If the NHL had crowned an official heavyweight champion in the 90s, Tony Twist would definitely have been one of the top contenders.
Twist was huge, and with his 245 pounds on a 6’1” frame with impressive reach, he was a nightmare to drop the gloves with.
During eight of the ten seasons he played in the league, he spent 100 or more minutes in the penalty box.
In the two seasons he didn’t reach the three-digit PIMs, he only played 34 and 28 games. Twist finished his career with 1,121 penalty minutes in 445 games and 104 fights during his 10-year NHL career.
But, in his own words, ’if you include juniors, minors, the bars, and the streets, it’s got to be 500.’
Twist fought some of the toughest and most feared enforcers of all time. For example, he fought Bob Probert four times.
”I give all the credit in the world to Bobby because he was the measuring stick for everybody that walked into the league,” wrote Twist in a piece for The Athletic.
”Not only was he on a line with Stevie Yzerman, but he was knocking the s— out of people. He was the king. The first thing you did when you got called up was you went after him.”
Things didn’t go well when Twist fought Proby the first two times. But he learned and improved as the years went by.
”The first two times I fought Proby, he rag-dolled me. He wasn’t overpowering, but he had more upstairs. The third time, I handled him, and every fight after, I beat him without any ifs, ands or buts.”
And when Twist became the king, Probert knew it. And what he said to Twist before what would be their fourth and final fight says everything about how much they respected each other.
”The coup de grace was 1994. He was with Chicago, and it was the opening faceoff. Proby looked and me and said, ’Twister, I’m getting too old and you’re getting too big!’”
Talk about legends!
