Working The Red Line EP.4

Might be Crazy to think that it took 4 episodes to get to Bob Probert but nonetheless we are here

Probert, just as Domi was born and raised in Windsor Ontario. A much bigger man standing at 6’3 and 225 pounds, Probert was intimidating by just seeing him on the ice. Probert was a strong player in minor hockey. In his 18u season he collected 100 points in 55 games including 60 goals and shockingly only 40 PIMs

The following year he jumped to the OHLs Brantford Alexanders where the player we knew truly began. In 51 he had 133 PIMs and started to set the tone as one of the games up and coming tough guys. That year alone got him selected by the Red Wings in the 3rd round of the 83’ draft. Probert would play until his overage season and actually put up very strong numbers. In 84’ he had 73 points in 65 games while having 189 PIMs.

Probert won an OHL championship in his final year in the OHL with the Soo Greyhounds. A year that helped him jump into a full time NHL year the following year. Probert's rookie year he collected 189 PIMs in just 44 games. 2 years later Probert would have one the craziest seasons ever with 29 goals and 62 points in 74 games while also having 398 PIMs. 

It was in 1989 when the troubles started to hit Proberts off ice life. He was caught and arrested for possession of cocaine. He served 3 months in jail as well as 3 months in a halfway house. He was suspended indefinitely from the NHL but was reinstated after his jail time was completed. 

In 1994 still with the Red Wings, Probert crashed into a car on his motorcycle, where he was found driving over 3 times the blood alcohol level. He was caught with cocaine in his system. The Red Wings decided this was the final straw and publicly announced this was it for Probert and his time with the Red Wings. He would sign with the Blackhawks and finish his 17 year career in Chicago, although much of his time there was spent injured. 

Probert was the king of kings when it came to enforcers. While you can argue who was better and who could beat who, the conversation starts and ends with Probert. His opponents described it as punching a wall and getting hit with a hammer. Probert was one of a kind and really embraced the role he was. While having put up 20 goal seasons twice and 40+ point seasons 4 times. Probert was a great example of what hockey was in the 80s and 90s.

Probert had fought many rivals throughout his career, Marty McSorley, Stu Grimson and even Tie Domi, but he arguably had no greater fight than his tilt with Craig Coxe. In a grueling fight that lasted around a minute long the two caught each other with plenty of shots, Coxe even cut open Probert early in the fight. As the two stayed on their fight throwing rights at each other, Coxe was seen losing energy quickly and found himself in a bad spot where Probert landed not one but two uppercuts that split Coxe open. Coxe somehow stayed on his feet and actually skated off on his own, but the bout is marked as one of the best in NHL history.   

It's an electrifying fight that really captured what it was like to fight Probert, give it a watch below

Probert vs Coxe

In 2010 Probert tragically collapsed and died on a boat in his hometown of Windsor. His brain was donated to be studied for concussions and brain damage at Boston University, a nice feature to study a guy who dominated the world he lived in.