Alexei Emelin has had a decent career as a hockey player. He's been on the ice professionally since 2003, and during that time he's won a few awards playing for teams like the Montreal Canadiens and the Nashville Predators. However, he has a reputation for being brutally rough on the ice.
In 2009, things got so bad that he actually ended up in a fight on the ice with opposing team member Alexander Sitov. During the fight, Emelin ended up shattering his eye socket and vowed to stop fighting on the ice. However, he's continued to have a reputation as a hockey star who doesn't know how to play fair.
Brad Marchand's conduct on the ice is so bad that he's earned a nickname--"the Rat." Considering his history, it's probably a fitting tribute. He hits hard (sometimes too hard) when there's action on the ice, but that's really the least of his hockey sins. It's a sport where people are known to roughhouse.
Instead, the most unsportsmanlike thing he's ever done during a match wasn't getting violent--it was something much grosser. In a 2018 match, he actually leaned in and licked an opponent on the face. Even fans of Marchand had a hard time explaining this bizarre stunt.
The point of hockey may be to score the most points, but if you were watching Nazem Kadri play, you'd be excused for thinking that the point of the game is to rack up as many penalties as possible. His brutal hits on the ice have left opponents seriously injured on more than one occasion--including when he aimed a puck hit at an opponent's head.
Despite his violent ways and his trash-talking mouth, Kadri has done pretty well for himself in the world of professional hockey. He's played for teams like the Toronto Maple Leaves and the Colorado Avalanche. Apparently, teams are willing to put up with a lot as long as you perform on the ice.
Not many opponents want to go up against Tom Wilson on the ice--you might end up with a serious injury if you do! This NHL player has seen numerous penalities and suspensions during his career for things like breaking jaws and dealing out concussions. However, Wilson seems to stand by his violent play style.
"I take pride in the physical nature of my game. I take pride in my body checks. This is my fifth season, and I’ve made a lot of body checks — very clean, hard hits. So I trust myself. Maybe it was a second late or whatever, but I’m going to learn from it and I’m going to continue to play my game, my hard-natured hockey."
You won't be surprised to learn that Lucic plays rough on the ice, just like everyone else on this list. However, for some of these players, the bad behavior stops once the game is over. But that's not the case for Lucic. He's more than willing to be unsportsmanlike off the clock as well!
After losing a playoff series to the Montreal Canadiens, Lucic (of the Boston Bruins) had some choice words for his opponents as they shook hands. Lucic apparently threatened to kill multiple players. However, one of the players threatened wouldn't go into details, making him infinitely classier than Lucic is!
Antoine Roussel is so infamous for being a poor sport on the ice that people track his fight stats just as much as they track his performance stats! He has an average of a whopping ten fights per season, which is completely bonkers, even for a rough and tumble sport like hockey.
Plus, Roussel has proven that he's not afraid to hit people while they're already down. One of his most infamous incidents came in 2014 when he punched Ryan Getzlaf in the chin. Getzlaf was already recovering from a chin injury (and Roussel knew this), but that didn't stop him from throwing a punch.
Zac Rinaldo has a history of violent behavior on the ice that goes back much further than his professional NHL career. The forward was actually suspended six times in the span of three years while playing in a junior hockey league for teenagers. That trend of suspensions has followed him up into the modern day.
He's a notorious trash talker, which is somewhat expected in hockey, but apparently, Rinaldo knows how to take things way too far when it comes to chirping. He's also injured multiple players during matches, including a particularly dirty sucker punch to Samuel Girard in 2017.
Radko Gudas has seen suspension after suspension during his time in the NHL--even after publicly announcing that he was cleaning up his act. That never happened, and he's paid dearly for it. Over the course of his career, he's racked up more than $400,000 in fines for his bad behavior on the ice!
One of his most shocking and violent offenses came during a 2017 game against the Winnipeg Jets. An opposing player was lying on the ice and Gudas slashed his neck. That earned the player a ten-game suspension, but he ended up injuring another player immediately upon returning from his suspension.
Ryan Kesler is known for his trash-talking prowess (known as "chirping" in hockey). So, a lot of the things that make him an unsportsmanlike player come from his ability to provoke others to violence with his trash talking. But even if you manage to keep your cool around him, he's been known to give a hard shoulder hit from time to time, too.
Kesler is such a pain to play with, that even his friends think he goes too far. Fellow Anaheim Duck Kevin Bieksa had this to say about him--"He’s not a fun guy to play against. Even if he is your friend, you still want to kill him."
There's no denying that Andrew Shaw gives it his all every time he skates onto the ice. However, for as much as he plays hard, he plays dirty too. Whether he's shouting at an opponent or trying to trip them, Shaw is no stranger to unsportsmanlike conduct when he's in the middle of a game.
However, it's not just his opponents that need to watch out when he's on the ice. He's also been suspended from play for threatening a referee as well. His antics may help give his team an edge, but he definitely turns himself into an obnoxious monster in the process.
Matthew Tkachuk hasn't made many friends with his rough and rowdy style of play. It turns out that most people don't want to take an elbow to the face. His bad behavior on the ice is no secret, and some of his peers, including Drew Doughty of the Los Angeles Kings, aren't afraid to tell the truth about Tkachuk.
“I’m pretty sure he might be [the most hated player in the league]. I have lots of friends on other teams and they don’t love him either. But whatever, that’s how he plays. All it does is fire guys up and guys take over games when that happens.”
Penalties and suspensions don't seem to faze Dustin Brown. The NHL can try to punish him all they like, but he always ends up returning to the ice just as violent as ever. He's considered reckless and is definitely someone to avoid at all costs unless you're looking for a serious injury.
During his career, he's caused some serious damage to opponents. In 2013 he earned himself a penalty by deliberately taking a shot at an opponent's knees. Just a few years later, he was being penalized for slamming an opponent into the boards--and that one came with a hefty $10,000 fine, too!
Some NHL stars are unsportsmanlike but calculated. They have the sense to wait until the time is perfectly right to lay the hurt on their opponents. But that's not the case with James Neal. According to some, he's one of the most reckless (and therefore dangerous) players skating on the ice today.
Despite his relatively young career, Neal has already racked up multiple suspensions and fines, and he's very well known to the employees in the NHL Department of Player Safety. Neal needs to learn to reign in his passions or someone is going to end up seriously injured before too long.
Drew Doughty has complained about the unsportsmanlike conduct of other NHL players in the past--specifically, he's called out Matthew Tkachuk. However, that hasn't stopped him from engaging in some bad behavior of his own on the ice. When it comes to Doughty, the old saying is true--it takes one to know one!
Doughty is first and foremost a trash talker, chirping and chirping until an opponent finally blows a gasket. However, he's gotten physical from time to time too. He's been suspended once during his career and was fined $2,500 on another occasion for a particularly rough hit against an opponent.
Sidney Crosby is currently one of the best players in the NHL, which makes him a frequent target for unsportsmanlike players on the ice. However, Crosby dishes it just as much as he has to take it. And some think that his superstar status has made the league reluctant to reprimand him for his bad behavior.
From sucker punches to striking at opponents' hands with his stick, Crosby has a growing list of bad behavior on the ice. The worst part of the whole situation is that Crosby tends to be very vocal and whiny when people don't play fair against him. Apparently, he doesn't want to be held to the same standard!
Former pro player and current announcer, Mike Milbury played 12 seasons in the NHL with the Boston Bruins. Mike has had a long career in American Ice Hockey and even left the rink to coach Boston. However, despite all of his different gigs around the ice, he’s better known for his colorful past with fans.
Mike accumulated over 200 penalty minutes in 1981 and 1983, earning his reputation for aggression on the rink. But, he’s best known for beating a hockey fan with his own shoe! That’s right, he grabbed a fan during a brawl and slapped him across the face one time before being restrained. This earned him a six-game suspension and a $500 fine.
Kaleta played for the Buffalo Sabres from 2006 to 2015. But before that, he played major junior ice hockey with Peterborough, where he earned 460 penalty minutes over four seasons. His first NHL game was on February 22nd, 2007 where an infamous fight broke out against Chris Phillips including Sabres head coach Lindy Ruff.
Kaleta is so hardcore on the ice that he was suspended for four-season games for head-butting Jakub Voracek, a player for the Philadelphia Flyers. THN even rated Kaleta above Sean Avery on their list of most hated players. His track record for aggression and cheap shots on the ice doesn’t do him any favors with fans and other players.
Former professional hockey player, Jordin Tootoo retired in 2018 after 220 regular-season games. He has an extensive rap sheet from playing for several NHL teams, but he’s widely known as of the NHL’s best agitators of all time. Tootoo’s annoying antics taunted other players into fights and distracted them from the game.
His skills for stirring the pot let his team have a better chance at winning! But he was known for taking a few things too far and making plays to cause injury. In fact, he’s faced disciplinary actions from the NHL on multiple occasions. One was an incident when Tootoo punched Stephane Robidas in the face, knocking him unconscious.
Trevor Gillies was known for being an enforcer and it shows by only scoring three points over 57 games in his career, but earning over 261 penalty minutes. Trevor played for the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim and the New York Islanders, and several other teams in the AHL and ECHL.
Gillies’s most lasting impression with players and fans alike was an incident on the ice that happened in February 2011 during a game against the Pittsburgh Penguins. Towards the end of the game, Gillies threw an elbow at Eric Tangradi, hitting him in the face. Then he threw him into the boards, punching him several times while he was clearly injured. Tangradi was hauled off the ice, but Gillies stood from the sidelines barking at him while he was getting medical assistance.
Former player, now senior vice-president of player development, Pierre McGuire left the rink and became a talking head for the NHL. McGuire was a standout defenseman at Hobart College from 1979 to 1982, but after trying out for the New Jersey Devils’ he sadly didn’t make the team.
Well, one failure turned into another and McGuire took up a career as a TV sports analyst for NHL on NBC. He’s easily one of the more annoying people of the NHL. Fans and players alike agree that he’s nothing but an overrated soccer mom. He even proposed that over 70% of players would vote for an owner-imposed salary cap. Boy was he wrong!
Like a few other wanna-be players on this list, Bruce Norris easily became one of the most hated people of the NHL. Especially if you ask a Detroit Red Wings fan. Bruce’s family owned the Red Wings for over fifty years, and well...they ran the team into the ground. Bruce was the primary owner from 1952 to 1982.
Things got so bad for the franchise that he was forced to sell the “Dead Wings” in 1982 to Mike Llitch. Mike was an experienced businessman, and if you ask any Detroit local they’ll tell you that the sale was the best thing that’s happened to the city of Detroit since Henry Ford made the assembly line.
Ken “The Rat” Linseman played 15 seasons in the NHL with the Philadelphia Flyers, Edmonton Oilers, Boston Bruins, and the Toronto Maple Leafs. Linseman earned the nickname “The Rat” for both his pointy rodent appearance and for the way he played.
Like an annoying rat you can’t quite trap, he was pretty good at agitating the hell out of the other team causing major frustration and leading them to penalties. He was even charged for kicking a player in the head with his skates. He was always bothering his opponents and would even smack them with his stick when no one was looking.
If 13 suspensions in only 12 years don’t say you have a problem, we’re not quite sure what does! Bryan is literally one of the most hated players in NHL history because of his predatory behavior on the ice. Bryan played dirty, almost every game. He was out to injure the most people he could to win the game.
Marchment played for the Winnipeg Jets, Chicago Blackhawks, Hartford Whalers, Edmonton Oilers, Tampa Bay Lightning, San Jose Sharks, Colorado Avalanche, Toronto Maple Leafs, and the Calgary Flames. Currently, he’s a scout for the Sharks, but hopefully, he’s not passing on his legacy of suspensions for attempts to injure other players.
Long-time hockey fans will definitely recognize Marty McSorley. He played in the NHL for over 17 years from 1982 to 2000. He played both forward and defense positions. He played alongside hockey legend Wayne Gretzky, and even earned the nickname of “Wayne Gretzky’s Bodyguard.”
McSorley never passed an opportunity to take a cheap shot. He’s been busted for illegal sticks and even earned a gnarly suspension after an incident with Donald Brashear. On February 21, 2000, McSorley swung his stick and hit Brashear in the head with 4.6 seconds left in the game. Brashear immediately lost consciousness and hit his head on the ice causing a Grade III concussion. McSorley was charged with assault and ultimately retired after the incident.
Billy Reay played ten seasons in the NHL and coached from 1957 to 1959 and 1963 to 1977. Billy spent most of his time in the NHL with the Montreal Canadiens and the Detroit Red Wings. He played 479 games and scored 105 goals, 267 points, and won two Stanley Cups. He retired from his hockey career with the second-most victories in the NHL.
Despite all of these achievements and stellar track record, Reay was never very friendly with the media. Although he still ranks 11th in total career wins with 542, he was not inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame. His friends in the league respected him, but many say he was the Mike Keenan of his era. Guess we’ll never know!
Darius is a four-time Olympian and three-time medalist with one gold, one silver, and one bronze medal. He was even awarded the title of Honoured Master of Sports of the USSR in 1992 and was inducted into the Russian and Soviet Hockey Hall of Fame in 2016. He was known for his aggressive playing style.
Darius basically made the mold for a hard-hitting stay-at-home defenceman, a style that also used a lot of agitation. One hockey analyst even wrote that he “Shows an unusual lack of respect and deference for established NHL stars.” Which is basically a nice way of saying that he’s a major jerk!
Lemieux retired from Hockey in 2009, but he is one of only 11 players in Stanley Cup history to win with three different teams. He also holds the record for the ninth-most playoff goals in NHL history. Claude was a ferocious player on the ice, but his reputation for getting too aggressive earned him infamy among fans.
Too many players missed time on the ice because of his overly aggressive antics. In fact, he’s probably most known for an incident that happened in 1996 with Kris Draper, a player with the Detroit Red Wings. Lemieux slammed Draper into the boards from behind, breaking his orbital, cheek, and jawbones, which started the ultimate rivalry between the Avalanche and Red Wings.
While he wasn’t a player in the NHL, Mike Keenan has to be mentioned as one of the most hated coaches in NHL history. He’s coached NHL teams between 1984 and 2009 and was also an analyst for the New York Rangers on MSG Network and NBC Sports. Keenan won a Stanley Cup for the New York Rangers in 1994, but that doesn’t mean he’s a favorite.
In fact, Mike’s career in coaching is dotted with inopportune and abrupt terminations and resignations. At the end of the day, Mike Keenan is a massive jerk to his players and it’s cost him big time. Jeremy Roenick has even said that he’s one of those coaches you want to fight by the end of practice.
Tucker spent most of his time in the NHL with the Toronto Maple Leafs, where he played the game hard...sometimes a little too hard. Tucker became infamous on Long Island after he hit New York Islanders’ captain Michael Peca and blew out Peca’s ACL and MCL on his left knee. This ended his playoff campaign.
Tucker never had a problem taking a cheap shot at a player during a game, but playing like this doesn’t make a good game. His shot against Peca basically ended his career as captain and derailed an otherwise formidable team. The Maple Leafs actually bought Peca later on and made him teammates with Tucker. Imagine that.
Currently, Alain Vigneault is the coach for the Philadelphia Flyers, but before his coaching career, he was a pesky player known for jumping into fights that weren’t his own and for taking cheap shots against other players from behind.
Vigneault has basically no respect for the integrity of a game and has been known to tell people that to their faces. Anyone who would hit another player in the back obviously could care less about playing fair. After 42 games during two seasons, it’s no surprise that he made many enemies on the ice.
