Most Irritating Players in the League Today

[hf101]

Recently Brad Marchand was asked by AHL President Dave Andrews during a panel discussion which NHL player irritates him the most at the 2014 Phoenix House Champs for Change dinner in Halifax.

 

His response:

“There are a few guys out there that really irritate.  Tomas Plekanec from Montreal…I hate him. I can’t stand him. No, I probably shouldn’t say that. I dislike him very much.  Now somebody is going to call and get mad at me tomorrow.”

 

 

 

I would think his ex-teammate Shawn Thornton now with the Panthers would be high on that list as well of irritating players.  I can't say I've ever considered Plekanec as one though, but that list might be different from a player's perspective than a fans also.

 

So what other players are high on your list as irritating on the ice?

[fan4ever]

@hf101

 

I  would have to say, anyone in a Pens uniform!

 

or a Rangers uniform,

or a Caps uniform,

or a Devils uniform....

[J0e Th0rnton]

Steve Ott. Raffi Torres. Dustin Brown

[Bertmega]

Dan Carcillo

[flyercanuck]

Uhhh,,,Marchand?

 

 Burrows, Brown, Carcillo, Ribeiro, Ott, Cooke (more dirty than irritating), some find Subban, LaPierre, Neal (see Cooke), Phaneuf (that stupid weekend- Harley- wannabe- biker-look how angry I am glare irritates me) and Crosby when he puts on his whiny face.

[pilldoc]

dare I say Hartnell can be irritating...I know how he used to jaw at everyone..especially Crosby.  Fun to watch while he was in O&B but mand he could get under someones skin....like I said...just ask every player on the Pens team.

[AJgoal]

Marchand, Carcillo, Gallagher, Rinaldo

 

 

Crosby when he puts on his whiny face.

 

So, whenever he's awake?

[TropicalFruitGirl26]

Lots of great answers here for 'irritating' players.

But most of these guys are WELL KNOWN irritants....though I must say, I never thought of Plekanec as irritating either.

 

If Marchand was going to go with some Montreal players, I would have thought he would have said Subban, Emelin, and even, dare I say, Brendan Gallagher, as more irritating before Plekanec.

Ya, I've read a few reports that mention Gallagher's game, while good, to be in the 'irritating realm'.

 

How about some guys who perhaps are NOT as well known to be irritants but good at it nonetheless?

 

Guys like the Rangers' Dominic Moore.  Watched him play quite a bit with the Rangers and Lightning (didn't watch as much of him when he was in SJ), and he talks a bit of trash..not much, but enough, seemingly, to get players to want to take swipes at him.  He also is not above taking an extra shot or two at another player when they are trying to untangle themselves along the boards or in a face off situation.  He does so in such a way that he doesn't get the penalty himself, but certainly draws them from the other team...usually on a retaliation on something HE started. Yea, an irritant....though good on the FO and a good PK guy to have on your team.

 

Or how about Leo Komarov from the Leafs? Almost the same deal as Dominic Moore....except, Komarov will also HIT you like a freight train on top of taking the extra shot or two when the ref isn't looking and drawing penalties for his team from angry players.

 

Nate Prosser, formerly of the Minnesota Wild, now with the St. Louis Blues (dammit, Wild...shoulda re-signed this guy for another two years or so!).

A defenseman who doesn't do anything particularly spectacular, but he WILL:  clear out the porch in front of his goalie, hit and hit hard when given the opportunity, talk some trash before, after and between whistles, and can often be found in the middle of scrums (ones that already had been started or ones HE started) giving players face washes, extra shoves, or '3 inch cross checks', JUST to piss them off.

 

Also, on the Lightning, if he ever gets his game to come together completely, is Richard Panik.  Much like a Brendan Gallagher, he can play a good overall game, INCLUDING, getting under the skin of the opposition with teeth rattling hits, followed by a bit of trash talking, and a propensity to stick his gloves near the faces of opposing players.

Edited July 30, 2014 by TropicalFruitGirl26

[yave1964]

Matt Cooke. Hands down.

 

Milan Lucic. His little ball flicking trick that he does with the stick when he is behind the play and an official cannot see is asinine.

 

Cal Clutterbuck. seldom gets mentioned but a cheap shot artist who don't fight.

 

Corey Perry. Not for his play but because nobody and I mean nobody in the league in the last ten years whines half as much as Perry, on every single play.

 

Steve Ott. So intelligent, gets people to take dumb penalties and then smiles at them.

 

Justin Abdelkader A dirty player on the Wings? Say it aint so. Its so. Hits high from behind quite often. Multiple suspensions in this years worlds.

 

Brandon Dubinsky. Sucker stole my daughters heart and made her a Jacket fan when he signed her jersey. Grrrrr

[blocker]

I've read a few reports that mention Gallagher's game, while good, to be in the 'irritating realm'.

 

I bet most of the guys who complain about Gallagher would love to have him on their team.

[yave1964]

I bet most of the guys who complain about Gallagher would love to have him on their team.

I love the kid, he is an opportunistic guy who has a nose for the net and is not afraid to take a hit in exchange for a shot at the net. I don't care if he is a bit undersized, he is fearless.

[TropicalFruitGirl26]

I bet most of the guys who complain about Gallagher would love to have him on their team.

 

Absolutely, but then again, as far as irritants go (and let's be clear, an irritant isn't necessarily a DIRTY player), isn't that the way of them all?

You piss n moan about them on the other side, and would RATHER have them on your side.

[TropicalFruitGirl26]

Here is another player who I believe is uber irritating...and I think many players in the league will agree... Chris Neil.

 

He is sort of the Swiss Army Knife of irritating players. Guy does it all. Extra pokes n shoves, talks trash, hits, scores, fights, turtles, takes swipes at players over refs trying to break up scrums.....and he too, is one of those good gawd irritants who players hate to deal with, but like him on their team because in addition to all of the above, he also genuinely sticks up for teammates AND is pretty good at working refs, which that in itself is irritating to the other team.

 

Chris Neil. There just isn't an irritating tool that this guy doesn't have an attachment for... 

 

Oh, and Cory Conacher has a bit of irritant in his game as well.

The NHL probably won't get to see much of it if he doesn't stick in the NHL as a regular, but if he ever does, in addition to being a speedy, goes-to-the-net, play-bigger-than-you-are type player, he too talks trash (many times seems to go out of his way to talk trash to the BIGGEST players on the ice   ), almost Theo Fleury-like.

Will trade cross checks with people (some he starts, some he retaliates), give players an extra poke or two, and I have even seen him when he played for the Lightning, stand around the goal crease and "casually" bump the netminder just a bit.....probably in hopes of irritating the goalie enough where Conacher can possibly draw a slash from the man in net.

[Yorick]

I would prefer the term "annoying".

 

Avery (retired f**k), Phaneuf, Lucic, Carcillo, Carkner, Swan Thornton, Marchand, used to be Cooke.

 

Annoying yet in a somewhat good way - John Tortorella's character in dealing with the media. Awesome.

 

Also, Zach Sill of the Penguins. If you have not watched a certain episode of Pens TV In The Room, you won't get it.

[ihabs1993]

Chris Neil

Always a cheap shot artist who has never gotten what he gives out... Gotta give him a break though... He's been stuck in Ottawa his whole career

 

Chris Kreider

This one is a new one. Obviously the goalie running is irritating, but the facial hair he grew in the offseason made him look like an evil villain

 

Brad Marchand

Rat. Done.

 

Chris Pronger

When he was still in the league, the refs would let him do whatever he wanted to. He was just a bully. And there's the Kesler Leg stomping incident... (

) Great skill, big bully, fits in perfectly.

 

Max Lapierre

I loved Max as a Hab, but I understand why everyone hates him. Chirps a bunch, cheap shots, and reckless penalties... Plus, same mustache category as Kreider

 

Mats Sundin

Bit of a throwback. He liked to do his fair share of chirping, but is an absolute legend. Reason I find him so irritating is that he always (ALWAYS) saved his best games for Montreal. I mean he would score almost every game against the Canadiens. Ruined too many Saturday nights for me as a kid....

 

And Finally, Zdeno Chara

Look, I just don't understand the hype around this guy. Take away his size and his shot, and what do you have? A goon. He uses his size as an excuse for cheap shots and picks on all the smallest players in the league. (He always goes right after Brendan Gallagher, but when Parros has something to say, it's amazing how quite big Z gets). Can't stand this guy and I think hes incredibly overrated. People rave about how good he is defensively, but he's getting up there in age. Last year was not one of his best, and you could see how tired he got in just the second round against the Canadiens. I think his Glory days are through. Probably a hall of famer, for some reason, but definitely a despicable player to me  

[blocker]

Take away his size and his shot, and what do you have? A goon

 

I don't like him either.  He's big and intimidating.  But, IMHO,  whenever someone of a somewhat comparable size confronts him, he backs away. 

[jammer2]

Look, I just don't understand the hype around this guy. Take away his size and his shot, and what do you have? A goon. He uses his size as an excuse for cheap shots and picks on all the smallest players in the league. (He always goes right after Brendan Gallagher, but when Parros has something to say, it's amazing how quite big Z gets). Can't stand this guy and I think hes incredibly overrated. People rave about how good he is defensively, but he's getting up there in age. Last year was not one of his best, and you could see how tired he got in just the second round against the Canadiens. I think his Glory days are through. Probably a hall of famer, for some reason, but definitely a despicable player to me

 

 Re: Chara. I don't agree with all of this. He is getting older now, not nearly as useful.....but there was a point when Chara was not overrated, he was dominant. I also don't think he targets smaller players, he targets everyone. He never backs down from a fight, not even the bigger type goons that fight for a living. The truth is, not many want to fight Chara, who wants to make the nightly news getting rag dolled by a guy who is almost 7 foot on skates.

[TropicalFruitGirl26]

As much as I don't like Chara (and it has to do with the fact he wears a B's sweater and has been a nemesis for my Lightning more than anything), I have to agree with @jammer2 's take.

 

Granted, "irritating" can mean different things to different people, so it doesn't mean @ihabs1993 is wrong necessarily, but yea, in his prime, Chara was indeed an intimidating presence on the ice and even the toughest of NHL players had their hands full when dealing with him.

 

Big Z was NEVER one of the better fighters in the league, but his sheer height, reach and strength helped to cover up any deficiencies he may have had as an actual pugilist.

Really, the guy seemed to wrestle more than hit...but the thing is, the man was so large, as jammer put it, guys would get rag dolled all over the place....which WOULD be quite embarrassing if you are the opposing team's enforcer getting thrashed like that.

 

Chara has irritated me only in the sense of how good he has been for so long.

But personally, I can't really place him in the "irritating player" category, populated by the likes of a Brad Marchand, Chris Neil, Jordan Tootoo, or Alex Burrows.

 

Sure, now he is older, slower, and maybe takes a few more shortcuts now to make up for it, but as long as that pterodactyl is patrolling the blue line for the Bruins, skaters WILL be aware of him....and I think "damage" rather than "irritating" is what is going through their heads in regards to Big Z's play.