smith, goalie. Ron Hextal, goalie.

Having Wendel Clark on your list over Bobby Hull or Rocket Richard to name just a few truly feared players is pretty sad . In my opinion your criteria for feared is all askew.

Not surprised to see two Bruins on the list, but am surprised one of them isn’t Cam Neely!

Is it only me but I wouldn’t want to meet John Scott on the ice in his prime?

I would have had an honorable mention for the Rocket, for myself 😉

This is just a who’s feared through popularity. There are a few little known players who people were shit scared of and in my opinion, Nick Fotiu was the worst. He fought a few times his rookie year and a little his second year but very little after that. He was truly a feared man who didn’t even like to fight unless pissed off. He had a long fuse and only protected teammates. Rumour has it even Probert avoided him when Fotiu approached to fight him, I’ve seen the video, Probert keeps his gloves off, he broke a bone in Craig Coxe face and coxe went toe to toe with Probert and Tim Hunter claims he could hear the punch from the bench. They say he was to nice a guy to be an all-time goon and never had high penalty minutes. He mauled Paul Holmgren, rocked Behn Wilson and Gillies and Semenko just stayed away. Never seen him get hurt or dropped in a fight and when he had a couple of draws it was guys who were on top of him along the boards and dropped the gloves before him and held on with little rabbit punches to the side and back of his head, during these minor scurmish he seemed completely uninterested and never got hurt. In my opinion, definitely the toughest and best fighter I ever saw and I watched everyone through the 70’s and 80’s and early 90’s. It was reported he was the New York City golden gloves champion boxer before joining the NHL, which would explain his toughness and power when he wanted to really fight, which wasn’t often.

what about Maurice Richard?

1. Scott Stevens 2. Larry Robinson 3. John Wensink 4. Zdeno Chara 5. Eddie Shore 6. Wendel Clark 7. Alex Ovechkin 8. Cam Neely 9. Gordie Howe 10. Maurice Richard In my opinion, a feared player would be a threat in a fight as well as giving solid open ice hits. Also, that player should also be a good offensive or defensive player. Messier was just a dirty player and a pu**y. Have a look at the footage out there. Larry Robinson outed him...

Grodie Howe? Hmmmm, never heard of him. ;)

Gordie Howe, Mr. Elbows.

The Leafs need a player like Wendel Clark again. Mental and physical toughness with a scoring touch. He would put the fear of god into the current players.

Schoenfeld was quite the beast

100 PIM meant absoutely nothing in the 80'S. Scott Stevens, Chris Pronger, Eric Lindros, Ulf Samuelsson and Rick Tocchet could have been on that list too

"Grodie" was a secret nickname 😁 10:31

Ole Howe had his own hat trick named after him and i believe he only had 2 of those Hat tricks himself 😂😂…..

I think you hit the nail flush on the head. 👍 All time favourite. Wendal Clark. #17.

Didn’t Wendel Clarke also play for the NY Islanders for 58 games?? Guy was good Hockey player , grit , team player & scored goal’s!!

I GUESS it about all around playing but the best fighter i ever saw was John Ferguson who in the 19 71 Stanley cup series went around Bobby Orr to score a game winner

Scott Stevens!

Old time hockey - Eddie Shore

Good list but no Scott Stevens.

Even Gretzky stated in numerous interviews that Gordie was the GOAT.

If you leave Howe out, the other 5 had 12 Cups. That's one more than Henri Richard !

Agree with all of them. Little known conversation in hockey is teams feared the Bob Clark Flyers not just for fighting but the body checking. They hit anything that moved and most teams hated it. Montreal Solution was Bob Gainey and Larry Robinson who hit them back harder. And best them in both ways...

What about John Ferguson?

Al Secord, how could a fifty goal scored and heavy weight tough guy not make the list.

Too vague. Most "feared" doesn't make sense. That's why everybody came with other names. A lot more than six could be equally feared.

Any NHL list with 'fear' in it has to include Scott Stevens or its a failed list - sorry. Hardest open ice hitter in NHL history.. period. Wasn't afraid to scrap, even against bigger players. Just a stud all around.

O'Reilly on this list is a joke. I watched him be Clark Gillies personal punching bag for years.

Don’t disturb Messier because he already is.

i found out im related in a weird way to howe , someone with my blood(a sister somehow) married a howe , not sure exactly but my grandpa is a wings fan and played college hockey and all the boys played rep and triple aaa

Messier?????? Hahahahahahaha i needed a good laugh

Non Messier fans didn't have him on their team

Ted Lindsay was 5'8" 165lbs?!?! the guy's legend makes him out to be 7' 300lbs! i cant believe he's small.

The messiah

Darren McCarty

My favourite Messier moment was at a round Robin game of the 1981(?) canada cup when Mark elbowed a Russian unconscious as they were skating around behind the net. Out cold, one shot. I was, and still am, delighted. My sister's German exchange student, whom I took to see her first hockey game was shocked, stunned and mortified. Oh, the good old days.

Who's Grodie Howe?

You want a swiss knife, cam neeley instead of O'Reilly.

A "feared players" list and no Bobby Schmautz??? Schmautz _tried_ to hurt players. He wanted to do it. He'd go for your eye in a stickfight. Schmautzie was no-fooling bad news.

John Fergason should be on the list before some of the aformentioned ,scoered goals and no one tougher and also #9 Richard he did it all

I would add Stan Jonathan, Jordin Tootoo, and Denis Potvin. The first two had short fuses and could brawl, and nobody would take on Potvin.

Where do you start when discussing Gordie Howe? Start by spelling his name right lol...