TOUGH GUYS

The Griffins have had their share of scrappers and fighters over their 20 seasons.

Story and photo by Mark Newman

Scanning the names on the Griffins’ all-time roster, you’ll come across a number of players who didn’t hesitate to defend their teammates by dropping their gloves or using their physical presence to change the tone of a game.

Bruce Ramsay, Matt Ruchty, Chris Neil, Wade Brookbank and Darryl Bootland are just a few of the tough guys who would roam the ice, dispensing justice in their efforts to enforce the rules and maintain the integrity of the game. They were working-class superheroes who were popular among teammates and fans alike.

There was a time when players of their ilk were known as enforcers or, less favorably, as goons, but there was never any debate that they were prized for their aggressive style of play and their willingness to use their checking abilities or fists to their advantage.

Some came to the task more naturally than others, but all were eager to do whatever it took to make a difference on the ice.

Probably the toughest team in the 20 seasons of Griffins hockey was the first. But curiously, it didn’t start that way.

Grand Rapids’ inaugural 1996-97 season opened with feisty defenseman Darcy Simon patrolling the blueline, but head coach Dave Allison called for reinforcements when a particularly scrappy San Antonio team took liberties against the expansion Griffins not once but twice.

Griffins general manager Bob McNamara secured the service of Bruce Ramsay on Nov. 5, 1996, then added Matt Ruchty a week later.

“San Antonio had a rough-and-tumble team and they came into town and beat up the Griffins pretty good. Everybody knew Davey Allison’s reputation as a player and a coach and that it was something he wasn’t going to stand for,” Ramsay recalled.

Although he was only 6-foot and 180 pounds, Ramsay was about as tough as they came. “He was, pound for pound, probably one of the toughest guys I ever played with,” said Ruchty, who played more than a decade professionally. “Don’t let anyone tell you that he wasn’t a good fighter. He had no fear.”

Ramsay led the International Hockey League in fighting majors with 34 during 1996-97, then finished second the following season with 32. He never backed away from a fight. “It’s just like anything – if you want to be good at something, you want to be the best,” Ramsay said. “I always wanted to prove that I was one of the toughest and best fighters in the league.”

He admits that fighting was a tough way to make a living.

“Once you earn a reputation, you look at the roster of the other team and know you might have to go against their toughest players. In my case, they were usually a lot bigger and stronger, but I never backed down from the challenge,” Ramsay said.

“It’s not only difficult physically, but it’s hard on your mind, too. You know you’re going into a battle where you might not come out unscathed. I definitely won more fights than I lost, but when I lost, the repercussions often weren’t pretty. I remember getting taken out of the building once on a stretcher because of a fight. Every hockey player known to drop his gloves usually has that fear of getting hurt.”

Ruchty, by contrast, was hardly a one-dimensional player. As a member of the 1994-95 Calder Cup-winning Albany River Rats, Ruchty tallied 26 goals and 23 assists while collecting 348 penalty minutes. He reached double figures in goals during five of his 10 full pro seasons.

“Growing up and in college, I never envisioned myself as that type of player, but with my style of play, it was inevitable,” Ruchty said. “I was very physical. I played the body. Hitting was a big part of my game and that evolved into me getting into fighting. When you get into altercations, you have to drop the gloves.”

“I played with some guys who just wanted to fight, but I wanted to play the game. I wanted to bring a little more to the table.”

Like Ramsay, Ruchty admits that it isn’t easy to carry the burden of being a tough guy. “It wears on you mentally because when you get into a fight, you can win, you can lose. I was very fortunate that I never broke any bones. I still have all my teeth. It’s not an easy thing to do.”

Ruchty agrees that the first Griffins team was a tough bunch. Besides Ramsay, Simon and himself, the roster included Ben Hankinson and Jamie Linden, who also weren’t afraid to drop the gloves. Without a clear pecking order, it often was a case of “first come, first served,” Ruchty said.

Chris Neil was probably the Griffins’ first bonafide heavyweight. He came into the IHL during the 1999-2000 campaign after breaking into the pros with the Muskegon Fury during the playoffs the previous season.

With three older brothers, Neil already knew what it meant to stand up for himself. Now he was eager to stand up for his teammates.

“I was a skilled player in juniors and put up some points, but I knew I had to change my role to make it in the pros,” Neil said. “I wanted to play in the NHL so bad and I knew I had to do something to make myself stand out from other guys.

“I knew I wasn’t going to make it as a top-two line guy because there were already so many guys who were really good players. I saw a lot of good players get lost in the shuffle, so I knew I had to do something different. That’s what I did, and 16 years later, I’m still going at it.”

Neil, who recorded 301 and 354 PIM in consecutive seasons in Grand Rapids, currently ranks in the all-time top 30 for NHL penalty minutes, having played more than 900 games with the Ottawa Senators during his 14-year NHL career. He has fond memories of playing with the Griffins.

“Grand Rapids had an older group of guys when I came into the league, which really helped me,” he said. “Guys like Ed Patterson, Derek King, the Miller brothers (Kevin, Kip and Kelly), Travis Richards and Danton Cole took me under their wing and just showed me the ropes. Hockey is a game and it’s fun, but you’ve obviously got to work at it as well. Those guys were all good examples for me in terms of role models for having the proper work ethic.”

During his two seasons with the Griffins, Neil had 50 fighting majors, none more memorable than the one he received for his toe-to-toe tussle with Mel Angelstad on Dec. 29, 1999. He bloodied the head of the K-Wings enforcer, which boosted the price that his own blood-stained jersey got in an auction later that night.

“Playing in Grand Rapids was a part of my life I’ll never forget,” Neil said. “I’ve kept the scrapbooks that the Griffins boosters club put together for me, and my Griffins jersey still hangs in the sports bar in my basement.”

The city was also integral to the career of Wade Brookbank, who was assessed 337 penalty minutes during the 2001-02 season when he was still a 24-year-old prospect trying to make a name for himself.

Brookbank led the league in fighting majors that year with 38, which was nearly double the rest of his team combined. There were other tough players on the team, but Brookbank was nearly a one-man show during his third professional season.

“I was the young guy coming up and wanting to do it,” Brookbank said. “I got to play quite a bit under Bruce Cassidy and Gene Reilly, and we had a very good team that year. We had a very good defense, too. I wasn’t the best defenseman, but when you play with five other good defensemen, it’s easier to get out there more often because they’re so good. They could hide my mistakes and carry me a little bit.

“It worked out for me because I made a name for myself fighting in the AHL, and it gave me an opportunity to play in the NHL.”

Brookbank was a young kid from Saskatchewan, the middle of three brothers. “We were all into hockey,” said Brookbank, whose older brother Leigh reached major junior hockey while younger brother Sheldon – a teammate of Wade’s for six games during that 2001-02 Griffins season – played nine seasons in the NHL. “We liked scoring goals, we liked body checks, and we liked fighting. I just happened to be better at fighting.”

Besides his brothers, Brookbank credits a former Griffins defenseman, Dean Trboyevich, with being helpful to his development as a fighter. Trboyevich, who played in Grand Rapids during the Griffins’ first two seasons, was a teammate during Brookbank’s first full season in the West Coast Hockey League.

“I played with him when I was 21, coming up with the Anchorage Aces,” Brookbank said. “He was a tough, older defenseman, and he went out of his way to show me the ropes of how to fight, when to do it and how to defend myself.”

Brookbank eventually played 127 games in the NHL, making appearances with Nashville, Vancouver, Boston and Carolina spread over five different seasons, but he looks back at his year in Grand Rapids as the one that set his career in motion.

“It was definitely one of my better fighting years,” Brookbank said. “It did a lot for my reputation. After that, I bounced around the NHL a lot. I couldn’t stick up there – the game’s a little too fast and too skilled for me – but I gave it a shot. In my mind, it was definitely the year that springboarded me to the NHL.”

Darryl Bootland also has fond memories of playing with the Griffins. Now in his 14th season and playing in the ECHL at age of 34, Bootland started his pro career in Grand Rapids, where he played for five seasons and became the team’s all-time penalty minute leader with 1,164.

“I’ve always been a fighter. I enjoyed it from day one,” said Bootland, who “blames” his older brother Nick and a friend for getting him started while playing pond hockey. “I never did anything like that on the streets, but I saved it for the ice.”

Always an agitator, Bootland was often eager to drop the gloves and fight.

“It didn’t matter who you were or what you were doing, it was time to go,” Bootland said. “At that point, I was trying to get to the next level. I was one step away, so I was fighting for a job, fighting for a career. When you’re younger, you’re willing to fight anyone and everybody.”

One of his mentors in Grand Rapids was veteran enforcer Peter Vandermeer, who collected 310 penalty minutes with the Griffins during the 2004-05 season. “To learn from someone who had been doing it for almost 10 years, it was amazing how much I could learn,” Bootland said. “He was probably one of the most influential guys in my whole career. I can’t thank that guy enough.”

Bootland proved he was hardly a one-hit wonder. During the 2005-06 season, he registered 27 goals and 29 assists in 77 games while amassing 26 fighting majors and a franchise-record 390 penalty minutes.

“Playing with Tomas Kopecky and Valtteri Filppula, it was pretty easy to score 27 goals – I probably should have had 50 that year,” Bootland said. “I probably got a contract a couple of times later in my career just because of that year.”

Like many tough guys, Bootland said he probably has fought less as he’s gotten older, although it’s not always easy. “You get young guys coming up, wanting to make a reputation for themselves and they know right where to go,” he said. “I’d like to say not many want to come my way, but it happens once in a while.”

Not that Bootland minds taking a break from fighting.

“My body has definitely taken a toll,” Bootland said. “I’ve played the same game the same way since I was 16 years old. I definitely feel the aches and pains a little longer now, but it’s something I’ll never be able to take out of my game.”

Brookbank, who is now a pro scout with the Chicago Blackhawks after retiring in 2014, said he fought fewer times late in his career.

“After 10 or 15 years, you lose a little bit of your edge,” Brookbank said. “Not everybody does, but I definitely did. I wouldn’t say I tired of it, I just didn’t go looking for it as much, but I still took care of it when something happened.”

In general, fisticuffs are a lot less frequent these days, as leagues are doing what they can to legislate fighting out of the game. In his opinion, Brookbank said he thinks that’s not necessarily a bad idea.

“When you break down fighting and put it on paper, it sounds barbaric and ridiculous,” he said. “I’m fine with getting rid of that part of the game where you have tough guys fighting for no reason. I don’t think you can make a case for it, especially in this day and age.”

Neil may be the last of a dying breed. He is only one of two active players among the NHL’s top 100 all-time penalty minute leaders. The only other player, Boston Bruins captain Zdeno Chara, is at No. 97, nearly 900 PIM behind Neil, who is currently in the 29th slot.

“I’ve been vocal about (being against) staged fighting because I’m not a big fan of it,” Neil said. “I’m not saying I haven’t done it, I’m just not a fan. Sometimes you’re battling in front of the net and you look into the other guy’s eyes and you know you’re going. That’s the way I like to do it.

“I take pride in being able to get under the skin of the other team. I’m a guy who likes to go out and create a spark for my team, whether it’s a hit or you’re battling in front of the net. When the intensity level is high, that’s when you see your best fights.

“I look back fondly on the days of old school hockey. Bob Probert was a prime example of a guy who could play the game and make something happen, whether it was going out and scoring a goal, making a hit or getting into a fight. I think there’s still room in the game for it because it’s an exciting part of the game and fans still love to see it.”

Ruchty is another person who doesn’t believe fighting should ever completely disappear from the sport.

“If anybody says that people don’t like fighting, just watch how the crowd reacts when there’s a fight,” Ruchty said. “Everybody stands up and the crowd cheers, even more so than for a goal in certain circumstances. The crowd loves it.”

Even so, he admits the times have changed.

“It’s a different era,” Ruchty said. “The game is different now. I think it’s changed for the good in terms of entertainment value. Guys today are so big and fast and skilled. But there’s no fear factor anymore. I don’t know if that’s better or worse, but it’s changed.”

Neil hopes it doesn’t change too much more. He would like to play one more season, which would likely allow him to top 1,000 games played for his NHL career.

“I’ve been very blessed and fortunate to be with the Ottawa organization for so long,” he said. “After being drafted by the Senators in the late rounds, I was a long shot to make it, but I worked hard and I think they appreciated it.

“Making it to 1,000 games would be cool. Obviously that’s a milestone I would like to reach,” Neil said. “We’ll see how it goes. I still feel good. Playing with a lot of young guys, I feel like I’m 25. I feel like I have lots left in the tank.”

The Griffins have had their share of scrappers and fighters over their 20 seasons.

Story and photo by Mark Newman

Scanning the names on the Griffins’ all-time roster, you’ll come across a number of players who didn’t hesitate to defend their teammates by dropping their gloves or using their physical presence to change the tone of a game.

Bruce Ramsay, Matt Ruchty, Chris Neil, Wade Brookbank and Darryl Bootland are just a few of the tough guys who would roam the ice, dispensing justice in their efforts to enforce the rules and maintain the integrity of the game. They were working-class superheroes who were popular among teammates and fans alike.

There was a time when players of their ilk were known as enforcers or, less favorably, as goons, but there was never any debate that they were prized for their aggressive style of play and their willingness to use their checking abilities or fists to their advantage.

Some came to the task more naturally than others, but all were eager to do whatever it took to make a difference on the ice.

Probably the toughest team in the 20 seasons of Griffins hockey was the first. But curiously, it didn’t start that way.

Grand Rapids’ inaugural 1996-97 season opened with feisty defenseman Darcy Simon patrolling the blueline, but head coach Dave Allison called for reinforcements when a particularly scrappy San Antonio team took liberties against the expansion Griffins not once but twice.

Griffins general manager Bob McNamara secured the service of Bruce Ramsay on Nov. 5, 1996, then added Matt Ruchty a week later.

“San Antonio had a rough-and-tumble team and they came into town and beat up the Griffins pretty good. Everybody knew Davey Allison’s reputation as a player and a coach and that it was something he wasn’t going to stand for,” Ramsay recalled.

Although he was only 6-foot and 180 pounds, Ramsay was about as tough as they came. “He was, pound for pound, probably one of the toughest guys I ever played with,” said Ruchty, who played more than a decade professionally. “Don’t let anyone tell you that he wasn’t a good fighter. He had no fear.”

Ramsay led the International Hockey League in fighting majors with 34 during 1996-97, then finished second the following season with 32. He never backed away from a fight. “It’s just like anything – if you want to be good at something, you want to be the best,” Ramsay said. “I always wanted to prove that I was one of the toughest and best fighters in the league.”

He admits that fighting was a tough way to make a living.

“Once you earn a reputation, you look at the roster of the other team and know you might have to go against their toughest players. In my case, they were usually a lot bigger and stronger, but I never backed down from the challenge,” Ramsay said.

“It’s not only difficult physically, but it’s hard on your mind, too. You know you’re going into a battle where you might not come out unscathed. I definitely won more fights than I lost, but when I lost, the repercussions often weren’t pretty. I remember getting taken out of the building once on a stretcher because of a fight. Every hockey player known to drop his gloves usually has that fear of getting hurt.”

Ruchty, by contrast, was hardly a one-dimensional player. As a member of the 1994-95 Calder Cup-winning Albany River Rats, Ruchty tallied 26 goals and 23 assists while collecting 348 penalty minutes. He reached double figures in goals during five of his 10 full pro seasons.

“Growing up and in college, I never envisioned myself as that type of player, but with my style of play, it was inevitable,” Ruchty said. “I was very physical. I played the body. Hitting was a big part of my game and that evolved into me getting into fighting. When you get into altercations, you have to drop the gloves.”

“I played with some guys who just wanted to fight, but I wanted to play the game. I wanted to bring a little more to the table.”

Like Ramsay, Ruchty admits that it isn’t easy to carry the burden of being a tough guy. “It wears on you mentally because when you get into a fight, you can win, you can lose. I was very fortunate that I never broke any bones. I still have all my teeth. It’s not an easy thing to do.”

Ruchty agrees that the first Griffins team was a tough bunch. Besides Ramsay, Simon and himself, the roster included Ben Hankinson and Jamie Linden, who also weren’t afraid to drop the gloves. Without a clear pecking order, it often was a case of “first come, first served,” Ruchty said.

Chris Neil was probably the Griffins’ first bonafide heavyweight. He came into the IHL during the 1999-2000 campaign after breaking into the pros with the Muskegon Fury during the playoffs the previous season.

With three older brothers, Neil already knew what it meant to stand up for himself. Now he was eager to stand up for his teammates.

“I was a skilled player in juniors and put up some points, but I knew I had to change my role to make it in the pros,” Neil said. “I wanted to play in the NHL so bad and I knew I had to do something to make myself stand out from other guys.

“I knew I wasn’t going to make it as a top-two line guy because there were already so many guys who were really good players. I saw a lot of good players get lost in the shuffle, so I knew I had to do something different. That’s what I did, and 16 years later, I’m still going at it.”

Neil, who recorded 301 and 354 PIM in consecutive seasons in Grand Rapids, currently ranks in the all-time top 30 for NHL penalty minutes, having played more than 900 games with the Ottawa Senators during his 14-year NHL career. He has fond memories of playing with the Griffins.

“Grand Rapids had an older group of guys when I came into the league, which really helped me,” he said. “Guys like Ed Patterson, Derek King, the Miller brothers (Kevin, Kip and Kelly), Travis Richards and Danton Cole took me under their wing and just showed me the ropes. Hockey is a game and it’s fun, but you’ve obviously got to work at it as well. Those guys were all good examples for me in terms of role models for having the proper work ethic.”

During his two seasons with the Griffins, Neil had 50 fighting majors, none more memorable than the one he received for his toe-to-toe tussle with Mel Angelstad on Dec. 29, 1999. He bloodied the head of the K-Wings enforcer, which boosted the price that his own blood-stained jersey got in an auction later that night.

“Playing in Grand Rapids was a part of my life I’ll never forget,” Neil said. “I’ve kept the scrapbooks that the Griffins boosters club put together for me, and my Griffins jersey still hangs in the sports bar in my basement.”

The city was also integral to the career of Wade Brookbank, who was assessed 337 penalty minutes during the 2001-02 season when he was still a 24-year-old prospect trying to make a name for himself.

Brookbank led the league in fighting majors that year with 38, which was nearly double the rest of his team combined. There were other tough players on the team, but Brookbank was nearly a one-man show during his third professional season.

“I was the young guy coming up and wanting to do it,” Brookbank said. “I got to play quite a bit under Bruce Cassidy and Gene Reilly, and we had a very good team that year. We had a very good defense, too. I wasn’t the best defenseman, but when you play with five other good defensemen, it’s easier to get out there more often because they’re so good. They could hide my mistakes and carry me a little bit.

“It worked out for me because I made a name for myself fighting in the AHL, and it gave me an opportunity to play in the NHL.”

Brookbank was a young kid from Saskatchewan, the middle of three brothers. “We were all into hockey,” said Brookbank, whose older brother Leigh reached major junior hockey while younger brother Sheldon – a teammate of Wade’s for six games during that 2001-02 Griffins season – played nine seasons in the NHL. “We liked scoring goals, we liked body checks, and we liked fighting. I just happened to be better at fighting.”

Besides his brothers, Brookbank credits a former Griffins defenseman, Dean Trboyevich, with being helpful to his development as a fighter. Trboyevich, who played in Grand Rapids during the Griffins’ first two seasons, was a teammate during Brookbank’s first full season in the West Coast Hockey League.

“I played with him when I was 21, coming up with the Anchorage Aces,” Brookbank said. “He was a tough, older defenseman, and he went out of his way to show me the ropes of how to fight, when to do it and how to defend myself.”

Brookbank eventually played 127 games in the NHL, making appearances with Nashville, Vancouver, Boston and Carolina spread over five different seasons, but he looks back at his year in Grand Rapids as the one that set his career in motion.

“It was definitely one of my better fighting years,” Brookbank said. “It did a lot for my reputation. After that, I bounced around the NHL a lot. I couldn’t stick up there – the game’s a little too fast and too skilled for me – but I gave it a shot. In my mind, it was definitely the year that springboarded me to the NHL.”

Darryl Bootland also has fond memories of playing with the Griffins. Now in his 14th season and playing in the ECHL at age of 34, Bootland started his pro career in Grand Rapids, where he played for five seasons and became the team’s all-time penalty minute leader with 1,164.

“I’ve always been a fighter. I enjoyed it from day one,” said Bootland, who “blames” his older brother Nick and a friend for getting him started while playing pond hockey. “I never did anything like that on the streets, but I saved it for the ice.”

Always an agitator, Bootland was often eager to drop the gloves and fight.

“It didn’t matter who you were or what you were doing, it was time to go,” Bootland said. “At that point, I was trying to get to the next level. I was one step away, so I was fighting for a job, fighting for a career. When you’re younger, you’re willing to fight anyone and everybody.”

One of his mentors in Grand Rapids was veteran enforcer Peter Vandermeer, who collected 310 penalty minutes with the Griffins during the 2004-05 season. “To learn from someone who had been doing it for almost 10 years, it was amazing how much I could learn,” Bootland said. “He was probably one of the most influential guys in my whole career. I can’t thank that guy enough.”

Bootland proved he was hardly a one-hit wonder. During the 2005-06 season, he registered 27 goals and 29 assists in 77 games while amassing 26 fighting majors and a franchise-record 390 penalty minutes.

“Playing with Tomas Kopecky and Valtteri Filppula, it was pretty easy to score 27 goals – I probably should have had 50 that year,” Bootland said. “I probably got a contract a couple of times later in my career just because of that year.”

Like many tough guys, Bootland said he probably has fought less as he’s gotten older, although it’s not always easy. “You get young guys coming up, wanting to make a reputation for themselves and they know right where to go,” he said. “I’d like to say not many want to come my way, but it happens once in a while.”

Not that Bootland minds taking a break from fighting.

“My body has definitely taken a toll,” Bootland said. “I’ve played the same game the same way since I was 16 years old. I definitely feel the aches and pains a little longer now, but it’s something I’ll never be able to take out of my game.”

Brookbank, who is now a pro scout with the Chicago Blackhawks after retiring in 2014, said he fought fewer times late in his career.

“After 10 or 15 years, you lose a little bit of your edge,” Brookbank said. “Not everybody does, but I definitely did. I wouldn’t say I tired of it, I just didn’t go looking for it as much, but I still took care of it when something happened.”

In general, fisticuffs are a lot less frequent these days, as leagues are doing what they can to legislate fighting out of the game. In his opinion, Brookbank said he thinks that’s not necessarily a bad idea.

“When you break down fighting and put it on paper, it sounds barbaric and ridiculous,” he said. “I’m fine with getting rid of that part of the game where you have tough guys fighting for no reason. I don’t think you can make a case for it, especially in this day and age.”

Neil may be the last of a dying breed. He is only one of two active players among the NHL’s top 100 all-time penalty minute leaders. The only other player, Boston Bruins captain Zdeno Chara, is at No. 97, nearly 900 PIM behind Neil, who is currently in the 29th slot.

“I’ve been vocal about (being against) staged fighting because I’m not a big fan of it,” Neil said. “I’m not saying I haven’t done it, I’m just not a fan. Sometimes you’re battling in front of the net and you look into the other guy’s eyes and you know you’re going. That’s the way I like to do it.

“I take pride in being able to get under the skin of the other team. I’m a guy who likes to go out and create a spark for my team, whether it’s a hit or you’re battling in front of the net. When the intensity level is high, that’s when you see your best fights.

“I look back fondly on the days of old school hockey. Bob Probert was a prime example of a guy who could play the game and make something happen, whether it was going out and scoring a goal, making a hit or getting into a fight. I think there’s still room in the game for it because it’s an exciting part of the game and fans still love to see it.”

Ruchty is another person who doesn’t believe fighting should ever completely disappear from the sport.

“If anybody says that people don’t like fighting, just watch how the crowd reacts when there’s a fight,” Ruchty said. “Everybody stands up and the crowd cheers, even more so than for a goal in certain circumstances. The crowd loves it.”

Even so, he admits the times have changed.

“It’s a different era,” Ruchty said. “The game is different now. I think it’s changed for the good in terms of entertainment value. Guys today are so big and fast and skilled. But there’s no fear factor anymore. I don’t know if that’s better or worse, but it’s changed.”

Neil hopes it doesn’t change too much more. He would like to play one more season, which would likely allow him to top 1,000 games played for his NHL career.

“I’ve been very blessed and fortunate to be with the Ottawa organization for so long,” he said. “After being drafted by the Senators in the late rounds, I was a long shot to make it, but I worked hard and I think they appreciated it.

“Making it to 1,000 games would be cool. Obviously that’s a milestone I would like to reach,” Neil said. “We’ll see how it goes. I still feel good. Playing with a lot of young guys, I feel like I’m 25. I feel like I have lots left in the tank.”