Review Fix Remembers NHL Tough Guy and TV Personality Bob Probert

Last week, former NHL tough guy Bob Probert passed away after collapsing due to chest pains on his family’s boat, he was just 45 years old.

A titan on and off the ice and never scared to speak his mind, Probert was more than a hockey player, he was toughness personifiedwith a bad boy image to match, but was nonetheless  a shining example of how hard work can make dreams come true.

Over the past few years, Probert even appeared in the movie “Love Guru” and the TV show, “Battle of the Blades.” With his charisma and his demons of drugs and alcohol behind him, it was a shame that Probert didn’t get a chance to do more things in the media.

 He had that kind of a personality.

Here is our tribute to “Probie”:

When Bob Probert was on a sheet of NHL ice, players of all-skill levels made sure they knew where he was at all times. Fifth on the NHL’s all-time penalty minutes list, Probert probably has more knockouts under his belt than most fighters competing in the Ultimate Fighting Championship today. For that reason alone, Probert will always be remembered as one of the sports greatest enforcers and a reminder of how much the sport has changed over the past five seasons.

With the lack of fisticuffs in the league today however, younger fans wouldn’t even know who Probert was if it wasn’t for the tremendous amount of time older fans have spent on YouTube, uploading his most notorious bouts with tough guys like Troy Crowder and Tie Domi, in addition to dozens of other tribute videos, which catalogue some of his career’s most famous moments.

That alone has continued to keep the legend of Bob Probert alive long after his professional hockey days have concluded. While the NHL continues to take measures to eliminate fighting from the game, Probert believes it’s something the league will never be able to escape itself from.

“I think that fighting will always be a part of the game regardless of what the leagues tries to do to cut down on it,” he said. “It’s a part of the game that should always be there. It belongs in the game and keeps people honest; it also limits the amounts of cheap shots. Guys think twice about sticking someone if they know someone on the other team is going to come after them if they get too physical.”

And boy, did things ever get too physical. Playing with the greats the likes of Steve Yzerman, Sergei Federov, Adam Oates, Jeremy Roenick and Denis Savard over a span of 17 years, Probert spent many a time in the penalty box. Nonetheless, he doesn’t regret all the time he spent in sin bin. Feeling he helped protect his fellow teammates and gave them the space they needed on the ice to help his team win, Probert feels it was an investment in his success.

However, despite the bravado he exhibited on the ice while sticking up for his teammates, he did admit there were times where he really enjoyed trading punches with the opposition.

“There were times when players were going after Steve Yzerman and I had to go after them. There were also times when guys would come after me and give me a cheap shot and I would have to stick up for myself. Sometimes though, there are just times when you look at someone the wrong way and you go at it,” he said with a chuckle. “Sometimes you knew before the game that this was someone you were going to have to fight and you figured why not get it over with. There are a lot of different reasons. There’s also the motivation factor, a big hit or a fight can definitely motivate your team and change the game. That’s what my job was.”

If being a tough guy was his job, then the 163 goals he scored during his time in the league were a bonus. Scoring 40 points four times in his career, Probert was much more talented than most of the players he was fighting with every night. For instance, Probert has more career goals than both of his old nemesis’, Domi and Crowder, combined. He also made an appearance in the NHL All-Star game in 1988, a task most enforcers would deem impossible, in a season where he ended up with 29 goals and 62 points during the regular season.

Despite his development as an offensive player though, Probert believes he always enjoyed the rough stuff.

“I had an opportunity to play with Steve Yzerman that year,” he said proudly of his stellar season in ‘88. “I was told by the coaches, ‘Hey Probie, don’t be fighting, stay out on the ice.’ I also got 398 penalty minutes that year, so I didn’t really listen to the coaches that much. That’s just the way I played the game and that year, everything really came together for me. I got a chance to play my rough style, but also got a chance on the powerplay and to play with some great players. That was my favorite part of playing in the NHL.”

Continuing his spark plug play that season, Probert led the Red Wings in scoring with 21 points in 16 playoff games in 88 and let the rest of the NHL know that he had arrived..

“I believe that was the year Stevie [Yzerman] got hurt, so I got a chance to play on the top line with guys like Petr Klima, John Chabot and Joe Murphy,” Probert, who also had a career high 62 points that season, said. “Because Stevie was hurt, I got to play that much more and show everyone what I could do. I had a great playoffs that year and it was really fun. It’s fun when you can put some points on the board and be one of the key players on a team.”

Like any good hockey player, Probert proved that season that he was much more than a guy with a pair of hands made out of cement. While he would never reclaim the status he had in ’88, due to injuries and several off the ice problems, he was still a more than serviceable player who would do anything to help his team win.

Today however, players in the mold of Probert are pretty much extinct. As a result, many older hockey fans feel disconnected with the game and call on older moments when asked about why they watch the sport. Probert himself believes that the league doesn’t understand that toughness is simply a part of the game that is never going to go away.

“A lot of people growing up now didn’t have a chance to see the game in the ‘80s and didn’t get to see the sport the way I and so many people played it,” he said. “Nowadays, the game is so much quicker and sometimes there aren’t even many hits. However, the team that won the Stanley Cup last season [Anaheim Ducks] was the most physical and if you ask me, that’s the reason why they won. In the end, it’s not really about fighting. It’s about being physical and team justice. You get a big hit and it can change the game. If you get an entire team playing physically, you can go places in the league.”

Even though Probert isn’t happy with how much the league has changed since his retirement, he does feel he’d have at least one person to tango with if he ever decided to lace up his skates again.

“Probably Sean Avery,” he said, trying to hide his laughter. “That’s a guy I would probably go after [laughing]. He gets under my skin just watching him play, so I’m sure if I was still playing he’s definitely someone I’d like to go with.”

In spite of the tiger that still lies in his heart however, Probert has changed his playing style recently, lacing up in NHL Alumni games across Canada. Not ready to call himself a finesse player yet, Probert still sees himself in a much different light.

“There’s no hitting or fighting there, so I’ve had to change my game,” he said, again trying to conceal his laughter. “I feel like a kid again.”

This article was originally published in April 2008.