Top 10 toughest Buffalo Sabres players of all-time
From enforcers to brawlers, a look the Buffalo Sabres best fighters.
Hockey is a rough sport. Players routinely check opponents to the boards and slash, punch and poke their competitors. The Buffalo Sabres have had more than one athlete who’s dropped the gloves. Here’s an examination of the Blue and Gold’s 10 toughest all-time players.
Rob Ray
Sabres enforcer Rob Ray is well-known as one of the most famous goons to put on a Buffalo jersey. Ray spent most of his career with the Sabres, and rarely had fewer than 100 PIM (penalties in minutes) per season until his last three years on the ice. Ray was infamous for losing his jersey, which made it easier for him to win fights. One of the best examples of this is a slugfest he got into with San Jose Sharks defenseman Jim Kyte.
Because of his habit of fighting shirtless, the NHL instituted the Rob Ray Rule , which stated that “a player who engages in a fight and whose sweater is not properly tied-down (jersey properly fastened to pants) and who loses his jersey (completely off his torso), in that altercation, shall receive a game misconduct.”
Andrew Peters
A Rob Ray protégé, Andrew Peters had a career 650 PIM, with the bulk of that time spent as a Sabre. Peters wasn’t afraid to take on all comers and spent plenty of minutes in the penalty box. One of Peters’ most famous fights took place on Feb. 22, 2007 against the Ottawa Senators. Buffalo was leading 3-2 in the second period when Senators’ enforcer Chris Neil blindsided Sabres forward Chris Drury, hitting him from behind. The tension escalated and eventually, Peters exchanged punches with Ottawa goalie Ray Emery.
Emery, along with Peters and Buffalo goalie Marty Biron, were thrown out of the game for fighting. Officials handed out a combined 100 penalty minutes to both teams. The Sabres received 63 minutes, which was a little lopsided, considering Chris Neil started it. Regardless, Peters and the rest of the team (including head coach Lindy Ruff) didn't let Drury's dirty hit go unanswered.
Adam Mair
Not a hulking player, the 6’1’’ Mair would be a contender in most confrontations but was undersized in the NHL. Nevertheless, the Sabres center didn’t shy away from the hockey battlefield. As readers saw in the previous video, Mair was involved in the same brawl versus the Ottawa Senators in 2007 that sent Emery, Peters and Biron packing.
After Neil hit Drury and sent him to the locker room with a head injury and no penalty, Mair didn’t wait for Peters to respond. In the following faceoff, Mair punched opposing Sens player Jason Spezza in the head and a battle royale involving everyone from both benches was on. Mair spent seven seasons with the Sabres, after coming to Buffalo from the L.A. Kings in 2002. While he didn’t spend as much time in the box as other players including Ray and Peters, his PIM minutes were still near 100 or better for at least four of those years.
Paul Gaustad
Paul Gaustad, a 6’5’’ 227 lb. forward, was not the most famous Sabre to go toe-to-toe with adversaries but wasn’t afraid to stand up for his teammates. Nicknamed “Goose”, Gaustad was skilled at winning face-offs and also good at fights. Gaustad’s PIM numbers were a career total 778, with the majority of that time, 585 minutes, as a Sabre.
On Nov. 23, 2011, Gaustad dropped the gloves with notorious Boston Bruins thug Milan Lucic after Lucic ran Sabres goalie Ryan Miller. While Lucic got his punches, so did Gaustad and No. 28 showed he wouldn’t let any hockey bully push the Sabres around.
Cody McCormick
Right winger Cody McCormick only spent four seasons in Buffalo but made use of his fists, especially during 2010-11, when he recorded 142 PIM. He also enjoyed a decent eight goals, 12 assists and 20 total points.
But back to the brawling. McCormick’s finest effort took place almost a year before Gaustad fought Lucic. On Dec. 3, 2010, the Sabres hosted the Columbus Blue Jackets. McCormick faced off against Blue Jackets defenseman Mike Commodore. McCormick dominated the fight from start to finish, pummeling Commodore to the ice before the refs broke it up and escorted both players to their respective penalty boxes.
Patrick Kaleta
Fan favorite Patrick Kaleta spent all seven of his NHL seasons in Buffalo. Not a high-scorer, he was more skilled at throwing punches than getting pucks in the net. His willingness to dance with his fists endeared him to supporters in the stands.
Ironically, Kaleta got into fisticuffs with Columbus right winger Derek Dorsett at the same game Gaustad and Lucic clashed, Dec. 3, 2010. The two started brawling in front of the Jackets’ bench midway through the third period. Kaleta controlled the fight from start to finish, getting most of the hits until a pair of zebras wrestled both opponents to the ice.
Larry Playfair
Defenseman Larry Playfair played for 14 seasons in the NHL, an impressive record for a guy who liked to mix it up with opposing players. The D-man was a Sabre from 1978 until 1986, when he joined the L.A. Kings. Playfair came back to the Queen City in 1988 and skated for two more years in Buffalo.
Playfair fought many players during his career, but one memorable moment came against the Boston Bruins on Nov. 9, 1983 in Boston. Playfair put up his dukes with Bruins forward Terry O’Reilly. The Sabres defenseman got the better of O’Reilly, landing more punches than deflecting them and even dragging O’Reilly over to the Sabres’ net.
Jim Schoenfeld
Paul Gaustad and Larry Playfair weren’t the only Sabres athletes to tangle with members of the Boston Bruins. Defenseman Jim Schoenfeld got into it against Bruins left winger Wayne Cashman during Schoenfeld’s first year in Buffalo, on Dec. 13, 1972. Cashman tried to prevent an icing in the corner of the Sabres’ zone where the zambonis came out and Schoenfeld checked him against the boards.
The only problem was doors to the runway weren’t locked properly and the two opponents went flying through the exit. Rather than call if off, Schoenfeld and Cashman continued to slug it out off the ice. Two linesmen tried to drag the dueling duo back onto the rink, but the two were too busy fighting to consider a change of scenery.
Schoenfeld would engage in many more scuffles with opponents during his long hockey career. However, his tussle versus Cashman became of one of the NHL’s most unusual and as a result, well-known.
Dylan Cozens
Most hockey observers don’t picture Sabres center Dylan Cozens when they think of tough guys. Despite this misconception, most Blue and Gold fans know better. Cozens is willing to fight anybody anytime and he’s had his share of dustups during four seasons competing for Buffalo. His PIM stats aren’t as high as Rob Ray or Andrew Peters’, but 154 minutes over four years is a lot of fighting.
Much like Gaustad, Cozens is always ready to defend fellow players from cheap shots and dirty hits. A prime example came on in matchup against the New York Rangers on Apr. 27, 2021. When Rangers center Kevin Rooney hit Sabres left winger Drake Caggiula in front of Buffalo’s bench, Cozens wasted no time responding. Cozens pummeled Rooney to the ice, not before getting in some good licks.
John Scott
Sabres left winger John Scott was one of the franchise’s feared enforcers. The 6’8” 260 lb. Scott wasn’t afraid to take on anyone who went after his teammates. He didn’t sit in the box as much as other Buffalo tough guys, yet, his PIM stats were still higher than most guys on the roster. Scott only played for two seasons in the Queen City, but he made the most of his short time with the Sabres.
There are plenty of John Scott fights to choose from. One notable incident was on Jan. 31, 2013. Once again, it was a contest versus the Boston Bruins (who else?). The Sabres brought in Scott that year as a response to Milan Lucic running Ryan Miller. Scott and Bruins’ enforcer Shawn Thornton had a history of bad blood, so it was no surprise to see those two drop the gloves.
Scott beat Thorton so badly with some overhanded right punches the Boston brute suffered a concussion and didn’t return to the game. Scott’s win was so one-sided he even expressed concern about Thornton’s condition, asking his team’s trainers if they knew how Thornton was faring after the beat-down.
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