NHL players have a reputation for playing through pain and being some of the toughest professional athletes. Whether or not it has been a wise idea to play in the physical condition that some NHLers have is another matter, but you can’t doubt their commitment.
One of the players featured this week, Darryl Sydor, was the inspiration for this brief list. As you will read (and see) below, Sydor suffered a broken ankle following a collision with Scott Gomez during the 2000 Stanley Cup Finals. In spite of the obvious pain, he makes an incredible effort to get back into the play. Below are just a few examples of some other players playing through the pain.
Bobby Baun - during the 1964 Stanley Cup FInals, Toronto’s Bobby Baun suffered a fractured ankle blocking a shot. Carried off on a stretcher, he returns to score the overtime winner. The Leafs would go on to win Game 7 and the Cup.
Gregory Campbell - during the 2013 Eastern Conference Finals, Boston’s Campbell breaks his leg blocking a shot from Evgeni Malkin during a penalty kill. He remains on the ice for almost a full minute staying in the play and ensuring a successful kill. The Bruins swept Pittsburgh but would lose in the Stanley Cup Finals to Chicago.
Paul Kariya - file this one under a situation that certainly should not have happened and would not be allowed today. During the second period of Game 6 of the 2003 Stanley Cup Finals, Kariya gets rocked by a blind-sided, hit-to-the-head from Scott Stevens, which was completely legal back then. After being down and out on the ice, he returns to the game and just over 10 minutes of game time later scores on a wicked slapshot to put the Mighty Ducks up 4-1. The Mighty Ducks go on to win the game but lose the series in Game 7. Kariya, in a rare appearance, let us all know that he has zero memory of the hit.
Jean-Gabriel Pageau - during the 2013 playoffs, Ottawa’s Jean-Gabriel Pageau scores against Montreal and gets hit in the mouth by the stick of PK Subban. While celebrating with teammates he casually grabs the tooth knocked out of his mouth and hands it to back up goalie Robin Lehner. While this is nowhere near as serious an injury as the three aforementioned players suffered, the nonchalant nature of the players watching a teammate pick up a tooth and hand it over to another teammate is fantastic. Even better is that Pageau goes on to score two more goals in that game as the Senators win 6-1 and eventually win the series in five games.
544 Todd Elik
A centre, Elik went undrafted after three seasons in the OHL and a season at the University of Regina. He turned pro in the 1987-88 season with the Colorado Rangers of the IHL, scoring 44 goals and 100 points in 81 games. In February of that season he signed with the New York Rangers.
Elik split the following season between the AHL and IHL before a December 1988 trade to Los Angeles. He made his NHL debut in 1989-90, scoring 10 goals and 33 points in 47 games while adding 12 points in 10 playoff games to lead the Kings in playoff scoring, ahead of Wayne Gretzky and Luc Robitaille. A full season in 1990-91 saw Elik score 21 goals and 58 points; despite this early success, he was shipped to Minnesota in June 1991 for Randy Gilhen, Charlie Huddy, Jim Thomson and a draft pick used to select Alexei Zhitnik. He lasted a season and a half with the North Stars before a trade to Edmonton for Brent Gilchrist. Elik played only 18 games with the Oilers over two seasons, scoring 10 points, before San Jose grabbed him off waivers in October 1994.
With the Sharks Elik scored a career high 25 goals and 66 points in 1993-94, adding 10 points in 14 playoff games. Following 22 games during the lockout shortened 1994-95 season, he was traded to St. Louis for Kevin Miller, playing 13 games for the Blues to wrap up the season. Elik signed as a free agent with Boston, scoring 46 points in 59 games during the 1995-96 season. He played one additional season with the Bruins to wrap up his NHL career, but by no means was he done as a hockey professional.
From 1997-98 to 2004-05 he played in Switzerland, leading the Swiss Elite League in penalty minutes for five straight seasons, winning a league MVP award in 1999 and best foreign player in 2000. For his final six seasons of pro hockey Elik plied his trade in Slovenia and Austria before returning to Switzerland, retiring after the 2010-11 season. In 2006 & 2007 he led the Austrian League in assists and scoring and in 2010 he won a Slovenian league title.
In eight NHL seasons Elik played in 448 games, scoring 110 goals and 329 points. He was named to the Swiss Hockey Hall of Fame in 2023.
Elik was briefly an assistant coach with the University of Regina in 2007-08 before resuming his pro career. He coached from 2014 to 2016 in Switzerland and was the head coach of a junior A hockey team in Meaford in 2019-20. According to his LinkedIn profile, Elik is currently the general manager and head coach for the Beijing Junior Kings Hockey program in China.
YouTube clip: scoring the opening goal in Game 2 of the 1995 Western Conference Quarter-Finals for St. Louis against Vancouver.
545 Mark Messier
In July 1997, at age 37, Mark Messier signed as a free agent with the Vancouver Canucks, inking a three year contract worth $18 million dollars. For most, Messier’s time with the Canucks is remembered as tumultuous as best. Long-time captain Trevor Linden was removed from the captaincy in place of Messier, and eventually traded (more on that below). Messier also didn’t endear himself to Canucks fan by continuing to wear his #11, which was unofficially retired by the team in honour of former Canuck Wayne Maki, who passed away in 1974 at age 29 from brain cancer.
In his first season as a Canuck Messier played in all 82 games, scoring 22 goals and 60 points to finish second on the team in scoring. The team finished last in the Pacific Division with 64 points, and third last in the NHL. Fan favourite Trevor Linden was traded to the New York Islanders for Todd Bertuzzi and Bryan McCabe in a trade that was unpopular at the time but paid dividends down the road.
For his second season Messier played in only 59 games, scoring 13 goals and 48 points. The Canucks again finished last in their division (now the Northwest Division) and tied for the second fewest points in the league with the Islanders.
Messier’s final season saw him score 17 goals and 54 points in 66 games. The team improved to third in the Northwest Division with 83 points, missing the playoffs by only four points. Following the end of his contract Messier returned to the Rangers where he played four more seasons before retiring at the age of 43.
The Canucks’ failure to even make the playoffs during Messier’s time and the all around bad feelings from the fan base means his time is often viewed as a failure. However, a deeper dive shows some positivity. First, we get the unforgettable Lay’s potato chip commercials. Moving Trevor Linden landed Todd Bertuzzi, one of the top players in the NHL in the early 2000s, and Bryan McCabe, who was a key part of Brian Burke’s wheeling and dealing at the 1999 draft that landed the Canucks Daniel and Henrik Sedin. Overall I’d say Messier’s time in The Big Smoke can be viewed as a mixed blessing.
YouTube clip: scoring against the Rangers in a 1997 game courtesy a great pass from Pavel Bure.
546 Derian Hatcher
A defenceman, Hatcher was drafted 8th overall by Minnesota in 1990. Following the draft he played one additional season with North Bay in the OHL, scoring 13 goals and 62 points while recording 163 penalty minutes. Hatcher made his NHL debut in the 1991-92 season, playing in 43 games for the North Stars, scoring eight goals and 12 points in 43 games.
A big, physical defenceman, Hatcher set career highs in the 1993-94 season with 12 goals, 31 points and 211 penalty minutes. Over the next decade with Dallas he would score 30+ points in a season four times and rack up 100 or more penalty minutes five times. The Stars’ captain from 1994 to 2003, Hatcher played in back-to-back Stanley Cups in 1999 and 2000, winning his first Cup in 1999. Arguably his finest pro season came in 2002-03 when he played in all 82 games, scoring eight goals and 30 points, recording a +37 rating (fifth in the league), was named a second team all-star and finished third in Norris Trophy voting.
Hatcher moved to his hometown Detroit Red Wings as a free agent for the 2003-04 season, playing in only 15 games due to an early season knee injury. Changes brought to the game by 2004-05 lockout greatly reduced Hatcher’s effectiveness as a clutch and grab d-man and his contract was bought out by Detroit. He signed with Philadelphia, where he played three more seasons before retiring after the 2007-08 season.
In 16 NHL seasons, Hatcher played in 1045 games, scoring 80 goals, 331 points and recording 1581 penalty minutes. He played in the 1997 all-star game and was named to the United States Hockey Hall of Fame in 2011. From 2009 to 2015 he worked for Philadelphia as development coach and with their junior elite program. In 2014 he became a part owner of the OHL’s Sarnia Sting, becoming their head coach the following season. Hatcher coached until 2019-20, and sold his stake in the franchise in 2022-23.
YouTube clip: crushing JR with a definite hit to the head during an April 1999 game between Dallas and Phoenix, breaking Roenick’s jaw. Hatcher had a habit of dishing out these now illegal hits, as he did something similar to Petr Sykora in Game 6 of the 2000 Stanley Cup Finals versus New Jersey.
547 Rod Brind’Amour
In September 1991 Brind’Amour was traded from St. Louis with Dan Quinn to Philadelphia for Murray Baron and Ron Sutter.
Rod Brind’Amour- played nine seasons with Flyers, scoring 601 points in 633 games. He recorded three 30+ goal seasons, as well as established a single-season career high of 97 points during this time. Brind’Amour also contributed 51 points in 57 playoff games and led the NHL with 13 playoff goals in 1997, but couldn’t keep the Flyers from being swept by Detroit in the Stanley Cup Finals. He was traded in January 2000 to Carolina with a draft pick and prospect (Jean-Marc Pelletier) for Keith Primeau and a draft pick. Brind’Amour would win his elusive first Stanley Cup with the Hurricanes in 2006, a team he coaches as of this writing.
Dan Quinn - played 67 games in 1991-92 with Flyers, scoring 11 goals and 37 points. In October 1992 he signed with Minnesota as a free agent.
Murray Baron - played seven seasons and 409 games with Blues, recording 53 points and 631 penalty minutes. The Blues made the playoffs every year during this time, but only won two series. In October 1996 Baron was sent to Montreal as part of the package that landed the Blues Pierre Turgeon.
Ron Sutter - played three seasons with St. Louis, scoring 91 points in 163 games. He was traded to Quebec in January 1994 with Bob Bassen and Garth Butcher for Steve Duchesne and Denis Chasse. Duchesne finished fifth in Norris Voting in 1995 but was traded away a year later for Igor Kravchuk.
Not to belittle the solid NHL career of Murray Baron, but the Flyers are the clear winner in this trade. Rod Brind’Amour had one of the most under-rated NHL careers, and was a key component to the intimidating Flyers teams of the mid to late 1990s. Baron was a serviceable piece for many years with the Blues, but not on the same scale as Brind’Amour with the Flyers.
YouTube clip: highlights from Brind’Amour’s time with Flyers.
548 Dave Manson
In October 1991 Manson was traded from Chicago with a third round pick (Kirk Maltby) to Edmonton for Steve Smith.
Dave Manson - played in 219 games over 3 seasons with Edmonton, recording back-to-back 15 goal and 45+ point seasons. Manson scored 12 points in the 1992 playoffs as the Oilers lost to the Blackhawks in the Campbell Conference Finals. In March 1994 he was traded to Winnipeg with a sixth round pick for a first round pick (Jason Bonsignore), Boris Mironov, Mats Lindgren and a fourth round pick.
Kirk Maltby - drafted in 1992, he played 164 games over three seasons with the Oilers, scoring 38 points. In March 1996 Maltby was traded to Detroit for Dan McGillis. In 14 seasons with the Wings, he became a crucial depth player, winning three Stanley Cups.
Steve Smith - played six seasons in Chicago, scoring 136 points and racking up 920 penalty minutes. Smith spent a career high 304 minutes in the penalty box in his first season with Chicago, then scored 13 goals and 54 points the next season. Smith contributed 12 points in the 1992 playoffs as the Hawks made it to the Stanley Cup Finals before losing to Pittsburgh. He signed as a free agent with Calgary in 1996.
YouTube clip: fighting Sergio Momesso during a November 1991 game between the Oilers and the Canucks.
549 Darryl Sydor
A defenceman, Sydor was drafted 7th overall by Los Angeles in 1990. Following the draft he played two more seasons with Kamloops in the WHL, scoring 27 goals and 105 points in 1990-91, as well as winning a second straight WHL title and the league’s top defenceman award.
Sydor turned pro part way through the 1991-92 season, playing in 18 games with the Kings. In his true rookie season he contributed six goals and 23 points while also playing in 24 playoff games as the Kings made the Stanley Cup Finals. Sydor finished the 1993 playoffs with three goals and 11 points, second in playoff scoring on the Kings for blueliners. He played another three seasons with the Kings before a February 1996 trade to Dallas with a fifth round pick for Doug Zmolek and Shane Churla.
In Sydor’s first season with the Stars he scored eight goals, a career-high 48 points and earned +37 rating while finishing seventh in Norris Trophy voting. The next two seasons he scored 46 and 48 points while also scoring a career-high 14 goals in 1998-99. During the 1999 playoffs Sydor added seven points and won his first career Stanley Cup as the Stars defeated Buffalo in the infamous ‘skate in the crease’ series.
Sydor played three more seasons with the Stars before a July 2003 trade to Columbus for Mike Sillinger and a second round draft pick. He scored 15 points in 49 games with the Blue Jackets before a trade to Tampa Bay for Alexander Svitov. With the Lightning Sydor provided veteran defensive depth and added six assists in 23 playoffs games as Tampa Bay won its first Stanley Cup in franchise history over Calgary.
Following the lockout, Sydor started the 2005-06 season with Tampa Bay before being traded back to Dallas. He finished the season with the Stars, then signed as a free agent with Pittsburgh for 2006-07. Early in his second season with the Penguins Sydor was sent back to Dallas for a third time, in a trade for Philippe Boucher. Sydor played 65 games in this stint with the Stars, wrapping up his career with one season in St. Louis (2009-10).
In 18 NHL seasons, Sydor played in 1291 games, scoring 98 goals and 507 points. He played in back-to-back all-star games in 1998 and 1999. In 2007 he became a part owner of his former junior team in Kamloops. Sydor has held various coaching jobs since 2010, including with Houston and Chicago in AHL as well as Minnesota (2011-16) and St. Louis (2017-18). His latest coaching stop was with the Kamloops from 2018 to 2020.
YouTube clip: Sydor crawling to get back into the play with an injured leg during Game 6 of the 2000 Cup Finals between Dallas and New Jersey. As mentioned at the start of this post, it turns out he had broken his ankle.
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