5 Dirtiest New Jersey Devils Players In Franchise History

By Nick Villano

Dirty Devils Players

Anton Volchenkov New Jersey Devils — The New Jersey Devils are one of the best defensive franchises in NHL history. While having some Hall of Famers and possibly the best goalie ever helps that notion, so does having some rough, hard-nosed players who put it all on the line. At times, these players are perceived (sometimes rightfully so) as dirty. These five players have heard that label before.

5. Randy McKay

5. Randy McKay

5. Randy McKay

5. Randy McKay — The Crash Line was famous for lifting those early Cup-winning Devils teams. They scored clutch goals and would get into the face of everyone in their way. Randy McKay became one of those in-your-face players. He eventualy evolved to be a 20-goal scorer, but there was a time when he'd rather knock an opponent out than knock in a goal.

4. Krzysztof Oliwa

4. Krzysztof Oliwa

4. Krzysztof Oliwa

4. Krzysztof Oliwa — In one season (97-98), Krzysztof Oliwa was in the penalty box for 295 minutes. That is a single-season Devils record. He definitely did not care who you were or why, he was going to defend his teammates and hit you, hard. Some of those hits may have been of the blindside variety but who's counting.

3. Cam Janssen

3. Cam Janssen

3. Cam Janssen

3. Cam Janssen — Cam Janssen has six NHL goals in 336 games. To pull off such a feat as a forward, you must be good at something else. Janssen was very good at getting under the other team's skin. He did not need to score goals, he just needed to stop the other team from wanting to score. He would drop the other team's focus by messing with them.

2. Jim McKenzie

2. Jim McKenzie

2. Jim McKenzie

2. Jim McKenzie — Jim McKenzie could knock you into next week, as the picture shows. He did not get a ton of publicity, but he was sure able to get the attention of players on the ice. He played his final career years with the Devils, where he lost a step so had to hit more. He ended his career with over 1700 penalty minutes.

1. Bobby Holik

1. Bobby Holik

1. Bobby Holik

1. Bobby Holik — One time, Bobby Holik hit his opponent with the butt end of his stick off the faceoff. He was dirty before dirty was cool. He was a cheap shot artist when he was younger. He eventually developed into much more than that, but his early years on the Crash Line were not good for the other team.

Teams in this article »

New Jersey Devils

Share On Facebook

Share