PROTECT AND SERVE : Rules Now Limit Fighting, but NHL Enforcers Still Lay Down the Law

Enforcer. Policeman. Guardian. Protector. Strongman. Tough guy.

The position isn’t listed on any NHL roster, but every team has always had one--and probably always will.

“Call me anything, as long as you don’t call me the G-word,” said Mighty Duck winger Todd Ewen, who has 73 points and 1,601 penalty minutes in nearly 10 NHL seasons. “I find it derogatory. I think the way the game has changed, you have to possess some skills to be competitive and not be a defensive liability. I think the word goon is extinct.”

The NHL has reduced outright thuggery and bench-clearing brawls with automatic ejection of the third man into a fight, ejecting the instigator, and fines for players and coaches if players don’t leave the area of an altercation. Major fighting penalties peaked at 2.1 a game in 1987-88, and have fallen to 1.5 a game this season. Nonetheless, enforcers survive.

Their numbers have thinned since the 1970s, when the Philadelphia Flyers’ “Broad Street Bullies” set a wicked standard, and today’s toughies have developed a code of honor, battling each other instead of victimizing marquee players. Still, their role is the same. As long as brawn is more common than skill, sheer force--or the threat of it--will be a weapon to unnerve opponents and create space for teammates. So there will always be a place for players whose chief contributions are hits, not goals.

But that doesn’t mean that the most penalized teams are always the most successful.

The Detroit Red Wings, whose 36-9-4 record is the NHL’s best, are the second-least penalized team, with an average of 17.2 minutes a game. On the other hand, the New York Rangers are the fifth-most penalized team and are among the top three teams in the league.

“There’s always going to be intimidation in every sport, whether it’s throwing a baseball inside or coming down with your elbows under the hoop,” said Hartford Whaler winger Kelly Chase, who has five points and 161 penalty minutes. “They’ve eliminated a lot of the so-called goon stuff with the rules changes, so you can’t have guys who can’t play the game. If you’re a liability on the ice, with special teams as good as they are, you won’t last.”

Said Jimmy Devellano, senior vice president of the Red Wings, “I don’t think you have the mayhem you used to have, but certainly you wouldn’t feel very comfortable if you didn’t have at least one [enforcer] on your team.”

Tampa Bay’s, Enrico Ciccone, speaks to NHL disciplinarian Brian Burke so often, Burke calls him “Chico” and asks after his family.

“I don’t know if that’s good or not,” said Ciccone, who led the NHL in penalty minutes last season with 225 in 41 games and has four points and 195 minutes--including three game misconduct penalties--in 37 games this season.

Good? Maybe not. But players such as Ciccone are considered a necessity.

“Enforcers will always be there,” said Dave Semenko, a menacing brawler who made his living as Wayne Gretzky’s bodyguard on the Edmonton Oilers during the 1980s. “They’ve been there a long time and I can’t see it changing.”

The consensus pick as the NHL’s most feared enforcer is Bob Probert of the Chicago Blackhawks, who will play the Kings tonight at the Forum. A rock-solid 6 feet 3 and 225 pounds, Probert’s value soared when he scored 29 goals for the Red Wings in the 1987-88 season and led the NHL with 398 penalty minutes.

Because he has some skills to go with his quick fists and quick temper, the Red Wings stuck with him while he made three trips through alcohol and drug rehabilitation. By his fourth visit, Detroit had let him go as a free agent and he had signed a four-year, $6.6-million contract with Chicago. He sat out a year’s suspension but is back and earning $1.6 million, $200,000 more than high-scoring teammate Jeremy Roenick.

“There might not be any enforcers if everybody got rid of them,” Duck Coach Ron Wilson said. “If everyone said, ‘This is it,’ you’d still have the Bob Proberts out there. But because Bob Probert can play, if you can’t have an enforcer who’s a great hockey player, you’d better have a plain old enforcer in case it’s one of those nights when he’s trying to kill everybody.”

Probert had two assists in Chicago’s 4-1 victory over the Mighty Ducks on Sunday and renewed a 10-year-old rivalry with Ewen, raising his season totals to 21 points and 143 penalty minutes. Although willing to fight Ewen, Probert wouldn’t discuss his role. “I don’t want to get into that,” he said.

Teammates say he’s not merely a goon.

“He’s a tough guy, but he can play the game too,” center Brent Sutter said. “He’s going to stick up for his teammates, and he has good hands and a good knowledge of the game. He’s not going to get you 80 or 100 points, but he’s going to show up every night and bang and chip in some points.”

Ewen dreaded fighting him again.

“He was sent out there and you get that tap on the shoulder and sometimes you don’t want to go out there,” Ewen said. “The most important thing is, it got our team going.”

They first tangled when Ewen played for the St. Louis Blues.

“I one-punched him and knocked him out,” Ewen said. “We came out of the penalty box and went at it for two minutes at center ice. After that, when St. Louis played Detroit, I’d fight Probert and [Joe] Kocur, Kocur and Probert. There was only one tough guy in St. Louis. I had it all. I had all the fun.”

That “fun” has left him with a right eye that’s wired into its socket, a right hand with two fingers wired together and grossly swollen knuckles.

“It’s my job. It’s what I do,” Ewen said. “It’s paid the bills. But after 10 operations, it’s not that much fun anymore.”

No enforcer grew up wanting to be a tough guy. Most could score a little as youngsters, but someone changed their courses along the way.

“My last year of junior, I had one coach who wanted me to fight all the time,” Ewen said. “I had 265 penalty minutes and six points. From Christmas on, we got a new coach and he told me all about that little black thing we were chasing, and I ended up with 50 points after Christmas. I’ve never really been taught how to play. They’d put me out there and say, ‘Go. This is your side. This is his side.’ I’ve learned more from other players than coaches.”

Size dictated the fate of Colorado Avalanche left wing Chris Simon, who had 15 points and 174 penalty minutes in 37 games through Sunday.

“I was more of a scorer when I was growing up, until I reached 14 or 15 years old,” said Simon, who is 6 feet 3 and 219 pounds. “I was the same size as everyone else, then I started to grow a lot. When I went to play in Sault Ste. Marie, the coach started to use me as a power forward . . .

“I don’t really go out and look for fighting. I play very physical and I finish my checks, and guys get upset with that. That’s how fights start. I don’t go out and pick a fight with somebody unless they’ve done something to one of our smaller players.”

King defenseman Marty McSorley, fifth on the NHL’s list of all-time penalized players at 2,837 minutes, considers Semenko the toughest enforcer he has seen. He cited Simon as one of the most promising young tough guys--and one of the luckiest because Simon can learn from skillful teammates, as McSorley did in Edmonton.

“It’s easier to be an enforcer on a good hockey team. If it’s not a good team, your team is going to be in the position of always needing a goal so you’re not going to get much ice time,” McSorley said. “You need [an enforcer], but there’s going to be the time and place to do it.

“If you have a guy that, come playoff time, can cruise the wing on your third line and push the other team back on its heels and change the momentum of the game, that’s great. He can help change the tide. As an enforcer, you have to know when it’s a good time to take a penalty. There are such things as good penalties.”

Chase has severe arthritis in his hands, but he continues to play his role wholeheartedly.

“I wouldn’t trade it for anything in the world,” he said, after accumulating 1,307 penalty minutes in 271 games. “Everybody is going to be sore somewhere when they’re done, or they haven’t put very much into it.”

Said Ewen, “The three most well-known players on your team are always your goalie, your top scorer and your tough guy, so there is some retribution in the end.”

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GOON PATROL

TODD EWEN’S TOP ENFORCERS

1. Dave Brown, San Jose, 1,765 penalty minutes in 14 seasons. “He’s spent 16 years in the league and has consistently gone out there and done his job. I have a lot of respect for him.”

2. (tie) Marty McSorley, Kings, 2,837 minutes in 13 seasons; Tie Domi, Toronto, 1,479 minutes in seven seasons; Craig Berube, Washington, 1,996 minutes in 10 seasons; Basil McRae, St. Louis, 2,425 minutes in 15 seasons; Bob Probert, Chicago, 2,233 in 10 seasons. “These guys have all been around for as long as I have. I have a lot of respect for guys who have done it for a long time. Those are guys who have taken a pounding and are still contributing. They give their all every night. They’re sacrificing themselves for the team and they don’t get all the ice time. They don’t get all the glory.”

3. Shane Churla, Dallas, 2,120 penalty minutes in 10 seasons. “He’s tough. Real tough. He’s doing well.”

4. Gino Odjick, Vancouver, 1,451 penalty minutes in six seasons. “A tough kid, but he’s been [injured].”

5. Chris Simon, Colorado, 479 penalty minutes in four seasons. “A good one.”

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MARTY MCSORLEY’S TOP TOUGH GUYS

1. “You have to go back to guys like [retired defenseman] Lee Fogolin [1,318 minutes in 13 seasons] and [former Flyer and North Star] Paul Holmgren [1,684 minutes in 10 seasons], who wanted to play and wanted to win. Guys like that, when they were out there playing, whether they took a punch in the chest or went right through a guy, they did it for the team. They could set a standard and make the team follow.”

2. Dave Semenko, 1,175 penalty minutes in nine seasons with Edmonton, Hartford and Toronto. “I had a chance to room with him and play with him. I didn’t see him in his prime, but wow! He contributed in the playoffs offensively and when the time came, he could drop the gloves.”

3. Mark Messier, New York Rangers, 1,481 minutes in 17 seasons: “He’s tough in a different way. He shows up and plays hard every day. He doesn’t allow himself a break and doesn’t allow his teammates a break.”

Up-and-comers: Chris Simon, Colorado; Matt Johnson, King minor leaguer: “I see Colorado using Chris Simon a lot and every day that he goes to practice he sees some very, very good hockey players. . . . Matty Johnson is a legitimate tough guy. I know Matty desperately wants to play and work on his skills.”

NHL’s 10 most penalized players in minutes:

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Player Team Min Matthew Barnaby Buffalo 228 Enrico Ciccone Tampa Bay 195 Dennis Vial Ottawa 188 Chris Simon Colorado 174 Brad May Buffalo 172 Lyle Odelein Montreal 171 Kelly Chase Hartford 161 Shane Churla Dallas 156 Tie Domi Toronto 156 Bob Probert Chicago 143

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The 10 most penalized teams:

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Team G Min Avg Buffalo 51 1,295 25.4 St. Louis 51 1,241 24.3 Philadelphia 51 1,165 22.8 Hartford 51 1,161 22.8 NY Rangers 52 1,181 22.7 Montreal 52 1,172 22.5 Tampa Bay 50 1,093 21.9 Chicago 54 1,181 21.9 Edmonton 50 1,079 21.6 Toronto 51 1,061 20.8

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All statistics through Sunday’s games