Greatest Ten Most Hated NHL Players

Since my original post of the Top Ten Most Hated NHL Players, I have received many replies asking where this guy is and where’s that guy. So, for those who felt I omitted players more deserving of being on the dubious most hated list, this one is for you.

#10 Sprague Cleghorn

Cleghorn was a tough-as-nails customer. He played 17 years of professional hockey from 1911 to 1929. Cleghorn played in the National Hockey Association (NHA) with the Renfrew Creamery Kings and the Montreal Wanderers. He later played in the newly formed NHL as a member of the Ottawa Senators, Toronto St. Pats, Montreal Canadians, and the Boston Bruins. He won three Stanley Cups, two with the Senators (1920, 1921) and a third with the Canadians (1924).

Cleghorn had a reputation for violence. He was twice charged with assault for on-ice incidents, which triggered a push to ban him from the NHL. While playing for the Canadians, he was paired with another tough guy (Billy Coutu), who would become the only player to be banned from the NHL for life for attacking a referee in 1927.

Some of Cleghorn’s most heinous acts include striking Ottawa Senators defenceman Lionel Hitchman in the head with his stick during the 1923 playoffs. He was charged with aggravated assault and handed a $50 fine. The incident so infuriated Canadiens owner Leo Dandurand that he suspended him from the roster for the remainder of the playoffs. The previous year in 1922, he was the catalyst of a brawl in which he injured three Ottawa Senators players, Cy Denneny, Eddie Gerard, and Frank Nighbor. Ottawa management attempted to have him expelled from the League, and a referee labeled him a disgrace to the game. Cleghorn ended his NHL career with 538 penalty minutes in 259 games.

Cleghorn would finish his NHL career in Boston, where he became a mentor to future Hall of Famer Eddie Shore, who became an equally fearsome competitor in his own right.

# 9 Matthew Barnaby

Matthew Barnaby has the kind of facial expression that compels you to want to punch him. He is always laughing and grinning with delight as he gets under opponents’ skin. Nobody was off limits with Barnaby. One of his most memorable altercations was with former Buffalo teammate Rob Ray. In the dying minutes of a 4-1 game with Barnaby’s Penguins leading. The two combatants began with a stick-swinging clash that ended with Rob Ray repeatedly pummelling Barnaby in the head; all the while, Barnaby was laughing, cheering, and wagging his tongue in mockery of Ray. All of this after the two had supper together the previous night.

Barnaby wasn’t just a troublemaker on the ice. He also had several brushes with the law. On December 11, 2011, ESPN released him from his contract after he was arrested on suspicion of DWI. On May 13, 2011, Barnaby was arrested for domestic violence after kicking down the garage door of a home in Buffalo where his estranged wife and kids were residing. On December 5, 2011, he was arrested for driving a car that was badly damaged and missing a front tire while under the influence of alcohol. On March 5, 2020, Barnaby was arrested in Nashville. This time he was involved in an altercation with bystanders and choked the bar’s bouncer while intoxicated.

Matthew Barnaby is no stranger to trouble on or off the ice. He finished his NHL career eighteenth on the All-Time penalty minute leaders list with 2,562.

# 8 Lou Fontinato

Lou Fontinato was the most feared villain of his era. He was known as a take-no-prisoners player, frequently buzzing around the ice, looking to catch unaware opponents off guard to deliver low hits. He was a vicious player with a mean streak; his tactics included illegal holds, grinding opponents into the boards, and savagely whacking players with his stick. At 200 pounds and standing at 6 foot 1 inch, “Leaping Lou” was an intimidating player on the ice. He was the first player in NHL history to be assessed more than 200 penalty minutes in a season, accomplishing the feat in his rookie season. “If I can whack a fellow into the boards often enough.” Lou once said, “he starts lifting his head to look for me instead of concentrating on the puck.”

Fontinato had a long-standing feud with Gordie Howe. He once whacked Howe over the head with his stick cutting Howe with six stitches. Fontinato was as tough as they come, but when you live by the sword, you die by the sword. Fontinato is known as much for being a nasty dirty player as much as he was for the night of February 1, 1959. After being on the receiving end of butt ends, having his lip split, and being mocked by Fontinato, Mr. Hockey had enough. On the said night, Fontinato delivered another savage hit on Howe, but this time Howe was ready, raising his stick and nearly severing Fontinatos’s ear. Howe grabbed Fontinato by the jersey with his left hand and began delivering several uppercuts, breaking his nose and dislocating his jaw. An observer later described the blows as “whop, whop, whop, just like someone chopping wood,”

# 7 Steve Downie

Steve Downie has a long history of being overtly aggressive and attempting to injure other players. He initiated an altercation with teammate Akim Aliu during practice early in the 2005-06 Ontario Hockey League season. Downie, unprovoked, cross-checked Aliu in the face knocking out seven of his teeth, and then attacked a younger teammate. The incident stemmed from Aliu’s refusal to be the victim of a hazing ritual. Downie received a five-game suspension and was later traded. Aliu later commented that the attack was racially motivated, calling Downie a racist sociopath” and further that, “He looked at me and saw a black boy with a weird accent and didn’t like me because of it. I was attacked because of the color of my skin.“

In his professional NHL debut during a pre-season game against the Ottawa Senators, Downie intentionally left his feet to deliver a dangerous hit on Dean McAmmond. Downie was suspended 20 games by the NHL for deliberate intent to injure. Other incidents included sucker-punching Toronto Maple Leafs forward Jason Blake while the referee tied his arms. During a game against the Rangers, after attempting a reckless hit on Fedor Tyutin, Downie’s skate slashed the face of linesman Pat Dapuzzo. Dapuzzo required 60 stitches to close the wound. He also endured ten facial fractures, had his nose reattached, and was forced to retire. During the 2008 Eastern Conference Finals in Game Three against the New Jersey Devils, Downie laid a late hit after the play on Devils forward Petr Sykora. After being sent to the minors, he continued his aggressive style when he lost control of himself and slashed linesman Mike Hamilton in the shin following a disputed goal.

# 6 Tom Wilson

In today’s NHL, no player is hated more than Tom Wilson. A 2021 poll revealed Wilson to be the most hated NHL player on social media, with 47.9% of respondents reporting negatively while just 15.3% reported neutral. Wilson is a suspension machine. Between the 2017 pre-season and 2018 pre-season, he managed four suspensions in just 105 games. Wilson is a big man, 6 ft 4 in and 220 lbs. He uses his large frame to deliver bodily harm to opposition players. Fans and players alike have called him a “head hunter.” He has a long laundry list of dirty hits on many players throughout the league. In 2021 he again drew the ire of opposing coaches after causing serious injuries to Brandon Carlo of the Boston Bruins and later to Artemi Panarin of the New York Rangers.

# 5 Billy Smith

“Battlin Billy” or “Hatchet Man” was named because of his hot temper and his penchant for using his stick and blocker to clear the front of his net. The Hall of Fame goaltender and four-time Stanley Cup winner of the New York Islanders was a fearsome competitor. Smith was the type of player that held a grudge and would retaliate in like manner. In Game 1 of the 1983 Stanley Cup Finals, Smith slashed Glenn Anderson on the knee, causing the Oilers star to miss practice the following day. Oilers general manager and head coach Glen Sather called on the league to reprimand Smith for an attempt to injure-match-penalty, which the NHL denied. In Game 2, smith leveled Wayne Gretzky with a wild stick swing just as Gretzky was coming out from behind his net. Some felt Gretzky was embellishing, while others felt it was a deliberate attempt to injure. Later in Game four of the series, Smith was handed a five-minute penalty for diving. Smith hated the opposition, even refusing to line up for the traditional handshake at the end of a playoff series.

During an Islanders practice, super-star teammate Mike Bossy wired a shot at Smith, which he took offense to. Smith charged after Bossy with his stick but was subdued by his teammates. Bossy once commented that Smith didn’t like anyone talking to him before and after games. Such was his intensity.

Dave “Tiger” Williams on Billy Smith.

“Smith was good and sneaky, and he’d use his stick like an [bleep] ax,” Williams recalled. “I remember one time, he [bleep] two-handed me in the back of the calf—there’s no padding there—and I thought he broke my [bleep] leg. He cut me down like a tree.”

Williams vowed to exact revenge. “I was waiting to get him. I can’t remember if it took me one game or ten more games. But I hit him right across the neck, as hard as I could. I was going to cut his head right off. The only thing that pissed me off was that I didn’t cut his head off. I was going to catch his head and throw it in the [bleep] stands.”

# 4 Dale Hunter

Dale Hunter is one of the top ten most hated NHL players to lace up a pair of skates. He sits second in NHL history with 3,565 career penalty minutes behind Dave “Tiger” Williams, who holds the record with 3,971. Although he was always known as a tough player and a clutch performer, he will be forever remembered for his savage hit on Pierre Turgeon of the New York Islanders.

In the 1993 Patrick Division Semifinal against the New York Islanders, Hunter led the Capitals in playoff goals scored with seven. When Pierre Turgeon intercepted a Dale Hunter pass and scored a goal in Game six, putting the Islanders up 5-1 and the game out of reach, Hunter delivered a vicious Ilegal career-ending check to the celebrating Turgeon. Hunter blindsided Turgeon from behind with the check sending him crashing into the boards. Turgeon suffered a concussion and a separated right shoulder. Commissioner Gary Bettman suspended Hunter for the first 21 games of the 1993-94 season, the longest suspension for an on-ice infraction in league history. If not for this stain on Dale Hunter’s career, many feel he would be in the Hall of Fame.

Dale Hunter was known as the little pest in the NHL, a reputation he carried into the OHL. In September 2005, Hunter received a four-game suspension from the OHL after failing to prevent one of his players from leaving the bench to initiate a fight during an exhibition game. On January 20, 2006, Hunter was again suspended for two games and a $5,000 fine for off-ice abuse of officials. That same year, Hunter was again fined $5,000 for criticizing officials after his London Knights were swept in the playoffs. In September 2006, Hunter was suspended for failing to prevent one of his players from leaving the bench to engage in a fight during a game.

# 3 Matt Cooke Top Ten Most Hated NHL Players

Matt Cooke has built himself a reputation as one of the dirtiest players to play in the NHL. He is notorious for knee-on-knee hits and headshots that have injured opponents and ended careers, notably Boston Bruins sniper Marc Savard. In another incident in a game against the Ottawa Senators, Cooke attempted a hit on Erik Karlsson in which Cooke’s skate cut Karlsson’s Achilles tendon. Many have openly criticized him for being a dirty player who intentionally tries to injure opposing players. Former CBC Coaches Corner commentator Don Cherry has frequently criticized Cooke. During the 2009 Eastern Conference Final between Matt Cookes, Pittsburgh Penguins, and the Carolina Hurricanes, Cooke used his body to try and injure Erik Cole. After the game, Matt Cooke confronted Don Cherry. He met me in the hall and said to me, ‘Are you going to have the guts to say to my face what you say on TV?’ And I said, ‘Yeah,’ about six inches from his face, ‘you’re a gutless, backstabbing, little fu. . . and I can’t say what I called him. Cherry accused him on air of attacking star players while avoiding NHL tough guys. The NHL eventually implemented a new rule prohibiting blindside hits to the head in response to the backlash received from Matt Cooke’s headshots.

# 2 Ted Lindsay

They didn’t call him “Terrible” for nothing. Ted was short in stature at 5 ft 8 inches, but he was a ferocious competitor on the ice and off of it, for that matter. Playing on the Detroit Red Wings “Production Line” with Gordie Howe and Sid Abel, he developed into a highly aggressive player backing down from no one. He even got into fights in practice with his teammates; because of his rough play, the NHL developed penalties for elbowing and kneeing in an effort to contain him. He was such an intense player that he once got into a fight in an All-Star game. One of Ted’s more savage altercations was an incident with Bill Ezinicki. The confrontation began with shoving, then quickly escalated to stick-swinging at each other’s heads before a minute-long slugfest ensued. The fight ended with Ezinicki charging Lindsay from behind. Terrible Ted turned to face Ezinicki and, with one punch, sent Ezinicki to the ice knocking him out. Ezinicki had a broken nose and a lost tooth and needed 19 stitches to close the wound on his face. Lindsay had a bloodied hand and five stitches for his part. In another incident in a game against the Boston Bruins, Lindsay raised his stick upon contact with Bruins defenseman Gerry Toppazzini. The result was Toppazzini was cut for sixteen stitches about his right eye, across his nose, which was broken, and around his mouth. Lindsay later visited him in the hospital and claimed it was purely accidental.

Ted Lindsay once said: no man can last in the NHL who backs away from a fight. “The first thing they find out in this business is if you can take it,” he says. “A little guy has to have plenty of self-confidence, maybe even seem cocky. I had the idea that I should beat up every player I tangled with, and I’m still not convinced it wasn’t a good idea. What are you going to do when some guy starts giving it to you—skate away? You wouldn’t last five games.”

Ted Lindsay’s face is a testament to his battles, with 270 stitches engraved on his face.

# 1 Bobby Clarke

Bobby Clarke was a win-at-all-costs type of player. Clarke was remarkable in many ways, in particular, because he is a type one diabetic, and it was thought that he would never play in the NHL due to his condition. However, Clarke gets the top spot on the Top Ten Most Hated NHL Players List because of his reckless disregard for other players and his callous attitude towards others in general.

His most notorious incident came during the Summit Series in 1972. It was during the sixth game of the series that assistant coach John Ferguson called Bobby Clarke over to the bench and looked across the ice at Valeri Kharlamov, and said, “I think he needs a tap on the ankle.” “That guy is killing us.” When play resumed, Clarke skated up from behind Kharlamov and laid a two-handed slash across his ankle, breaking it in the process. Kharlamov finished the game but couldn’t play the seventh game and was ineffective in the eighth game.

On the trip home after the Summit Series, Team Canada played a friendly match in Prague against Team Czechoslovakia. At the end of the second period, after relinquishing a 2-0 lead, Clarke delivered a butt-end to the face of defender Frantisek Pospisil, almost popping his eye out.

Later in his management career, Clarke was criticized when acting as Team Canada’s general manager at the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan. He selected Rob Zamuner to the team, omitted Mark Messier, and chose 24-year-old Eric Lindros as the team’s captain over legends of Wayne Gretzky, Steve Yzerman, and Ray Bourque.

In February 2000, Roger Neilson, head coach of the Philadelphia Flyers, took a leave of absence due to his cancer diagnosis. When Neilson made it known that he wanted to return to the team, he was informed that Craig Ramsay had permanently replaced him. This was seen by the fans and media as extremely insensitive and lacking class. Flyers GM Bobby Clarke was later quoted as saying, “The Neilson situation – Roger got cancer – that wasn’t our fault,” Clarke said. “We didn’t tell him to go get cancer. It’s too bad that he did. We feel sorry for him, but then he went goofy on us.” Clarke, when asked about Neilson, labeled him “A different Duck .”