Former Detroit Red Wings forward Martin Lapointe was as tough as they come. Not only did he score timely playoff goals, but he absolutely knew how to throw his weight around, and dropped the gloves to stand up for himself and his teammates.
http://gty.im/337516
Let’s throw it back to an Original 6 matchup at Joe Louis Arena between the Red Wings and Toronto Maple Leafs. Already seething after watching a teammate take a vicious check into the boards from Lapointe, Maple Leafs forward Kris King leveled Detroit’s Slava Kozlov shortly afterwards.
When the play stopped, Lapointe was tripped by King, and responded quickly and decisively:
As commentator Mickey Redmond said, “King had his chin out there….Lapointe said, ‘Well if you’re gonna put it out there, I’m gonna tattoo it a little bit, and he did!'”