Big bad Brad MacMillan

great video on macmillan. and yes blake you are right atleast i dont think that i have seen him hesitate at all,not even once and let me add this when hes (mac) ready to go hes ready to go and you better either be ready to go or you better beable to tuck your head between your legs quick and hope he doesnt beat the dog crap out of you to bad, atleast from what i have seen anyways,oh by the way which i love watching. he has been fun watching fight this year dont think anyone has beat him yet and id say no one has even been close and hes fighting the big guys too. id say mitchell has been his best compentention and mac still hammered him pretty well. keep it up mac!!!!l

great video on macmillan! and i agree with you Blake, i havent seen him hesitate once this year. as of matter of fact when (Mac) is ready to go, you better be ready to go or you better beable to tuck your head between your legs fast, and just hope he dont beat the dog snot out of you while your trying to turttle. i havent seen him (MAC) loose a fight yet i havent even seen anyone come close and hes fighting the big guys too. mitchell was probaly his best compentention this season, and mac still hammered him pretty well. ive enjoyed watching him take care of business this season. (KEEP IT UP MACMILLAN)

NICE

macmillan has been fun to watch for sure. your right he doesnt hesitate at all as of matter of fact when hes ready to go you better be ready to go or be fast at tucking your head between your legs and just hope he dont hurt you to bad while your trying to turttle. he fights the big guys and he wins i havent seen macmillan loose a fight this year and i havent even seen anyone come close to beating him id say mitchell was his best compention and MAC still hammered him pretty bad. MAC has my fan favorite vote for this season so far. keep it up Macmillan!!!! oh however i would like to see macmillan check a little more than he has been though.

Great job Blake. I enjoyed the video a lot.

Well-done Blake. You should be very proud of the way that video and the others so far have turned out. Very very nice. I really like to see the players interviewed and being able to see them...makes them alot more human and it is alot easier to connect with these guys. Excellent job.

Blake, has there been a tougher fighter (Komet) than Brad MacMillan in the past 10 years that you can remember? I mean, this guy fights anyone and everyone no matter what the size or situation. He protects his teammates and lays out the beatings on his opponents. Seems like everytime he fights, the opposing fighter leaves the ice bloody. It seems to me that this guy feels the role of enforcer better than anyone we have had since maybe Fletch or Bezeau?

Steve Parsons was only here for 17 games, but he was pretty amazing. I'd say Brad compares favorably with Andre Roy. I'm not sure anybody will ever be in Fletch's class. He could change a game just be being on the bench. I've always had a lot of respect for Kevin MacDonald, too.

There are photos by staff photographers Ellie Bogue and Brian Tombaugh and freelance photographer Nic Pyle in this week's video. They did a great job of getting me the images I needed to produce the clip. I intended to include their names in post-clip credits. Unfortunately, after a long day the credits slipped my mind, but they deserve credit.

BTW ... Not many will ever make it to Fletch's class, but Mac is one bad dude on the ice. It's no wonder no one wants to tangle with him because he throws 40 punches a fight, and you're gonna take half of them. There may have been more intimidating fighters, but few that have been able to use their body position to connect their shots as well and as often.

Off the ice, in the limited time we had to chat, my take was that Mac seems to be about as nice a guy as there is in the K's room. Very personable. With guys like Guy and Chaulk around, that's saying something.

I'll give you Parsons. He had that Fletch sorda feeling. When he went onto the ice, you knew all heck was about to break loose.

I just think that Brad does a great job for his size. It is fun to watch other teams' so called "tough-guy/agitator" dodge him every game. It was fun up at K-zoo on Saturday, even though the Komets got punked, to watch MacMillan go onto the ice and Willis skate off the ice. They were on the ice at least one time together, and Willis gave Mac a cheapshot and Willis refused to fight him when challenged. He skated away like a scared cat being chased by a bulldog. It will be interesting to see what happens this weekend.

Hope the Komets can bounce-back and get back to playing good hockey again.

parsons is a good one, u also have scott hamilton,didnt have him long either, but made caos on the ice everytime he was out there. then carl nordstrom was another one. then woods and morency. go back in time sean gagnon is one of the toughest, shane kenny, michel massie, then along with fletch u had butters, bawa, kaminski. little further and then some the good ole boys: big bad john hilworth, steve salvucci, pembrook,fitchner, baldwin,etc, etc...shall i go on?

You have all left out a pretty good fighter. One who coached the team and still has contacts and great respect in all of hockey. That would be Robbie Laird. Tough as nails. He knew when to go and when not to. Those who faught him remember him well. The best one punch fight I ever saw was "Big John" Hillworth and Loren Mullican (sp) of Toledo. Knocked him out cold. Blake you might have been 10 or 12 years old when that happened. The punch went right under his mask and lifted him off of the ice, goalie eqp. and all. I would say he was out for about 10 minutes.

when i was younger i always thought that fletch was the badest all time but i will be honest as far as fighting goes though,i dont think he was our best all time if you were to ask me. if you go back and watch old videos fletch was more of a grab and tug fighter he was big and stong and used his size very well and was darn good at his job and protecting his teamates but as far as throwing punches. well thats a different story,fletch could throw dont get me wrong, but as far as pound for pound, i just dont think he was our best, and i dont think that fletch is in a class of his own,fletch was proud to protect his teamates but if you were to ask steven himself he would even tell you that he shouldnt be and dont belong in a class of his own.

Laaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrry is coming to town friday, can't wait, hope he gets sunburned.

I like Mac, nice video/pictures etc.

Laaaaaaaaarrrrrrry! Laaaaaaaaaarrrrrry! Laaaaaaaaarrrrry!!! start the bus Laaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrry start the bus!!!

You hit it right on the nail, Dennis...ROBO!!!!!!! One tough cookie for such a little guy, and of course, my favorite Komet player of all time!

Hey, since we're going back in time to the good ole days, how about Dave Norris and D'Arcy Keating? They could hold their own too.

another good two, yes!! might as well throw in there Terry Mcdougall as well and others.

Ok this is going back a little ways, but what about Cal Purinton? I'm not old enough to have seen him play but my mom always talks about how no one fought like him!

No Andy Beazu mention?

The mention of Purinton reminds me of two incidents involving the best Komet fighter I remember from the late 60s through the mid 70s. His name was Bob Fitchner and I believed he only played one season, the 74 cup team.

The first incident occurred in front of the goal the Ks were defending. Purinton, who was facing the goal, took a vicious cross-check from behind, leaving him unconscious on the ice. Eventually, he was carried off the ice, and I believe he missed several games. As an aside, Purinton had been a real tough guy in the lHL but, by this time was no longer an enforcer so was often tested based on his reputation. Before play resumed, Marc Boileau sent Fitchner out on a shift change. Immediately after the faceoff, Fitchner dropped his gloves and pummeled one of the opposing players. Back in those days, retaliation was immediate and was expected. In other words, the players largely policed themselves.

Second incident involved a player for the Des Moines Oak Leafs, Battleship Bob Kelly. The nickname was appropriate. A former NHLer "on the way down" whose reputation as a fighter was well known in hockey circles. I normally sat in the corners but this was a Wed. game with the standard 3500 on hand so there were lots of seats at center ice. I was just a few rows up from the benches. I don't recall how many shifts, if any, Fitchner had before Kelly made his first appearance, but I am positive that when Kelly did come for his first shift Fitchner was there and Kelly was definitely looking for him. Both guys were in the 6'4" + range which was not common in those days. Again, Fitchner was the clear winner, landing several hard shots without taking much punishment. Neither player lost his balance and the linesmen broke it up. The thing I remember about the outcome was how the Ks, and Fitchner, sent a message that was repeated throughout that season- you won't beat us in our building.

While writing I thought of a third incident during that Turner Cup Championship season. During the playoffs against Flint, Fitch got into a fight with one of the Generals. After dispatching him, Fitch skated in front of the Flint bench and waved as if to invite anyone to leave the bench and take him on. No one took him up.

The next year Fitchner signed with a team in the World Hockey Association where he spent a few seasons before retiring. He was a solid offensive player, a tough guy who could fight with the best, but most importantly, a terrific teammate who had the guy's backs.

Dougy didn't need to fight...he had Robo!

why would anyone? he was fun to watch and he could check and he would throw with anyone but he was no where near one of our best fighters of all time he was wild and wasnt that good of a fighter untill Sean Gagnon worked with andy that season teaching him how to hockey fight better, instead of trying to get that one knock out punch in. you could see a big improvement in andy's fighting over half way threw that season, after sean worked with him but take nothing away from andy but he just wasnt one of our best all time.

Countdown to Laaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrry, somebody get twister fired up.

We also left off Dale Baldwin. A street fighter. The more you hit him the tougher he got. Not the biggest or the meanest just one of the toughest. He protected his team mates. He was also an all around nice guy. Still is. Fort Wayne is his home and we can thank Pepsi for that. Well we don't want to leave out his wife. She might have had a something to do with that also. Remember Rusty Patenaude "Chief" one bad due. The most notable Bad Guy we have left off played one season and went straight to the NHL and the Montreal Canadians. "Sir" John Ferguson, when he hit you it hurt. Don't forget the oldest rookie ever to get to the NHL who played with John Ferguson on that 59-60 Komet team, Con Madigan. I may have dated myself, Oh well! it's fun to remember. Look at what you started Blake, Thanks!

we dropped into 2nd place overnight. i know its still early.

Well this goes wayyyyyyyyyyy back but one of the best fighters ever here was a man by the name of Con Madigan. He was only 5-9 and about 180 lbs. but boy could he throw them. He played on the 59-60 Komets team along with another tough guy named John Ferguson.....later of the Canandiens....two of the best here! Madigan was also a former golden gloves boxer before he got into hockey....then he goes on to play a role in the movie Slapshot....one of three former Komets in that movie.

Sorry, no Laaaaaarrrrrrrrry tonight. Port Huron Paper says the other goalie is starting both games this weekend. Oh well, I guess he couldn't take the heat in "The Jungle".

well then the komets need to just lite up that lamp behind there back up goalie then just maybe crrrrrrrryyyyyyy baby laaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrry will be forced into playing. LETS GO KOMETS!!!!!!

sorry for the repeat comments from me at the top of this i kept submiting them because they werent going threw well at least i dint think they were anyways it took awhile for them to pop up. so again im sooorrrrrrrrrrry

Tim you, me and Chaser remember them both. I guess we are getting "old". Well at least you and I are. Chase may live forever. At least I hope so. I am sure they are in both upcoming books. You just can not leave them out. They played before Blake was born. At least I think so. Go Komets! We need two wins this week-end. Our building "The Jungle" has to be tough for the visiting teams to win in. Al will have the guys ready.

Great Comments everyone. Good to see fun discussion on a blog for a change.