Fansided

Each NHL team’s best fighter of all-time

By Nic Hendrickson

UNIONDALE, NY - SEPTEMBER, 1992: Mick Vukota
UNIONDALE, NY - SEPTEMBER, 1992: Mick Vukota /
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BOSTON, MA – APRIL 25: Boston Bruins player Terry O’Reilly, left, hits referee Andy Van Hellomond, center, during the 11th game of the NHL Stanley Cup Finals against the Quebec Nordiques at the Boston Garden in Boston on April 25, 1982. (Photo by Frank O’Brien/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)
BOSTON, MA – APRIL 25: Boston Bruins player Terry O’Reilly, left, hits referee Andy Van Hellomond, center, during the 11th game of the NHL Stanley Cup Finals against the Quebec Nordiques at the Boston Garden in Boston on April 25, 1982. (Photo by Frank O’Brien/The Boston Globe via Getty Images) /

Boston Bruins – Terry O’Reilly

Now this is a name that would send shivers down anyone’s spine. Terry O’Reilly. What more can be said? He was one of the meanest and toughest players to ever skate in the NHL, and there was no shortage of selections in such a historic franchise such as Boston.

O’Reilly spent his entire 891-game career with the Bruins. During this time he would amass 2,095 penalty minutes. This puts him at first all-time in Bruins history. The next closest name is Mike Milbury, who is still 543 behind him. Impressive to say the least.

During the course of his career he would have 11 seasons of 100-plus penalty minutes. Of those, five of them were above the 200-minute mark. He would have 200-or-more penalty minutes for five consecutive seasons between 1977 and 1982, with plenty of this being for punching other grown men in the face.

Despite the fact that he spent a gratuitous amount of time in the sin bin, he was still able to be a massively productive scorer. He currently sits 10th all-time in Bruins history in points (606) and 8th in assists (402).

While O’Reilly has been chosen as the Boston Bruins all-time best fighter, it would still be a hard sell to get him in the top five all-time. He was tough, mean and able to throw a few darn good punches in his time, but you have to do more than that to be considered the best.

Regardless of where he stands all time, he certainly made his mark (on other’s faces) during his time in Boston.

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