Earlier this week we asked you to contribute entries heralding your favorite hockey goon of all time. Response has been great, although there is still room for a lot more. We’ll be posting the best and holding a vote so that our readers can eventually pick the winner. Here is the first – Bobsluggo’s take on Dennis Bonvie:
Without a doubt my favorite goon of all time is Dennis “The Menace” Bonvie. The guy tears almost everyone he fights apart. He has amassed over 4,000 penalty minutes in North America. The guy isn’t a huge hulking, knuckle-dragging goon like Brashear, yet will throw with the best of them and sticks up for his mates game in and game out and has the heart of a lion. Dennis has gone from Edmonton to Pittsburgh, Ottawa and Boston. I would have liked to see Pittsburgh bring him up to protect Sid and Geno.
I own a Bonvie game worn Wilkes-Barre jersey, a pro signed Hershey bears, and my favorite is a signed helmet to me Sluggo from Dennis. Originally from Pittsburgh, I moved to Tucson in 1993. My nephew is still back there and plays in mites. One time they were going to play in a tournament in Hershey when Dennis was there. I sent a helmet with my sister so If the kids got the chance after the game to meet the players, I could get an autograph. Not only did Dennis sign my helmet and pose for several photos,as he was signing, my brother in law called me and told Dennis I was a huge fan but couldn’t be there. Dennis got on the phone and said hello and we talked a few seconds! I’ll enclose that pic. Tell me what baseball or basketball ego would do that!
In a league that has focused so much on speed and finesse, the big goon who can’t skate no longer has a place on the bench, team or payroll. Dennis can play and handles himself well, I really wish he would get a call-up to the big club. I know hockey players are more down to earth and “grassroots” than any other professional sports, but it really seems like the blue-collar grinding tough-guys are the humblest of them all. I own every Bonvie card, have a Hershey Bears, Binghamton Senators bobble-heads, a “Bonvie in the box” and I bought my nephew back in PA one of each as well. Because I am such a fan, now all of the kids on his mites team are Bonvie fans as well! They just made the trip a few weeks back to see Wilkes-Barre and Hershey again just because they enjoyed the tournament so much.
I have a friend who lives in Wilkes-Barre and he said Dennis does just as much for the youth hockey there as he did with my nephew. You couldn’t meet a nicer guy on the street or face a tougher one on the ice. Dennis is clearly a fan favorite and they say the arena in Wilkes Barre is “The House that Bonvie Built!”I can’t wait to send this and see who else voted for Dennis. I hope I win, but if I don’t I hope at least another Bonvie fan does. Bob “Sluggo” Schuster picks Dennis Bonvie as the all-time favorite Goon!
Dennis is perhaps the best fighter the AHL has ever known. He is a fan favorite and to the little fans, he is the greatest player.
We were at a signing where Dennis was the player of the night. He had two young boys come over to him with a hockey stick and Dennis was showing them some moves with the stick. The look of the boys eyes were priceless.
He is a teacher to the other players at the “Little Pens” as he shows them what the game is really all about. When to play hard and when to take on someone without costing your team points. The players respect him as do most of the fans at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.
He should go down as one of the best overall players in AHL history.
Dennis is a classy guy….i got to meet him a couple of years ago after a Lowell-Scranton/Wilkes-Barre game…most penalized player in hockey…who knew 🙂