Baumgartner Is Tough, but He’s No Goon

Ken Baumgartner, a man with 1,744 penalty minutes in 478 NHL games, wants it known that he’s no goon.

“Tough guy,” is a good description of Baumgartner’s line of work. “Enforcer,” is his preferred term.

“I hate to see the word ‘goon,’ ” said Baumgartner, the toughest of the Mighty Ducks’ left wings.

“A goon is out there wanting to hurt someone intentionally, hitting someone from behind, taking cheap shots.

“The rules have defined the role [so that it’s not just brawling]. That player often has earned the respect of his teammates because sooner or later he ends up sticking up for them.”

Enforcers don’t simply drop their gloves at the slightest provocation and begin raining fists on opponents. Sometimes that happens, to be sure, but often Baumgartner is at his best when merely patrolling the ice, making sure there’s no trouble brewing.

A big, clean hit in the corners or at center ice can energize a team and a home crowd as much as a fight.

And sometimes the mere threat of a rumble can leave opponents fearful, off their game while wondering when fists might fly.

The days of wild men such as Dave “Hammer” Schultz and bench-clearing brawls are long past in the NHL, frowned upon in this age of slick marketing and Sun Belt expansion.

“If I did what I do on the ice off the ice, I think I’d be in prison,” Baumgartner admits.

But intimidation is still an huge part of the game.

If it weren’t, Baumgartner might not have a Duck sweater with his name stitched on the back.

Like most enforcers, Baumgartner fought his way to the NHL--literally one punch, one fight at a time. Although he began his professional career as a defenseman and remains an accomplished skater, Baumgartner knew long ago that his fists were his ticket to the big time.

“I only began fighting in junior when it was allowed,” said Baumgartner, 30, playing with his fourth NHL team. “I saw it as an opportunity that allowed me to progress. On each level, fighting or physical play allowed me to continue to play and practice with higher skilled players.”

Baumgartner scored three goals, but had 252 penalty minutes in 1984-85 with Prince Albert of the Western Hockey League. He had four goals and 277 penalty minutes the next season, then made the jump to the minors in 1986-87.

The nickname “Bomber” was a natural.

By 1988-89, Baumgartner’s second season with the Kings, he had established a reputation as one of the league’s most feared enforcers. In only 49 games that season, Baumgartner amassed 288 penalty minutes.

“I looked up to a Scott Stevens, who was able to play the physical game,” Baumgartner said. “Rick Tocchet. Cam Neely. They were more or less told to stop fighting at some point in their careers. Unfortunately for me that day never came. There are the odd exceptions, but if you have a talent you’ll be expected to use it.

“Very few players are able to evolve, to leave that talent [fighting] behind. Over the years I’ve been able to earn a regular shift and at times play on checking lines. I take pride in that. That was earned, never given to me.”

The skills of Baumgartner and others like him are much in demand around the NHL. Every team needs an enforcer or two.

When Todd Ewen was injured last season, the Ducks traded a fourth-round draft pick to Toronto to get Baumgartner.

“A fourth-round pick was a small price to pay,” Duck General Manager Jack Ferriera said. “It was an element we needed.”

And still do.

After all, the Ducks were built on toughness with a dash of nastiness thrown in for good measure.

Ewen and Stu Grimson formed a rough-and-tumble tag team for the better part of the Ducks’ first two seasons in the league. Ewen is now with San Jose and Grimson is with Detroit, leaving Baumgartner and Warren Rychel to form a new one-two punch in Anaheim.

“He’s definitely as tough as those guys,” defenseman Bobby Dollas said, comparing Baumgartner to Ewen and Grimson.

“He’s been around a few years now and everybody knows he can give you a smack at any given moment. Plus, he’s left-handed. You’re looking for the right, then, ‘boom,’ he hits you in the squash [the nose] with the left.”

Said Rychel: “I played with Ken in Toronto. I know what he’s capable of. But being tough doesn’t necessarily mean fighting. It means doing the little things, taking a hit, making a hit, playing hurt, playing tired.”

Older, wiser, but just as feisty, Baumgartner had 285 penalty minutes in 72 games, including 12 with the Ducks, last season.

Age and off-ice pursuits have tempered that zeal for fisticuffs in recent years. Baumgartner was reelected vice president of the NHL Players Assn. this past summer. He has been involved with the NHLPA for seven years, the past three as a vice president.

He learned a great deal during the labor impasse that cut the 1994-95 season nearly in half, calling it “a great mental exercise.” Most exciting was hammering out a new labor agreement that runs through 2000.

“It was something I felt strongly about,” Baumgartner said. “I’ve always stuck up for my teammates on the ice. Here was an opportunity to stick up for them off the ice.”