>PAT VERBEEK

WHEN YOU’RE THIS ANNOYING, they call you ‘The Little Ball of Hate.’ Verbeek remains the only player in NHL history to score 500 goals and accumulate 2,500 PIM. In the summer of 1985, after his third season in the NHL, a farming accident resulted in one of his thumbs being cut off. The thumb was saved and reattached, and Verbeek was able to resume his career. He later joked that the cement drained out of his hand when the accident happened. Verbeek joined the OHL’s Sudbury Wolves one year after Dale Hunter left and picked up right where Hunter left off. Verbeek seriously cut the leg of Washington Capitals defenseman Rod Langway in 1988, and while the NHL ruled the incident an accident, there are those who have their doubts.