Humble Probert legendary with his dukes

There's only one place to start when remembering Bob Probert, the hockey player.

He was the toughest guy I've ever seen, not to mention the best and scariest fighter of his generation, maybe ever.

Scary as in when Probert threw that right hand of his you were afraid the guy on the receiving end could get seriously hurt, so forceful were his punches.

The news Monday of Probert's death of an apparent heart attack was shocking considering he was only 45 years old, but this was a guy who not only played hard, but lived hard.

He battled substance and alcohol abuse throughout much of his 17-year career, the last seven of which he spent with the Blackhawks as one of their most popular players in recent memory.

Probert's fights with the likes of Tie Domi and Troy Crowder while with the Detroit Red Wings are legendary.

Hawks fans hated him as a Red Wing, watching him tangle on a regular basis with Dave Manson, Ed Belfour, Chris Chelios and Bob McGill.

The hardest punch I've ever seen still is the one Probert delivered to the chin of McGill one night at Chicago Stadium. You could hear the smack in the press box, and I thought McGill was done forever. But McGill bounced back up and continued the scrap, being one tough Irishman himself.

Hawks fans grew to love Probert after he signed here as a free agent. It was clear Probert's better days were behind him when he got to the Hawks, but he still was as intimidating as any player in the league and would fight and stick up for his teammates every time.

Approaching Probert as a reporter when he got to the Hawks was enlightening. You expected to encounter this mean and gruff guy, but just the opposite was true. Probert was friendly, humble, almost shy, and never said no to an interview request.

One thing about him, though, was he didn't like to discuss fighting, or the guys he fought. It was like pulling teeth to get Probert to talk about a fight, which always struck me as honorable.

Probert respected the guys who did what he did and there rarely was any trash talking out of his mouth. Fighting was part of his job, he did it well so what was there to talk about?

Probert hated preseason games because that's when the young up-and-coming fighters always would want to test themselves against the best. Probert would oblige the kids and drop the gloves, giving them a story to tell.

Probie always wanted to be known as a good hockey player, and there was never any doubt that he was. He might have racked up 3,300 penalty minutes in 935 games in his career, but he also scored 163 goals - including the last one at Maple Leaf Gardens, one of his proudest accomplishments.

Probert collapsed on his boat Monday on Lake St. Clair near his hometown of Windsor, Ontario, and couldn't be saved by paramedics. He leaves a wife and four children.

"Bob will always be a member of the Blackhawks family and his memory will live on through our fans," Hawks president John McDonohgh said in a statement.

Hockey greatness comes in many shapes and forms. Probert was an all-time great at what he did.

tsassone@dailyherald.com

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<li><a href="/story/?id=392128">Rozner: Probert much more than just a brawler <span class="date">[7/6/10]</span></a></li>

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