Toronto Maple Leafs legend Wendel Clark explained what it really means to be an NHL enforcer. Clark revealed what the role entails and how it differed depending on which team the enforcer played for.
The former Maple Leafs captain was not solely an enforcer. On the contrary, Clark was relied on to contribute offensively.
Clark also fought on multiple occasions against the toughest enforcers in the league. One of Clark’s most memorable fights took place during the 1993 Stanley Cup playoffs. He took exception to a hit on Leafs star Doug Gilmour and fought Marty McSorley.
As a result, Clark knew the right moments to fight. He also knew how a fight could completely shift the momentum of a game.
Maple Leafs Legend Wendel Clark Explains What It Really Means to Be an NHL Enforcer
Maple Leafs legend Wendel Clark reflected on his career and explained what it meant to be an NHL enforcer during his playing days. The former Leafs captain noted that the enforcer’s role was to police the game.
Clark revealed that the referees were also lenient because they were aware that a fight could stop something worse from happening. However, that was before the instigator penalty was introduced.
“Before the instigator [rule came in], if I hit Mark Howe behind the net like that and I didn’t fight Rick Tocchet, when I went to the faceoff, Dave Brown would have one-punched me without even fighting. And he would have only got two minutes because you’re not to hit Mark Howe, who at that time was the second best offensive defenseman behind maybe [Paul] Coffey. That tough guy was allowed to calm the game down because you knew once a hit like that was going to happen, the game might go one way or the other. So, the refs allowed the tough guys to calm the games down,” Clark told 32 Thoughts.
Clark Reveals One Common Character Trait That Enforcers Had
According to Clark, the toughest enforcers on each NHL team were all surprisingly nice.
“Your tough guys are really the nicest guys on every team. They just know what their job is, and if it goes sideways, then we get ugly. If it doesn’t, everybody stays happy, and that was really it,” Clark told 32 Thoughts.
The former Leafs captain also highlighted a key difference between enforcers on great teams compared to those on struggling teams.
“In my era, you didn’t want to be a tough guy on a bad team because you always had to change the game. So, you’re always [fighting] 30 or 40 times,” Clark said. “You look at the teams that had tough guys, teams that won, they only had to fight five to ten times a year because you’re not starting a fight if you’re team’s winning.”
He continued:
“If you played on a bad team, you’re always going out there to kind of change the building, change the atmosphere, just try to do something to change the game. And that’s kind of how fighting was,” Clark said.
Maple Leafs Legend Reveals What It Really Means to Be an NHL Enforcer