Old-school enforcers a dying breed in NHL

By Terry Frei
Special to ESPN.com
Archive

At 36, Tie Domi still is game, and maybe even still has a bit of it. Yet, because the Maple Leafs bought him out, he had an offer to get into television (as a commentator on Canada's TSN, not on "Dancing with the Stars"), and he decided not to pursue possibly donning another team's uniform. So the veteran enforcer announced his retirement Tuesday in Toronto. Dave Sandford/Getty Images Tie Domi's retirement shows that some teams aren't reserving that one roster spot for an old-school enforcer. Another one bites the dust. Though Domi never was the prototype (he was more willing than intimidating) and certainly not a superheavyweight, his retirement is more evidence that the enforcer is on the endangered species list. Fighting is down, and if famous boxing referee Mills Lane had an orange band on his sleeve, he would have just reached eight on the count for NHL enforcers. If the role is filled at all, it's being done mostly by "gritty" wingers who are willing to consider the job part of their portfolio but not their primary duty. Darren McCarty, anyone? And to the credit of players like that, the era of the slug on skates who couldn't play a lick has been over for years, meaning even the tough guys have had to be able to play. At least a bit. But the evidence is mounting that in the "new" NHL, using a roster spot for a skater who draws the "enforcer" tag is a thing of the past. "It seems to be leaning in that direction," scout Dave Semenko said Tuesday night. "Every team looks at it differently. Some teams think they can get by with team toughness, rather than having one guy designated as that. But the way the rules are, you can't be as effective in that role as you once were." Semenko knows about effectiveness in that role. He still works for the Edmonton Oilers, for whom he once served as an on-ice bodyguard for Wayne Gretzky, among others. Even the Oilers over the summer witnessed the departure of Georges Laraque, who signed a two-year, $2.4 million deal with Gretzky's Phoenix Coyotes, presumably because The Great One still believes in the value of a tough guy on the wing, or perhaps he wants to keep Shane Doan from fighting too many of his own -- and others' -- battles. Yet Krzysztof Oliwa is history. So is Peter Worrell. The "tough guy" is a competition on TV, but not necessarily on "Hockey Night In Canada." "You have to be able to play the game and be able to contribute," Semenko said. "Phoenix felt like they were being pushed around last year and felt like Georges could help them. You don't know how your team's going to be if you always had that, and maybe it's a luxury that may go unappreciated. "If you do something stupid, you should be held accountable with something more than a couple of minutes in the box. In an incredibly important hockey game, that might cost you a goal, but that always doesn't happen." The true enforcer, in fact, always was more deterrent than combatant. Bruce Bennett Studios/Getty Images Terry Frei says former Islander Clark Gillies wasn't a "goon," but he was definitely an enforcer. Though nobody ever would have thought of considering former Islander Clark Gillies a "goon," he deserved the enforcer title when picking his spots while playing with Mike Bossy and Bryan Trottier. He was much more of a true enforcer than was, say, the infamous Steve Durbano or John Kordic. Or even the erudite guys such as Jim McKenzie and Worrell. Even Bob Probert, Chris Simon and, to a point, Domi have enhanced their value at some point in their careers by displaying an ability to put the puck in the net. But the funny part of that was, when they did, they periodically were accused of losing their desire to fight. Simon has been amazingly resilient in his career, given his injury problems, and the one-time 20-goal scorer has rejoined his junior coach, Ted Nolan, with the Islanders. But he didn't even crack 100 penalty minutes with the Flames last season. The true enforcer wasn't so much part of the slug-vs.-slug sideshows that make it onto the unofficial Ring Record books of the sport, as he was the guy who ... always ... was ... there. "I didn't fight a lot," Semenko said. "I don't know how much trouble I actually stopped by being there. A lot of times it was just talking to a guy. You'd say, 'I don't know what you're doing, but if you plan on continuing it ...,' and that usually would stop it. We had a lot of tough players on our team, so it wasn't just my sole role, but I got the most attention for it. "There weren't a lot of games, but there might have been some, where if our game was going south, I might try and go out and try and start something, but that really didn't happen a lot. And as far as Wayne was concerned, I could only remember a couple of instances where I actually had to react to somebody doing something to him. That was very rare. "Tim Hunter took a slash at him once when I was on the ice in Edmonton and I went after Tim. Paul Baxter was threatening [Gretzky] once, and he went by our bench and threatened Gretz, and I dropped him with a punch right from the bench, so I didn't even have to get on the ice. But there were very few instances where someone was threatening him or went after him. He was a tough guy to hit, and he had a lot of respect [from players]. But they knew someone was going to come after you, and that sort of backed guys off, too. But that was in that era, and that's something that isn't effective now, for some reason." Yes, there are those who reflexively blame not just hockey's but also society's ills -- including transit strikes, global warming and the dearth of true quality rock 'n' roll -- on the instigator rule. Some of us believe the game not only can get along but also would be better off with further legislation that all but eliminated fighting, enabling the sport to jettison its (unfair, but real) sideshow image in some corners of discerning general sports fandom. Yet we have to acknowledge that if fighting were limited to true enforcement, that would be a positive element. Maybe a major stick infraction or even the inadvertent double-minor caused an automatic matchup, by rule, with the other team's enforcer? Maybe Brooks Orpik had an immediate price to pay for his hit on Erik Cole? That makes sense, far more sense, than the sideshows. The same would be true for football, if a spear or even a bush-league celebration triggered a confrontation. But too often in hockey, that's not the way it worked, and the momentum fight is silliness the sport needed to get beyond, as was the specter of two slugs dropping the gloves to mutually justify their existence. The players need to attack the mind-set that playing with and displaying mutual respect is not, for the lack of a better term, "wussiness." And having that type of enforcer in the game can still be effective.

Backchecking With Dave Schultz

Former Flyer talks about being a stand-up guy on the ice, a stand-up comic off the ice and life after hockey

By Zack Hill, philadelphiaflyers.com

Dave "The Hammer" Schultz played just five seasons for the Flyers (1971-72 through 1975-76), but left a lasting impression. After being the Flyers' fifth-round selection in the 1969 Amateur Draft, Schultz led the league in penalty minutes for six consecutive seasons (with the Salem Rebels of the EHL in 1969-70, the Quebec Aces of the AHL in 1970-71, the Richmond Robins of the AHL in 1971-72 and the Flyers in 1972-73 through 1974-75). He is fifth on the team's All-Time List in penalty minutes with 1,386 and he still holds the NHL record for most penalty minutes in a season with 472 during the 1974-75 season.

Q: You have been a pretty busy fellow. Can you give us an update on what you have been doing with yourself?
Schultz: “I started Champion Limousines in 1986, which I still own and operate out of South Jersey. I also operate Hammer Enterprises, which develops, creates and markets sports memorabilia and collectibles, promotions for corporations and organizations with my main focus on public speaking. I have taken a six-week course in stand-up comedy and recently had three, five-minute stand-up comedy gigs. I am also a partner in the real estate firm, Atlantic Properties that serves the Delaware Valley. On top of all this, I am the president of the Flyers Alumni Association and have been actively involved in marketing a lot of Flyers sports memorabilia from the Stanley Cup years and working with various charitable organizations. We have our Fall Classic every September. I am also involved in two web sites, www.davethehammerschultz.com and www.simplyawesome.com.”

Q: How did you get involved in stand-up comedy?
Schultz: “A couple of years ago, the Flyers Alumni had a roast in Atlantic City, New Jersey. There was a comedy writer who attended and after the show, I got his telephone number and gave him a call. I asked him to write me some skits and I liked them. Later I enrolled in the comedy course that I mentioned above. I did this to help with my public speaking. I think that it is always more entertaining if I can incorporate humor into my presentations.”

Q: How do you prepare for stand-up comedy?
Schultz: “The first thing that I do is sit down and write. A lot of my material is from my past experiences playing in the NHL. Many people think that the more aggressive a hockey player is, the less intelligent he is, which is actually not true. However, I like to play on that misconception and I poke fun at myself a lot. I will also incorporate into my act some of the athletes who I played with and against. All just in fun!”

Q: Are you comfortable speaking in public?
Schultz: “Yes. I enjoy it, but it is not easy. You just do not step on stage and start entertaining people. There is a lot of preparation and rehearsing that is involved. Your information and your delivery are key ingredients to being an effective public speaker, which I have been doing for 25 years.”

Q: What is more nerve-wracking, moments before you walk out on stage or moments before dropping the gloves in an NHL fight?
Schultz: “I think the moment before a fight was more mentally draining. The toughest part about fighting, at least in my eyes, was that I was not allowed to lose. I had to be so prepared. I won a few and I lost a few. Once the fight was over, I was fine, unless I got hit!” (laughs)

Q: Did you look for a game on the Flyers schedule and think, ‘Oh, boy I have to fight him again?’
Schultz: “Yes. If we were going to play Boston, I did not want to know. I would look at the schedule and say to myself, ‘Jeez, looks like I will be squaring off again with (Terry) O’Reilly.’ Some teams you just do not want to play against. O’Reilly and I fought at least 10 times. Whenever anyone asks me who my toughest opponent was I say it was O’Reilly. I actually have this game video of us playing the Bruins and I was squaring off with one of his teammates and you can see O’Reilly zigzagging in between Flyers and Bruins players on the ice just so he could get to me before I could fight his teammate.”

Q: Did you visualize a fight before it occurred?
Schultz: “I would visualize fighting a guy all the time. Sometime in the afternoon before a game I would lie down to take a nap. Before I would fall asleep, I would close my eyes and think about fighting. The odd time I would think about me being the one getting punched and I would open my eyes and think, ‘No, it is not supposed to happen that way!’ and start the whole process over again. I could not allow myself to think that I was going to lose.”

Q: Many times after a fight there is an unofficial winner and loser with really no damage to either player. Are hockey fights deceiving?
Schultz: “There were times when the public perception was that I lost even when I did not get hit and there were other times when the perception was that I won and I never even hit the guy. Hockey players are very well protected. There are very few serious injuries that occur during a hockey fight, but they belong in the game and serve a purpose. Sometimes the fans even enjoy them!” (laughs)

Q: What do you think about the instigator rule?
Schultz: “It hurts the game and should be taken out. This is not just me saying this. Franchise players have said this too. The instigator rule was implemented to prevent a guy like me going after a guy like Guy Lafleur. How am I going to fight a player like Guy if I cannot even catch him? First off, I would never do that. Today, a guy could give an opponent a cheap shot and nothing happens. Players shrug it off and skate to the bench. Too many players hide behind that rule. All I ever hear these days is that there is no respect on the ice. My philosophy is that if a player cheap shots another player and the other player or teammate wants revenge by dropping the gloves, it is the obligation of the cheap shot artist to fight. These days he will just get sent to the penalty box, get suspended and/or get fined. Do not give somebody a cheap shot and run. Have a little fistfight. What is the best way to settle a disagreement on the ice? Drop the gloves and get it over with. What are the injuries that occur in a hockey fight besides the loser having his feelings hurt. And I do apologize for all the feelings I have hurt!”

Q: Did you enjoy fighting?
Schultz: “No. There was a lot of pressure and besides, who likes getting punched in the face? But I liked the rewards. I filled a role that was needed and my coach and teammates appreciated someone going after the guy who gave a cheap shot or was dirty or a player we just did not like. The fans loved it. Fighters are always among the more popular players on the team.”

Q: Can the fighters of your era compete with the fighters of today?
Schultz: “The guys are bigger and stronger these days, so they would have the advantage. I was big when I played at 6’1”, 195 pounds. But if I was playing today, with all the off-ice training, weight lifting and the nutritionists that teams have, I would be playing at 220 pounds and have a lot more muscle. There are some huge guys in the NHL these days.”

Q: You were not always a fighter. Why did you become a fighter?
Schultz: “I was a ‘chippy’ player, but never fought when I played junior hockey. I remember that there were all these brawls in juniors and I was thinking, ‘Get me out of this place.’ What aggravated me was when somebody would hold or hook me with their stick. That would (tee) me off. But I would not fight the guy. I would give the guy a shove and skate away, but I would never drop my gloves. I was 21 when I was drafted by the Flyers in 1969. I could actually play. They sent me to the EHL (Eastern Hockey League) and all hell broke loose. I got into a fight with a French-Canadian kid and beat him up pretty bad. I got in a fight the next game and the rest is history. I scored 32 goals that season and led the league with 356 penalty minutes when I played for the Salem Rebels in the EHL in 1969-70. Everybody loved the fights.”

Q: Was there ever an NHL official crazy enough to try and break up one of your fights?
Schultz: “Whenever I would get into a fight, one of the strongest linesmen in the NHL, John D’Amico, would always grab me. His job was to tie me up every time. Once when I was fighting, he broke it up by elbowing me three times in the face. I was like, ‘John, cut it out, I’m done already!’ He was very strong.”

Q: Were you ever hurt in a fight?
Schultz: “I can’t admit that.”

Q: Can we interpret that as a ‘maybe?’
Schultz: “Nobody knows this, but once at the Spectrum I got into a fight with Pierre Bouchard of the Montreal Canadiens. He tied up my arms and was able to sneak in a punch right on my temple. At that point, I just grabbed on to him and held on for dear life. He got me good, but nobody in the building could tell that he walloped me. D’Amico came up to me afterward and said he could not believe I was still standing. One time when I was playing for the Los Angeles Kings, O’Reilly turned me sideways and flipped me to the ice. That took the wind out of me, not to mention a lot of torn cartilage to my rib cage, and I could hardly get up for a week.”

Q: Several years ago, ESPN voted you the toughest NHL fighter of all-time. You do consider that an honor, don’t you?
Schultz: “Heck yes. The list was pretty impressive. There was (Bob) Probert, (Clark) Gillies, (Chris) Nilan, (Tiger) Williams, (Gordie) Howe, (Ted) Lindsay, to name a few.”

Q: Who were your toughest fights against?
Schultz: “Number one would be O’Reilly because he was going to fight every single time. He was a lefty, which made it worse. Luckily, he did not have the best balance and would sometimes slip and fall. Clark Gillies (former New York Islander and Buffalo Sabre) would be number two. I only fought him twice, but he was big and strong.”

Q: How about Tiger Williams?
Schultz: “I cannot include him. When Tiger Williams came into the league, he claimed that he never lost a fight. He and I fought only once in Toronto. Tiger was jostling with Clarkie (Bobby Clarke), so I stepped in. He ended up biting me on the cheek. Keith Allen called Clarence Campbell into our locker room to show him the teeth marks on my cheek. But I give Tiger a lot of credit. He is the most penalized player in the history of the game (3,966 penalty minutes) and he had a long career. But I only fought him that one time in Toronto and he bit me, so it would not be fair to put him on the list.”

Q: Have you ever been accidentally head-butted or accidentally given a head-butt?
Schultz: “I head-butted O’Reilly, but it was not an accident. He was holding my arms down so neither one of us could throw any punches. I head-butted him and got a three-game suspension.”

Q: Should fighting always be part of hockey?
Schultz: “Yes. It prevents a lot of unnecessary cheap shots. If you do not want to get fought, then do not give out cheap shots.”

Q: You coached in the minor leagues this season. How did it go?
Schultz: “I coached the Elmira Jackals in the United Hockey League for six weeks. When I took over, the team had three ties in 20 games. I really turned that team around and they won five of the last 21 games!” (laughs)

Q: How are your two sons?
Schultz: “My oldest son, Chad, just got married and moved to Madison, New Jersey, and is looking to get more involved in the film and advertising business. He was employed for the past five years with an advertising and production company in Philadelphia. He has written, directed and produced an independent movie that received national recognition at film festivals from Delaware to Utah. He is looking to work out of New York City. My youngest son, Brett, works for the vintage jersey company, Mitchell & Ness, in Philadelphia. He is also studying for his Masters Degree at Temple University.”

Q: Are you single, you never know who might read this?
Shultz: “I have been single for a few years living in Macungie, Pennsylvania.”

Q: Is there anything that you would like to end this interview with?
Schultz: “I want to thank the city of Philadelphia, the Delaware Valley and all Flyers fans for always being so nice. A lot of the Flyers' Stanley Cup members still live in the Delaware Valley and we have always been treated excellent.”

Elizabeth Conley / The Detroit News

Mel Angelstad, 34, a defenseman / left wing who plays for the Motor

City Mechanics of the United Hockey League, has accumulated more

than 4,500 penalty minutes in a 15-year career of playing in North

America and the British Isles.

The Angelstad file

Position: Defense, left wing
Ht.: 6-1; Wt.: 215
Born: Oct. 31, 1971, at Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
Pro career: 15 years
Nicknames: The Mangler, Mad Mel
Teams: Flin Flon, Dauphin, Thunder Bay (five times), Nashville, Prince Edward Island Senators (twice), Phoenix Roadrunners, Fort Worth, Las Vegas, Orlando, Kalamazoo (twice), Manitoba, Portland (three times), Washington Capitals (two games), Belfast (Ireland), Newcastle (England), Motor City
Penalty minutes: 3,445 and counting
Best fights: Bob Probert, Link Gaetz
Did you know? Angelstad was given The Mangler nickname in Kalamazoo in 1988, a takeoff of his first initial (M) and part of his last name (Angle). He is studying to become a firefighter through a school in Manitoba.

Elizabeth Conley / The Detroit News

Motor City Mechanics president John Tull said Mel Angelstad, above, was

 brought in for hockey and promotional reasons.

Elizabeth Conley / The Detroit News

Mel Angelstad (21) realized his dream of playing in the NHL when he appeared in

 two games for the Capitals during the 2003-04 season.

FRASER -- The punches land with frightening efficiency, frequently driving the opposing pugilist to the ice.

Sometimes, blood trickles from raw impact wounds he's inflicted. At times, the opponent has been rendered temporarily unconscious.

The architect of this violence, Mel Angelstad, takes no pleasure in the injuries.

Call him what you will. Angelstad is an enforcer, a tough guy, a goon in the tradition of old-school hockey. But he is not unthinking.

He studies his craft and takes pride in the art of defending his team's honor.

"There is a science to fighting," Angelstad, 34, said. "It's a very technical thing that you have to know what you're doing or you will get hurt.

"You just don't go out there and pick a fight and throw a bunch of punches without some thought. That's not the way things are done.

"I've never wanted to be one of those guys who is just out there to hurt people. No way. There is a purpose to what I do, something that goes back to the days of old-time hockey."

From afar, Angelstad could be written off as a journeyman minor leaguer who embodies a violent, bygone code taken straight from the Don Cherry handbook.

After all, he's called "Mad Mel" or "The Mangler", a guy who has more than 4,500 penalty minutes in a 15-year career of playing in North America and the British Isles.

Angelstad's latest stop is Detroit, where he recently joined the Motor City Mechanics, a team happily promoting his menacing abilities.

"We brought him on both for hockey and promotional reasons," Mechanics president John Tull said. "He's the perfect addition, because we can promote his reputation to sell tickets, as well as have that successfully work for the team winning on the ice. He brings a presence."

He's gotten into two big fights for the Mechanics the last two weeks and rung up 24 penalty minutes in 14 games.

But the truth of Angelstad, the person, is much less sinister.

Off the ice, he is very mellow, intelligent and thoughtful, far more than the sum of his fights, scars and penalty minutes.

A long journey

Angelstad is a small-town kid from Elstow, Saskatchewan, who discovered high-level hockey out of high school. Elstow had only 75 residents, making luxuries such as indoor ice rinks and organized teams impossible.

He played with his friends on makeshift rinks but still was able to draw enough notice to garner a tryout from a junior B-level team.

Angelstad discovered his fists and bravery might bring him a nice career as an enforcer, and he went along for the ride. He also had decent skills, making him a good left wing.

He soon also became very good at moving, going from team to team, destination to destination.

Flin Flon. Nashville. Thunder Bay. Kalamazoo. Orlando. Phoenix.

The list grew longer, always missing the one thing he wanted most -- playing on an NHL team.

"I just kept going because I always felt I was getting better every year," Angelstad said. "I never was one of those guys that had the game come easy. I always had to make sure I was prepared, thinking about the plays, how we were going to do things. I think it made me a better player. I understood the value of hard work."

He received some tastes of the big time, getting to the training camps of the Ottawa Senators (1992) and Dallas Stars (1999).

He faced off against his enforcer hero in 1999, taking on former Red Wing Bob Probert in an exhibition game. Angelstad challenged Probert, then playing for the Blackhawks.

The fight was brutal, with neither player backing down from the flurry of punches. It ended in a tussle, with both men entangled in their jerseys.

"That was the fight of my life. Probie was the man," Angelstad said. "Nobody has ever fought like Probert. He was so strong, so technically tough. That was everything for me."

But Angelstad never managed to stay with the big club. He went back down, waiting for the next call to come.

Finally, he got his chance in the 2003-04 season. The Washington Capitals called him up for two games, allowing him to realize his dream in a small way. He had two penalty minutes with no assists or goals, but it is enough to put him in the NHL scorebook as having been there.

"I can say for the rest of my life that I was in the same league that had the great players like (Gordie) Howe, Wayne Gretzky, you name it," Angelstad said. "Sure, I might not have had the career they did, but I used every bit of my talent and my hard work to get there. In some small way, it's enough for me."

Angelstad played in Great Britain the past two years, with lonely stays in Belfast (Northern Ireland) and Newcastle (England).

He decided to start looking at life after hockey, applying for firefighter school in Manitoba. He quit Newcastle on Nov. 23, coming home to start pre-school testing for the training. Two weeks later, Mechanics coach / general manager Danton Cole tracked down Angelstad and persuaded him to play for the Mechanics.

Cole has known Angelstad for years, appreciating the long path he has undertaken.

"I am always impressed by how Mel has been such a positive presence, both on the ice and in the locker room, for every team he's ever played on," Cole said. "There are some guys who could have been a little bitter or mad over being so close to making it to the NHL and not getting to really have the career they wanted there. They might have quit.

"Mel's never done that, because his heart is pure hockey. That's the only reason he's done any of this -- his love of the game."

Changing times

Being a goon is no longer cool in the new world of Gary Bettman's NHL.

Bettman has long discussed his distaste for fighting, once a staple of the NHL. The league has taken steps to remove the fighting and physicality from the sport in hopes of producing a faster, cleaner product. Players such as Angelstad have been rendered dinosaurs in this new game.

"I really think if I had been playing 30 years ago, I would have had a good NHL career," Angelstad said, without a trace of bitterness. "I would have been a classic enforcer. There would have been a need for a guy like me, I would have been valued for the job I do. Now, hockey is turning into a game I don't recognize in some ways. I mean, the skill level of those guys is amazing.

"Now, guys are slashing and doing other stuff that could be solved with a simple fight. And you can't tell me the crowd doesn't love it. There is nothing like the electricity in the building during a fight. Nothing. It is part of the game, but I guess they're just not going to allow it anymore."

Fans love Angelstad's fighting, prompting him to compile a best-of DVD of his brawls. He's selling them at games and over his Web site (angelstad.com). Volume two will be released next month.

Angelstad said there's an art to fighting. He's trying to impart his wisdom to the younger Mechanics, showing them advanced techniques after practice.

Most of his altercations have him circling the opponent, right fist cocked at the ready, looking for the first opening to land a punch.

He said he wants to angle his punches to avoid helmets and use his free hand to tangle his opponent in a jersey.

But the fight's damage is often a two-way street. Angelstad's nose has been broken badly three times, and his knuckles have been broken and cut from punching the unforgiving plastic of helmets.

He even had to have impacted teeth removed from the second knuckle on his right hand, a souvenir from making violent contact with another player's mouth.

His nose has been surgically realigned and repaired through a seven-hour operation, but the scars marking his face and knuckles will never vanish.

"I have paid a price for doing what I did in hockey, but I will never have any regrets," Angelstad said. "I think what I did was probably the most unselfish thing you can do as a player. You give up your body for your team in a fight. You do it for them. And you pay the price for it. I willingly accepted paying that price.

"I can't think of anything that's more in the spirit of being on a team. I've had a great career. I don't know how much longer I am going to play, but I know when it's over, I will look back with pride. I did everything I could."

You can reach Joanne C. Gerstner at joanne.gerstner@detnews.com or (313) 223-4644.

Tue, February 28, 2006

Bonvie still has a little fight in him

More articles in the AHL On-The-Beat Archive

By Brian Coe

Dennis Bonvie's fiery demeanor has helped him rack up more than 66 hours' worth of penalties in his AHL career.

There was a bit of a statistical anomaly during the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins’ recent swing through Syracuse, Manitoba and Toronto: not once during the four games did tough guy Dennis Bonvie pick up a penalty minute.

That’s right, the American Hockey League’s all-time leader in time spent in the sin bin went four straight contests without picking up a PIM.

That string of clean sheets only appears to be delaying the inevitable, though. As the Penguins prepared for a weekend homestand against the Toronto Marlies and Manchester Monarchs, Bonvie needed just 31 penalty minutes to reach the 4,000 mark for his AHL career. That’s a dubious mark to be sure, but one that also shows some impressiveness in a 13-year career.

“I don’t think it’s a big deal," said Bonvie, who is considered by fans and foes as one of the toughest guys ever to lace up the skates. "It’s an accomplishment in some sense. I would think people look at it in different ways. I’m thankful for my longevity, that I’ve been able to play and stay half decently healthy for my whole career.

"It’s a tough job, and I think a tough guy’s career is a lot shorter sometimes. So I’ve been lucky to still be playing. And I also think it’s good that I’ve had some consistency in what I’ve done, and I continue to do my job year in and year out.”

Bonvie’s job has had more to do with fists than sticks throughout his career. He is the measuring stick when it comes to hockey fights, having thrown down the gloves more times than he can remember. But his career could have taken an entirely different path.

“I scrapped a few times in Junior-A and did OK,” Bonvie said, recalling the formative days of his hockey career. “I’m sure if it went the other way and I’d not done so well in those fights, I probably wouldn’t be in this role. I went in to junior, and I did it, I did it, I did it.”

Bonvie racked up 599 penalty minutes during just two seasons in the Ontario Hockey League, then attended a pro tryout held by the Edmonton Oilers. The undrafted rookie landed a spot with the AHL's Cape Breton Oilers in 1993, and has since gone on to incite hatred and fear in the hearts of the opposition.

“I’ve been fortunate. There’s a lot of people who have got a tryout and never made and went to university. And that would have been fine too. If you look at all the people who want to play and all the people who end up playing pro hockey, it’s a big difference. I’m one of the lucky ones who got a chance to play.”

And he’s been fairly lucky in the health department as well. There have been bumps and bruises, broken noses and fingers along the way. But Bonvie’s warrior mentality was one of the reasons former head coach Michel Therrien wanted to bring the former Penguin back to Wilkes-Barre this season.

“[The enforcer’s role] takes a hard toll; there’s a lot of injuries along the way,” the right wing from Antigonish, N.S., said. “I broke my hand, I broke my finger one time where I missed five weeks, a knee where I missed a few weeks. It’s probably through my stubbornness that I should have missed more time but I didn’t. I’ve prolonged operations and said I’d get it a little bit later or in the summer.”

Despite the fierceness and the competitive nature of the fighter in hockey, Bonvie says there is a definite etiquette in his role, as odd as that may sound.

“I’ve always said, ‘Live and die by the sword,’” he said. “I’m not one to go out and sucker somebody, because I figure that sometime, maybe not tomorrow or the next day, but sometime I’m going to get suckered back. And I don’t want that.

“I’ve fought everybody, and for the most part squared off with all of them and said, ‘You know, we’ll start off even, and whatever happens, happens.’ I’m a firm believer in that. If you go around sticking guys, sooner or later you’re going to get cracked with a stick or something’s going to happen. You play the game as clean as you can and as hard as you can. And for the most part, I think you’re going to get treated back the same way.”

Bonvie also believes there’s a time and place to fight. If your team is up by a goal or two, you want to stay away from dropping the gloves; if it needs a little pick-me-up, that’s the prefect time to throw a few punches.

“The biggest thing is that the game is all ebb and flow,” he said. “It’s all about energy. Sometimes you’re down here and you have to bring the team back. Sometimes you’re up here and you want to keep everybody flying.

“I could be sitting in the dressing room and say, ‘Man, I don’t like the feeling, I don’t like the feel of the room right now.’ For the most part you know when to do it and when not to.”

There also seems to be a genuine camaraderie among players who do Bonvie’s job, a fraternity of fighters if you will.

“For the most part those guys do their jobs for 60 minutes. And when it’s over you say ‘Hey, how you doing? Good job. See you next time,’” he stated. “I think that’s the way it’s got to be. Everybody knows what his job is, you go do it, and if something happens, it happens. Otherwise you play the game, you go up and down the wing and play hard.

“You look at a guy like [the Philadelphia Phantoms'] Josh Gratton," Bonvie said. "I think he’s a great kid. He goes out, does his job, plays hard, plays smart, plays clean. You look at other guys in our division, (like Norfolk's) Shawn Thornton, Mike Brown, you play them so much and things happen. That’s the nature of the beast.”

After more than a dozen years bouncing around AHL rinks, Bonvie has become synonymous with his craft. And as the dean of the enforcers, he knows that a young guy looking to make his name is the business is apt to challenge him. That’s a proposition with which he has no problem.

“When I started I was the same way,” he said. “I wanted to go in there and fight all the toughest guys. They obliged so I’m going to oblige the next guy, there’s no doubt. If it’s right for our hockey team and right for us, I’ll go do it."

Now closer to the end of his career than the beginning, Bonvie looks back with pride at some of the heavyweights he has taken on.

“Bob Probert, when I fought him in an (NHL) exhibition, was pretty big for me. My name (as a fighter) was out, but that circulated my name a little bit more,” he recalled. “I’ve fought guys like Tie Domi, Georges Laraque, Stu Grimson, Donald Brashear, Tony Twist three times. You fight all those guys and it’s nice to know you’re in that category somewhat. And yet there’s a lot of guys in the AHL who never get a break but are just as tough.”