Depends what you need, if you're strictly looking for a fighter that can handle #6 mins then it's Carkner. Engelland's a slightly better player than Carkner but not quite as good a fighter (mainly due to size). Gleason can handle top 4 mins and is a very tough customer whose willing to stand with much better fighters than him.
edit: Chara's obviously the best defenseman and best fighter of the lot.
No offense, it's great to hear that McQuaid and friends are tough, but this thread should really only have the names of Chara and Carkner as they are clearly the big two.
Quote:
Originally Posted by wKetch22
McQuaid is one tough customer that I dont think gets the credit he deserves because literally no one wants to dance with him
Cowen gladly tried to fight him in the last game, while Carkner and Neil would also relish it. That's a pretty lame excuse, it's McQuaid's job. That's 3 players on one team hell....
Nobody wants to fight Carkner this year aside from Looch, so he's been smart, forcing the issue while avoiding instigators.
No offense, it's great to hear that McQuaid and friends are tough, but this thread should really only have the names of Chara and Carkner as they are clearly the big two.
Cowen gladly tried to fight him in the last game, while Carkner and Neil would also relish it. That's a pretty lame excuse, it's McQuaid's job. That's 3 players on one team hell....
Nobody wants to fight Carkner this year aside from Looch, so he's been smart, forcing the issue while avoiding instigators.
i don't think that is gonna go away. true enforcers are certainly disappearing and being replaced by middleweights with more skill. that's not to say carkner is a goon because he is a solid bottom pair defensemen but a lot of the guys he would normally fight are not in the league anymore. i don't think that is a bad thing either. the only reason Thornton has been able to get fights this year is because he is smaller and about the same size as most middleweights in the league.
as for McQuaid i would love to see him fight Neil. that would be his best test yet.
Carkner - Legit Heavyweight who can throw with both hands who has fought the best and beat the best, he has a good fight card since coming up with the Sens and also fought top heavies in the minors. He has knock out power with both hands and is also a pretty good bottom pairing d-man
Scott - He is huge but he is not as good of a player as Carkner and although he hasn't lost yet in the NHL he also hasn't scrapped the same calibre of fighters as Carkner has or fought as often. His fight card also wasn't as good as Carkner's was in the minors
Chara - He would probably be number one if he fought more and didn't have balance issues but it seems like he rarely has a fight these days where he doesn't loose his balance early on. Im sure if he fought more he would fix that problem and dominate people but he is way too valuable to be fighting. Great player who has earned the right to choose when and who he wants to fight without being labeled as a "spot-picker"
Erskine - He doesn't fight as much as he used to but earlier in his career he was strictly a goon who has taken on some of the top enforcers. He has a vicious right and can still throw bombs. He went from being a goon who rarely played and would fight a lot before his time in Washington to a solid bottom pairing d-man who plays a lot but rarely fights anymore
Engelland - The smallest guy on the list at 6'2 202lbs but he is a very smart fighter who has knock out power when he throws those right haymakers. He reminds me a bit of Darren Langdon being an undersized guy who can take on heavyweights. Engelland took on some top heavyweights in the minors and had a very impressive rookie season last year where he beat some top guys when he dropped Orr and picked Shelley apart
McQuaid - he has been tearing up the middleweight division since he came up with the Bruins. His fight card doesn't have many top end guys yet but I doubt he would have any difficulty handling himself against any one on this list. He throws vicious right haymakers that can do a lot of damage. He will be higher up on this list in a few seasons once he scraps a few more heavyweights. Good 5-6 d-man to
Last edited by moog35: 01-28-2012 at 01:20 PM.
Reason: forgot chara
pound for pound its Engelland but i def wouldnt want to see him take on Chara and John Scott beat him this year with that monstrous reach. I think an Engelland/Carkner fight would be a good one to watch.
i don't think that is gonna go away. true enforcers are certainly disappearing and being replaced by middleweights with more skill. that's not to say carkner is a goon because he is a solid bottom pair defensemen but a lot of the guys he would normally fight are not in the league anymore. i don't think that is a bad thing either. the only reason Thornton has been able to get fights this year is because he is smaller and about the same size as most middleweights in the league.
as for McQuaid i would love to see him fight Neil. that would be his best test yet.
Ya we saw that with George here he had like 3 fights in the 2 years he played. (Granted we don't all put it on his bad back.)
