New York Rangers: The 7 toughest Blueshirts in franchise history

The toughest New York Rangers of all-time takes us from Hockey Hall of Famers to your regular NHL goon. 

From 50 goal scorers to Norris winning defenseman to Vezina caliber goaltending, the New York Rangers have seen it all. Now, ESNY takes a look at what could be the most intriguing and discussed category in professional hockey, the toughest player.

Defining toughest is not as simple as who fights the most or who takes the most penalties in a season or career. The category has to include criteria such as who hit the hardest, who was feared when on the ice, and who took a beating standing in front of the goal defending it or attacking it.

The Rangers employed had many players who fit into this category. Exploring only seven of them may not be fair, yet let’s have some fun with it anyway.

Here is a list of seven, not in any particular order, that stand out in a list of so many in New York Rangers history.

Nick Fotiu

Nick Fotiu played 455 games for the Rangers in eight seasons. The Staten Island, NY native started his Ranger career on July 23, 1976, when he signed as a free agent. He played for the Rangers until 1979 when he was claimed in the NHL expansion draft by the Hartford Whalers. He then returned to the Rangers in 1981 in which he played with the team until 1986 when he was traded to the Calgary Flames.

Fotiu was beloved by the fans, not because of his great skating ability or puck handling skill.

Nick was hitter, fighter, and defender of his teammates. In his Rangers career, Fotiu racked up 970 penalty minutes. There weren’t too many people who really wanted to fight him. Dave “The Hammer” Schultz, one of hockey’s most tough guys, wrote in his book that Fotiu was the only man he was afraid to fight in his NHL career.

The left winger was a Rangers fan since he was a kid and he loved the opportunity to skate on the ice at the Garden. His special bond with the fans became more evident as at the conclusion of warm-ups, Fotiu would remain on the ice until he was the last skater and then would throw pucks high into the stands for the fans to grab.

Jeff Beukeboom

Jeff Beukeboom represents one of the nastiest, toughest defenseman the Rangers has put out on the ice. “Boom” played for the Blueshirts from 1991-1999, winning the Stanley Cup in 1994. At 6-foot-5, the 230-pound defenseman was a force to be reckoned with on the ice. Size, strength and a tenacity to make a big hit at a big moment in the game brought the garden fans to their feet on a nightly basis.

Beukeboom’s play was the main factor in goaltender Mike Richter’s playing career. Jeff was always there in front of Richter clearing the net so that he could grab a rebound and focus in on a long shot. The defenseman appeared in 520 games for the Rangers, accumulating 1,157 penalty minutes.

He was acquired by New York in a trade with the Edmonton Oilers in November 1991 that completed the transaction of the Mark Messier trade.

Beukeboom was often paired with Brian Leetch through most of his career. The two made a one-two punch against their opponents as Leetch was the offensive defenseman with sped and great hands and Beukeboom was the stay at home defenseman with punishing hitting skills. It was a true New York dynamic duo.

Tie Domi

Tie Domi only appeared in 82 games for the Rangers over three seasons. In that time, he tallied 526 penalty minutes while getting involved in some of the biggest fights in the NHL, most notably when he took on Detroit’s Bob Probert at a game at Madison Square Garden in one of the league’s most well-known and anticipated fights.

On Feb. 9, 1992, the heavyweight fight took place. Probert stepped on the ice, whereupon Rangers head coach Roger Neilson sent out Domi who skated right up to Probert for the face-off. A split-second after the puck was dropped, Probert twice cross-checked Domi, and the fists were flying.

It was a fight lost by Domi, but a win for the fans.

The right wing was an excellent skater who had no fear in his game. Domi was known to take the ice to land a big hit or start a fight to help get his team to find a way to get back into games. A great garbage taker among the league, Domi could talk up as good as a game as anyone.

Bill Cook

Bill Cook was an original New York Rangers player as he began his career with the 1926 team. Cook played all parts of the game very well. He was on a line with his brother Bun Cook and the legendary Frank Boucher. Cook was the enforcer of the team in an era of hockey that needed hard hitting and fighting players. Cook was a nasty player on the ice, verified by a story Cook tells of a confrontation he had with a Montreal player.

Cook was being pestered most of a game in 1926, so he decided to butt end the player in the head. The response was a butt end to his own head which knocked him down and out. He awoke on the ice with players fighting all around led by his brother Bun. After getting some stitches from the injury, Cook wound up scoring the game-winning goal that game.

Mental and physical toughness was how the game was played back in the 1920’s. A great time to be a hockey player in the NHL if you had the skill and will to play that style of hockey.

Joey Kocur

Joe Kocur had a great National Hockey League career. He was the example of what an enforcer should be on the ice. He protected his players, took a lot of penalty minutes and knew when to throw the big hit, clean or not, to get the blood boiling.

Kocur played with the New York Rangers for six seasons, never playing in more than 65 games in any one of those years with the exception of 1993-94. Yet he was still able to record 537 penalty minutes in 278 games for the Blueshirts.

Kocur was indeed the fighter in the years he played in the NHL. Joe would go out of his way to lay a hit on an opponent or to drop the gloves at any time. Kocur fit the role of enforcer on the team that eventually rounded itself into a Stanley Cup Winner.

Interestingly, Kocur did hold a different reputation than other players in his category. Most enforcers would fight the other team’s enforcers, but Kocur didn’t really settle for that. If any player ticked him off, scorer or fighter, Joe would go at him regardless of the code within the game.

Sean Avery

He may only have been 5-foot-10, 185 pounds, but Sean Avery was very visible on the ice.

Avery played six seasons in New York, 264 games with 601 penalty minutes, but was also able to point some points on the scoreboard. He managed 43 goals for 123 points in that period, but Avery was the instigator. He was the player fans hated most, the player who knew how to push all the right buttons to get the opposing team to take a bad penalty. Whether it was a stick to the back if the leg on a whistle, a little face rub in a scrum, Avery was there to get all he could out of a play.

It is most known as the Sean Avery rule.

During the 2008 Eastern Conference Quarterfinals, Avery’s Rangers had a five-on-three power play against the New Jersey Devils. When the power play began, Avery made his way to the front of the Devils’ net and near New Jersey’s netminder Martin Brodeur.

The Rangers tough man faced Brodeur, waving his arms and stick in an attempt to distract the Devils’ goalie. This scene drew the ire of the Devils on the ice as well as referee Don Van Massenhoven who threatened to dish Avery a penalty. The day after the incident, the NHL created a new rule, stating that distracting the goalie in such a manner would result in a minor penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct.

Mark Messier

The Captain is, of course, known for his 1994 Stanley Cup Championship with the Rangers.

Mark Messier was as good at scoring a game-winning goal as he was throwing a massive body check on the ice. Messier knew the importance of dominance on the ice in all aspects of the game. The center would never back down from a scrum at the net on a whistle, banging bodies into the boards at either end of the ice and would almost show his nasty side every game.

Messier played a total of 10 years and 698 games for the Blueshirts. In that time, he acquired 667 minutes of penalties while scoring 250 goals and 691 points. That was almost a point per game and a penalty minute per game in his Ranger career.

Messier battled with the best of them including some moments with Donald Brashear, a player he took on many times as the two had a dislike for one another during their entire careers in the league.

There a bunch of notable mentions, so many in fact that a part two may be coming your way. Adam Graves, Ed Hospodar, Lou Fantinato and Tanner Glass are just a few not mentioned in this piece, all of whom contributed to the tough man or enforcer era of the NHL.

Some say the enforcer era is on the way out. Teams can’t afford a roster spot to a player who has the main purpose to fight or hit and agitate. I disagree. Hockey needs that edge. Imagine an NHL if Wayne Gretzky didn’t have Dave Semenko watching his back every game.

Hitting is very much part of this sport and with that, the tough guy/enforcer will always be needed. Maybe they are going to be used in a different way or they will need to be better skaters and point producers, but the need for them will always be there.

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