30 Dirty Players in 30 Days. The Montreal Canadiens

Posted Sunday, August 16. 2009 by Warren Baker
Filed under 30 Dirty Players in 30 Days, Montreal Canadiens, Nilan, Chris

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In their latest 30-in-30 feature, NHL.com talks a lot about the extreme changes made in the offseason by Montreal GM Bob Gainey.

Extreme is a good word to describe Montreal's dirtiest player of all time. Chris "Knuckles" Nilan holds the record for the most penalty minutes per game. Over 16 seasons, Nilan averaged 4.42 penalty minutes per game. That's just shy of a fighting major in every NHL game he ever played in.

Nilan knows how to get everything out of a game. He holds the NHL record for penalties in a game with 10. He holds the team record for most penalty minutes in a game for both the Montreal Canadiens (39 PIM) and the New York Rangers (35 PIM).

I know, I know, broken record. Penalty minutes don't equal dirty play. But come on. 4 and a half minutes per game over his entire career? Sure, lots of fighting majors and misconducts make up that number, but you have to think that a lot of those minutes are from dirty plays like butt-ending, suckerpunching and puck throwing.

Puck throwing?

Yes, puck throwing. From The New York Times Nov 29, 1981

"In [a] Nov. 21 game in Montreal, Nilan and Baxter were sent to the penalty box for roughing after a brief skirmish on the ice. While in the penalty box, Nilan took a frozen practice puck from a bucket under the bench and threw it at Baxter's head."

And speaking of dirty. I wonder if they washed this bathing suit before putting it back on the rack?

"Yet again, Chris Nilan went out fighting. Seventeen years after he ended his multimillion-dollar hockey career, the former NHL enforcer engaged in a bloody brawl with two security workers Wednesday as he allegedly tried to walk away from the South Shore Plaza wearing a purloined Tommy Bahama swimsuit under his shorts."

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