New York Rangers: 10 most memorable enforcers all-time, including Matt Rempe

Hockey is a game of speed and skill. But in order for players with those attributes to flourish, there has to be a dash (or more) of toughness.

“Enforcers,” “tough guys” or whatever you want to call them, have always been a part of the sport. Fighting doesn’t have the major role in the game it had 30 or 40 years ago, when there was an average of close to one fight per game. Few if any teams these days carry a player whose primary function is to drop the gloves, but every club wants to have someone who’s willing to stand up for his teammates when the need arises, as well as make life tough on opponents.

The New York Rangers are no exception. One of the first things Emile Francis did when he took over the team in the mid-1960s was to bring in guys who could protect his smaller, skill-focused players, and that trend has continued throughout the next six decades.

Related: 5 Rangers records that may never be broken

Top 10 most memorable enforcers in Rangers history

With apologies to former fan favorites like Ed Hospodar and Kris King, here’s a look at 10 of the toughest Rangers through the years (listed alphabetically).

Tie Domi

Time with Rangers: 1990-92

Fighting majors: 38

Domi played 82 games and spent less than three full seasons with the Rangers, but he’s still among their most popular alumni.

A big reason for that is his battles with Bob Probert of the Detroit Red Wings, then regarded as the League’s reigning heavyweight champion. The two squared off at Madison Square Garden on Feb. 9, 1992; the game result (a 5-5 tie) was overshadowed by an epic bout that saw Domi leave Probert cut and bleeding. He declared himself the new heavyweight champion as he skated to the penalty box.

Not surprisingly, there was a rematch. The Red Wings next visit to the Garden came on Dec. 2, 1992. Rangers coach Roger Nielson and his Detroit counterpart, Bryan Murray, each put his combatant on the ice early. Domi and Probert squared off 37 seconds into the game — and following 45 seconds of combat, Probert emerged with a win after knocking Domi to the ice with a big right hand.

However, Domi got up smiling, played to the crowd as though he’d won and looked none the worse for wear as he chattered away in the postgame media scrum (except for a few red welts on his head).

In all, Domi and Probert fought nine times during their careers. But none of the others took place with Domi in a Rangers uniform — he was traded to the Winnipeg Jets along with another tough guy, Kris King, for Ed Olczyk, 26 days later.

Reggie Fleming

Time with Rangers: 1965-69

Fighting majors: 28

Fleming is proof that size is not a requirement for toughness.

The Montreal native was just 5-foot-8 and 170 pounds, making him small even for the 1960s. But he was tough as nails, always willing to stand up for teammates and never backing down from bigger opponents. Teammates loved him, and his aggressive style made him popular with fans wherever he played.

Fleming’s physicality helped the Chicago Black Hawks win the Stanley Cup in 1961, ending a 23-year drought. They traded him to the Boston Bruins in June 1964, and the Rangers acquired him on Jan. 10, 1966. He had five fights and 124 penalty minutes in his 35 games with New York that season; his combined total of 166 PIMs led the NHL.

The 1966-67 Rangers made the playoffs for the first time in five seasons, and Fleming’s toughness played a key role — as did his 15 goals and 31 points. He got into nine fights, including one with Boston rookie sensation Bobby Orr. Fleming averaged 139 penalty minutes from 1966-69, providing grit, muscle and some scoring from the third line, when the Rangers moved from the cellar into the upper echelon of teams in the NHL.

The deal that sent Fleming to the Philadelphia Flyers on June 6, 1969, was unpopular with a lot of Rangers fans, and it began the wandering phase of his career. He played one season with the Flyers, one with the expansion Buffalo Sabres, one in the minors and two in the World Hockey Association (he had a hat trick for Chicago at the Garden on March 12, 1973) and four seasons in the low minors before retiring in 1978.

Lou Fontinato

Time with Rangers: 1954-61

Fighting majors: 28

For most of the 1940s and early 1950s, the Rangers were regarded as a team that opponents could push around. Fontinato, a muscular defenseman, changed that.

“Leapin’ Louie” (a nickname given to him by Rangers PR guru Herb Goren because of his habit of jumping off the ice when he was penalized) split 1954-55 between the Rangers and the minors, then graduated to a full-time role on the blue line the following season. He promptly set an NHL record with 206 penalty minutes. Not coincidentally, the Rangers made the Stanley Cup Playoffs in each of Fontinato’s first three full NHL seasons after missing the postseason from 1950-51 through 1953-54.

He led the Rangers in penalty minutes in each of his six seasons in New York, finishing with at least 100 in all six.

But Fontinato was never the same after a bout with Detroit’s Gordie Howe on Feb. 1, 1959. The two had jousted before, but the altercations were broken up before any major penalties were assessed. Fontinato came to the assistance of teammate Eddie Shack and went after Howe; he landed a number of body shots before “Mr. Hockey” battered him almost beyond recognition. His face was badly cut, and he sustained a broken nose and jaw, requiring surgery that night. However, Fontinato recovered and remained effective after his return until a salary squabble led to him being sent to the Montreal Canadiens in the summer of 1961 in a trade that brought Hall of Fame defenseman Doug Harvey to the Rangers.

Fontinato’s career came to a sudden end against the Rangers on March 9, 1963, when a collision with Vic Hadfield left him with a broken neck.

Nick Fotiu

Time with Rangers: 1976-79; 1981-86

Fighting majors: 34

Only two other New York-area natives, Adam Fox and Brian Mullen, have more points with the Rangers than Fotiu. But the pride of Staten Island is remembered much more for the 970 penalty minutes he piled up in his two hitches as the first New York City native to play with the Rangers.

Fotiu joined the Blueshirts as a free agent in the summer of 1976 after two seasons with the New England Whalers of the World Hockey Association. He quickly became a fan favorite due to his penchant for throwing pucks into the blue seats at the Garden after pre-game warmups (he’d sat up there as a kid) and for providing the kind of physicality the Rangers had been missing. Fotiu averaged 156 penalty minutes in three seasons, the last of which ended with a trip to the Stanley Cup Final in 1979, when the Rangers lost to the Canadiens in five games.

The Rangers lost Fotiu to the Whalers in the 1979 NHL expansion draft, when four WHA teams joined the League, but got a warm welcome when he returned in a trade midway through the 1980-81 season. Fotiu wasn’t as much of a physical force as he’d been in his first stint with the Rangers, though his overall game improved and he had an NHL career-best 21 points in 1982-83.

However, after two seasons that saw him relegated to part-time duty, the Rangers traded him to the Calgary Flames in March 1986. He played for the Flames, Philadelphia Flyers and Edmonton Oilers before retiring.

Fotiu is tied for 14th in fighting majors on the Rangers’ all-time list — and he’s No. 1 with 20 misconducts.

Joey Kocur

Time with Rangers: 1991-96

Fighting majors: 40

Kocur was among the League’s most feared fighters when he played for Detroit in the late 1980s and early 1990s. He was part of the “Bruise Brothers” tandem with Probert on the Red Wings. At one point, Kocur piled up 117 fighting majors in a span of four seasons and had at least 213 penalty minutes per season from 1985-86 through 1990-91.

His 1990-91 total with the Red Wings might have been more but for a late-season trade that sent him to the Rangers in March 1991. General manager Neil Smith, who had come to New York from the Detroit organization in 1989, knew Kocur and wanted him as protection for some of his young stars.

Kocur wasn’t as prolific a fighter with the Rangers as he’d been in Detroit, but still provided protection and was a solid presence on the fourth line, making life uncomfortable for opposing defensemen. He was a regular on the 1993-94 team that won the Stanley Cup, dressing for all 20 playoff games.

But after Kocur played all 48 games in the lockout-shortened 1994-95 season, the effects of a career spent battling other NHL tough guys began to show in 1995-96. He played just 35 games before being traded to the Vancouver Canucks late in the season. Kocur rejoined Detroit in the summer of 1996 and played a limited role for three more seasons, helping the Red Wings win the Cup in 1997-98.

Darren Langdon

Time with Rangers: 1995-2000

Fighting majors: 75

No player in Rangers history has taken more fighting majors than the 75 compiled by the pride of Deer Lake, Newfoundland (now Newfoundland and Labrador). Few have worked harder to get to the Garden in the first place.

Langdon was undrafted coming out of junior hockey and started his pro career in the fall of 1992 with Dayton of the ECHL, where in 54 games he had 23 goals, 45 points — and 429 penalty minutes. The Rangers signed him and he piled up another 115 penalty minutes in 18 games with Binghamton, their AHL farm team. He played there for the next two seasons; his scoring numbers collapsed but he averaged more than 300 penalty minutes per season. That led to a late-season callup in 1994-95, when he got into six fights in 18 games.

For the next three seasons, Langdon was among the busiest fighters in the NHL. He had 13 scraps in 1995-96, 23 in 1996-97 and 21 the following season — when he averaged just 5:01 of ice time in 70 games. His willingness to defend his teammates made him a favorite in the locker room; he won the Player’s Player Award (best team player as voted by his fellow Rangers) in 1996-97 and 1997-98.

Langdon played just 44 games in 1998-99, with eight fighting majors, and was traded to the Carolina Hurricanes in August 2000. He ended his NHL career after playing with the New Jersey Devils in 2005-06. Langdon finished with 14 of his 16 goals, 29 of his 39 points and 75 of his 124 fights with the Rangers.

Troy Mallette

Time with Rangers: 1989-91

Fighting majors: 38

Mallette, the first player taken in the second round of the 1988 NHL Draft, played just two seasons in New York. But he made this list by the way he piled up fights and penalty minutes during his short time in the Big Apple.

The 6-foot-3, 220-pound forward was just 19 when he made his NHL debut in October 1989; he finished it as a 20-year-old with a team-record 305 penalty minutes, 21 fights, six misconducts and two match penalties. But the youngster did more than stick up for his teammates. Mallette also chipped in with 13 goals and 29 points. He helped the 1989-90 Rangers finish first in the Patrick Division, the first time they’d finished on top since 1941-42.

Mallette kept on piling up the fights (17) and penalty minutes (252, still the third-highest in team history) during his second season, when he also had 12 goals and 22 points, helping the Rangers again qualify for the playoffs.

But the signing of Adam Graves, a 23-year-old Group I free agent from the Edmonton Oilers, the following summer turned out to be the end of Mallette’s time with the Rangers. Under the rules of that era, the Rangers and Oilers each submitted a compensation proposal; the Rangers offered Mallette, and the Oilers asked for young forwards Steven Rice and Louie DeBrusk. The arbitrator opted for New York’s proposal, and Mallette found himself heading for Edmonton.

It was an unfortunate move for Mallette, who scored just 26 more goals during the remaining seven seasons of his NHL career. Nor did he ever come close to the penalty totals he’d amassed in New York — his 557 minutes in two seasons are still the most by any Ranger in that time span.

Colton Orr

Time with Rangers: 2005-09

Fighting majors: 58

Orr, the poster boy for the diminishing role of enforcers in the NHL, did a lot of fighting in not a lot of ice time.

During his three-plus seasons with the Rangers, Orr had 58 fighting majors in 224 games played — more than one in every four games. During that time, he never averaged more than 7:49 of ice time in a season and contributed all of four goals and 11 points.

The Rangers claimed Orr off waivers from the Bruins in November 2005. He got into six fights and had 44 penalty minutes in the 15 games he dressed for after coming to New York.

Orr’s non-fighting skills improved enough that he became a regular in the lineup for the next three seasons, even scoring his first NHL goal on Feb. 9, 2007. But his ability to fight was what kept him on the roster; he had 16, 18 and 18 fighting majors during his three full seasons on Broadway. His opponents were a Who’s Who of the NHL tough guys — Donald Brashear, Wade Belak, Brian McGrattan and Riley Cote were among his regular rivals, and he fought Pittsburgh’s Eric Godard four times during the 2008-09 season.

However, the NHL was becoming a speed-oriented league in the late 2000s and early 2010s — and the Rangers opted not to keep Orr when he became a free agent in the summer of 2009. To the astonishment of a lot of hockey people, the Toronto Maple Leafs bucked the trend and signed Orr to a four-year contract. He had NHL career highs in fighting majors (23) and penalty minutes (239) in his first season with the Maple Leafs but missed most of 2010-11 with a fight-related concussion and played just five games in 2011-12. His NHL career ended in 2015, and he’s been active in coaching since.

Rudy Poeschek

Time with Rangers: 1988-91

Fighting majors: 32

Poeschek, a defenseman who was a 12th-round pick in the 1985 draft, fought his way into the NHL and played 364 regular-season games during his 12 seasons. The first 68 of those games came with the Rangers, where he set a team record that still stands by taking 25 fighting majors in 1988-89. Of his 199 penalty minutes that season, 125 came in fights. He played in just 52 games, meaning that fans who came to a game he dressed for had a 50-50 chance of seeing him get into a fight. He actually took more fighting majors than minor penalties (22) that season.

Though Poeschek showed some hockey skills in his junior days and in the minors, it quickly became apparent that if he was going to make it in the NHL, he’d have to rely on his fists. Rangers coach Michel Bergeron overlooked any skills he’d shown at training camp and used him as the designated fighter, letting him play regularly only when injuries made it necessary. Poeschek did what he had to do — he took a fighting major in each of his first five NHL games. He took another on Dec. 26, 1988, and also earned his first NHL point, an assist on Ulf Dahlen’s goal in a 5-1 win against the New Jersey Devils at the Garden. His only other point was another assist in a 7-4 win against St. Louis on March 20, 1989.

Bergeron and general manager Phil Esposito were gone in the summer of 1989, but Smith, the new GM, quickly decided he wanted a player who could do more than fight. Poeschek had seven fighting majors in the 15 games he played before being traded to the Winnipeg Jets in January 1989. He rarely played during 2 1/2 seasons in Winnipeg but found a home when he signed as a free agent with the second-year Tampa Bay Lightning in 1993. Poeschek never scored more than three goals in a season but played with the Lightning and Blues before retiring in 2000.

Matt Rempe

Time with Rangers: 2024-present

Fighting majors: 5

Few players have become so wildly popular with Rangers fans as quickly as Rempe, a 6-foot-8, 241-pound forward who burst onto the scene late last season in a flurry of hits and fists.

The 2020 sixth-round pick wasted no time making a quick impact after his callup from Hartford in mid-February. The 21-year-old made his NHL debut outdoors against the New York Islanders at Met Life Stadium on Feb. 18 and fought Matt Martin on his first shift — in front of 70,000 people. Three more fights in the next six games followed, as well as a match penalty for a hit on New Jersey forward Nathan Bastian on Feb. 22.

Rempe’s fistic pace cooled after that — he had just one fight in the final six weeks of the season, part of a game-opening line brawl against the Devils — but that didn’t mean he wasn’t making an impact. Rempe was credited with 50 hits in 17 games despite averaging just 5:38 of ice time; his average of 31.36 hits per 60 minutes of playing time was the most of any NHL player who skated in at least 15 games. He also played in 11 of New York’s 16 playoff games, matching his regular-season production with a goal and an assist while taking just five minor penalties and averaging almost 34 hits per 60 minutes of ice time.

Though Rempe still has to prove the non-physical aspects of his game are good enough to keep him in the NHL, his penchant for physical play has turned him into a folk hero among Rangers fans. “Rempe Mania” didn’t need long to sweep through the Garden, with fans calling on coach Peter Laviolette to give him more opportunities to show he’s more than just a big kid who can fight a little — and that he’s something more than a late-season flash in the pan.

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