Don't Mess With Rick Tocchet

Rick Tocchet did it all in 18 NHL seasons. For every game he brought his work boots, his lunch pail and punched the clock. And more than a few members of the opposition.

A blend of beauty and beast, Tocchet was a special player. In his best season he scored 48 goals, 109 points and had a healthy 252 PIMs. Okay, so the offensive numbers were a little skewed in 1992-93 thanks to Mario Lemieux, but Tocchet was often a threat to score 30 goals and exceed 200 PIMs. You won't find a coach in the league who wouldn't want Rick Tocchet on his team.

The Philadelphia Flyers drafted him in the sixth round in 1983, and he was in the NHL the following year when he was 20.

Tocchet scored 14 goals in each of his first two NHL seasons. But as his scoring prowess grew, so did his time in the penalty box.

He flirted with 300 minutes in his second, third and fourth years - posting a career-high 299 during the 1987-88 season, the same one in which he led Philadelphia with 31 goals.


By the time he finished his second stint with the Flyers in 2002, he was 12th on the team's career scoring list with 508 points; tied for 10th in goals with 232; and No. 1 in penalty minutes with 1,817 - nearly 500 more than famed bruiser Dave Schultz.

That makes Tocchet the biggest bully in the history of the Broad Street Bullies. But also one of the best.


Read the full Rick Tocchet biography