These days the term “Goon” is a title that is dated in the 1970’s and 1980’s. The modern day tough guy can be found atop the NHL stat leaders in hits and not necessarily penalty minutes. Of the top five in penalty minutes, only Ottawa’s Chris Neil also joins the party as a top five hitter. The two are hardly mutually exclusive, but often times perennial wrecking balls like Ryan Callahan, Dustin Brown and Luke Schenn are less likely to drop the gloves after a bone-crunching check.

The role of the enforcer in the NHL has been reduced to almost a cartoon caricature of what it used to be. Players like Bob Probert and Tie Domi just don’t exist anymore. Even the power forwards who used to throw down, like Brendan Shanahan,  Gerard Gallant, Wendel Clark, Gary Roberts or Mark Messier are a thing of the past.

Jarome Iginla won’t drop the gloves as quickly as he used to. At 35, he has better things to do. Milan Lucic fits the mold pretty well for the Boston Bruins, but his team wants him on the ice and not the sin bin. Chris Neil of the Senators might be the only surviving dinosaur from another time. He’s not necessarily the enforcer prototype, but he hits and fights when called upon.

It’s a sign of the times for a kindler gentler game that is as much focused on player safety as it is putting butts in the seats. The movement to ban fighting will never hold water in my opinion, but it seems that the power forward with the power fists is an endangered species.

From a fantasy hockey perspective it makes no sense to pick up a tough guy on any team unless they have some discernable skill other than accruing penalty minutes. Half the time, an enforcer is more likely to end up as a healthy scratch than hit the ice for the token 2:18 that their coach will typically allow them to skate.

So fantasy owners who are loading your rosters with the highlight reel high scorers, take some time and do a little cross-stat research and see who puts up the numbers on the offensive side and who piles up the numbers along the boards and in the corners.