Bob Probert had a wholesome reason to fight Wendel Clark
Clark can't stop laughing at it
Bob Probert
Bob Probert was a left wing who played 935 NHL games for the Detroit Red Wings and the Chicago Blackhawks and became the most feared fighter in the league during his years in Detroit. Probert combined that reputation with real scoring ability, reaching 62 points in 1987-88 while leading the NHL in penalty minutes in the same season. Probert finished with 163 goals, 384 points and 3,300 penalty minutes, and died on 5 July 2010. This page collects everything we have published about Probert; the full career account, the fight record and the CTE finding are set out on our Bob Probert career page.
| Position | Left wing, shot left |
|---|---|
| Born | 5 June 1965, Windsor, Ontario |
| Died | 5 July 2010, after a heart attack while boating near Windsor |
| Drafted | 1983, third round, 46th overall, Detroit Red Wings |
| Teams | Detroit Red Wings (1985-1994), Chicago Blackhawks (1995-2002) |
| Career totals | 935 games, 163 goals, 221 assists, 384 points, 3,300 penalty minutes |
| Honours | NHL All-Star Game 1988; led the NHL in penalty minutes in 1987-88 with 398 |
| Known for | The Bruise Brothers with Joe Kocur, and a fight list running through nearly every heavyweight of his era |
Where was Bob Probert's funeral held?
A public visitation was held on Thursday 8 July 2010 at the Families First Funeral Home in Windsor, Ontario, the city where Probert grew up. The funeral service followed on Friday 9 July at 10am at Christian Fellowship Church in Windsor, and it was open to the public rather than restricted to family and former teammates.
Windsor was the natural setting. Probert was born there in 1965, played his junior hockey in Ontario, and kept his ties to the border area throughout his Detroit years, which is why both the visitation and the service were opened to anyone who wanted to come. Steve Yzerman's words at the service are the part most often quoted back.
The Bruise Brothers: Probert and Joe Kocur in Detroit
In the late 1980s Detroit put Probert and Joe Kocur on the same roster, and the pair were quickly nicknamed the Bruise Brothers. Kocur was widely rated the hardest single puncher of the era and Probert outlasted anyone who tried to wear him down, which made the Red Wings the most intimidating team in hockey at the time. The nickname stuck well enough to become the title of a book about the two of them.
The two had met as opponents before they were teammates, and Kocur has described their first fight against each other in detail.
Is Bob Probert in the Hockey Hall of Fame?
Probert is not in the Hockey Hall of Fame, and no enforcer whose value was built mainly on fighting has been inducted. The selection committee weighs scoring, championships and individual awards, and Probert's case rests on different ground: one All-Star appearance, no Stanley Cup, 384 points, and an influence on how teams were built that does not appear in any statistical column.
Fans raise his name regularly, usually alongside the argument that the Hall has no category for what he actually did. Opponents who faced him have been blunter about his standing, as Stu Grimson's words about Probert show.
What is in the Bob Probert archive on this site
The stories gathered here fall into a few groups. There are the fights told by the men who were in them, from Craig Berube facing Probert four times in three days to Jody Shelley going three rounds with him in a single game. There are the teammate stories out of Detroit and Chicago, including the practices where Probert settled matters internally. There are the opponents who became regular dance partners, Tie Domi and Craig Coxe above all.
And there are the quieter ones: the restaurant encounter Stu Grimson has described, the bar in which Probert let a man throw the first six punches, and what he said to Tony Twist before their last fight. Every piece below is listed newest first.
