Who's the dirtiest player in the NHL?

It was recently reported that NE Patriot Safety Rodney Harrison has been named the dirtiest player in the NFL based on a poll of 361 player from around the league. 

This got HockeyDirt wondering who is worthy of the title of "Dirtiest Player in the NHL. 

Past title-holders include Ulfie "The Career Ender" Samuelsson, Claude "Watch Your Back" Lemieux, Bobby "Ankle Breaker" Clarke and the imfamous Bryan "Knees" Marchment.  Marchment was suspended 13 times during his career, typically for deliberately attempting (& often succeeding) to injure. 

But who wears the dirty "crown" in today's NHL?

A few players are noted for some particularly dirty incidents.  Martin Havlat was slapped with a 5 game suspension for kicking Hal Gill last season.  Todd Bertuzzi certainly has a claim based on the Moore incident.  Bryan McCabe appeared to be carving out a special place for himself based on his signature "can-opener" move, but McCabe appears to have reformed his ways. 

Early in his career Chris Chelios had a reputation as a filthy player, but either he's mellowed with age or become much stealthier with his cheap shots, because he rarely comes up in discussions of dirty players today.

Players like Darcy Tucker, Jarkko Ruutu , Darius Kasparaitis, Ian Laperriere & Tyson Nash are never going to win the Lady Byng and they are often described as dirty players.  In Hockeydirt's opinion, however, none of these players really fall into the "dirty" category.  These players are more appropriately classified as pests - they are not "dirty" in the tradition of Marchment & Samuelsson.  Pests like Tucker & Nash prefer tactics like incessantly chirping at opponents & referees, poking goalies after the whistle & rubbing their gloves in opponent's faces. 

As clichéd as it seems, Sean Avery seems to have the strongest claim to being the league's dirtiest player. While Avery often behaves like a pest, he is more than willing to cross the line and get down & dirty with opponents.  He currently sits third in the league in PIMs, behind Nick Boynton & Matt Barnaby.  Unlike Boynton & Barnaby who have had a few scraps and picked up 3 & 4 majors, all of Avery's 42 PIMs have been minors.  Already this season he has speared Brendan Witt to go along with his many stick infractions for slashing, high-sticking & cross-checking.  For good measure Avery has also been called for unsportsmanlike conduct on three occasions.  Avery led the league in penalties last season and in 2003-04. 

Hockeydirt would like to hear from you.  Cast your vote for the NHL's dirtiest player in our poll in the right sidebar.

Comments

[Jes Golbez]

Well, Havlat is very notorious for his 'kicking' habit and can get bratty at times, but he tends to usually worry more about scoring goals and looking good.

Denis Gauthier is a very dirty player who goes for low hits and gets caught for a lot of bad penalties for rough play.

Dallas Drake USED to be one of the dirtiest players in the league, although he may have mellowed in his later years...the number of illegal bodychecks he delivered over the years is probably in the triple digits.

[Jason Mandell]

Tucker is far more than a pest. He gets my vote. Matt Cooke of the Canucks gets second place.

[Peter W]

I think that while cheap shotting is alive and well in the NHL, I think it's more scattered than it used to be. More guys doing the cheap shots, in fewer quantities than the old timers like Ulf or Claude the Fraud.

Sticking to the list, I have to vote for Sean Avery. Though I remember vividly in 1999 when Tyson Nash hit Ray Bourque from behind into the boards...so he gets honorable mention

[Andrew]

Chris Pronger.

pronger by far

Pronger

Pronger, hands down. The jerk makes up for his lack of skill and more importantly, speed, by multiple cheap (and I mean cheap) shots. Just watch the prick. Elbows up, hits to the back of the head, all away from the puck. I just hope that someday, he messes with the wrong bad ass. Someone needs to put him out. Extremely over rated player. Tall, not strong. Asshole #1.

[inluvwithu62@hotmail.com]

Pronger.

[Warren Baker]

I am doing a feature on dirty players at http://www.armchairpools.com/blogs/categories/11-30-Dirty-Players-in-30-Days.

It's featuring the all-time dirtiest player on every team. And it's harder than I thought, so if you have any more suggestions, keep them coming ...

[romansmk]

Mike Richards! Hands down!