The NHL may be promoted as a goody two shoes type of league, but please trust us when we say that professional hockey in North America isn't always on the straight and narrow. There are plenty of troublesome players (and situations, for that matter) who are ready to rumble on and off the ice. Not only that, those players and situations can spark one or more disagreements and we're not just referring to the typical on-ice incidents like, say, line brawls and verbal exchanges. We're talking about the off-ice incidents that have an impact on the players' personal lives that may or may not get into their heads.
No matter what happens to a player following a rather private fiasco with another player, the fiasco itself makes for an excellent entry to be included in an article such as this one in particular. It doesn't matter if you're familiar with the old-school players or not because you got to know a little bit of everything, you know? The 90s may be a long time ago, but it's the 90s, man. The hockey rivalries certainly have already passed, but they'll never be forgotten because some NHLers continue to hold grudges towards other NHLers, which can cause folks on both sides of the ice to play a fast-paced, heart-stopping crazy type of game for the general public to take in and enjoy with all their hearts.
These are eight NHL stars who still don't like each other and seven who are still friends.
15 Still Don't Like Each Other: Brian McGrattan and Chris Neil
Enforcers are some of the toughest players in the NHL. That being said, they're often not known for their affection and compassion towards one another.
Boston Bruins' Brian McGrattan has never really cared for Ottawa Senators' Chris Neil either. Back in 2010, Boston shutout Ottawa 4-0. At the end of the game, Neil definitely got into it with Dennis Seidenberg (defenseman), and the end results weren't pretty at all.
As you can hear in this video, Andy Brickley and Jack Edwards said that Neil was a straight-up, honest player. Brickley and Edwards were most definitely correct as Neil, but let's not forget about McGrattan's straightforward ways.
Neil and McGrattan were teammates as Senators from the 2005-06 to 2007-08 NHL season.
McGrattan once told Boston.com about Neil's actions, saying: “That’s the way he does it...He’ll do something where he knows he’ll get kicked out of the game and won’t have to come back and fight anybody. I’ve been around him long enough to know he does that. Then I’m the one who usually has to fight his battles the next time. It’s typical.”
14 Still Friends: Peter Forsberg and Markus Naslund
There are six forwards who were born and raised in Ornskoldsvik, Sweden. Peter Forsberg (center) and Markus Naslund (left winger) were two of those Swedes who were brought up in the same town as young boys.
Ornskoldsvik is a small town with a population of nearly 33,000 that has had a fairly big impact on the NHL. Despite the fact that Forsberg has pretty much had a larger portfolio than Naslund, the brotherly pair remain friends up to this day. When both of them are back in their old hometown, they'd try to make time to see each other to hangout and have a meal or two together. Also, it has been reported that Naslund's wife, Lotta, is a good cook who can prepare traditional Swedish meals—not just for her husband, but also her hubby's bros. There's nothing better than food when you need something quick to bring two or more guys together.
13 Still Can't Stand Each Other: Todd Fedoruk and Joni Pitkanen
The Philadelphia Flyers punched their ticket to the 2010 Stanley Cup Final, only to lose to the Chicago Blackhawks in six games. Also, don't forget that the Flyers were bottom feeders just three years prior to the 2010 SCF, so they were left disappointed and bummed out after the hard-fought, six-game series against the Blackhawks.
The Flyers, commonly known as the Broad Street Bullies, dropped the gloves at times and this led to some tough, intense fighting on the ice.
For example, Philadelphia suffered an eight-game losing skid, which caused Todd Fedoruk (enforcer) to let his emotions get the best of him during one of the Flyers' practices. As a result, Fedoruk punched Joni Pitkanen (defenseman) in the face, but Pitkanen refused to punch him back. Ouch!
Well, at least we're well aware that Fedoruk doesn't give a darn about Pitkanen, who obviously seems to be one of his punching bags.
12 Still Friends: Roberto Luongo and Eddie Lack
Roberto Luongo and Eddie Lack are two goalies who have both played for the Vancouver Canucks. The pair might've drifted a little bit apart when Luongo was traded to the Florida Panthers in exchange for Jacob Markstrom (goalie) and Shawn Matthias (center) in 2014, but they continue to keep in touch in order to remain close to each other.
Lack, on the other hand, was traded to the Carolina Hurricanes in exchange for a 2015 third round pick and a 2016 seventh round pick in 2015.
In an interview with Josh Cooper of Yahoo! Sports, Lack praised Luongo, saying: "I’m always going to be grateful for him...My first training camp, we were roommates...He took me to breakfast and made me feel welcome with the team and that means a lot. Obviously we had a special relationship off the ice too. Just loved playing with him."
11 Still Can't Stand Each Other: Brendan Shanahan and Craig Janney
The NHL is just like any other professional sports league. Hockey players are no strangers to controversy off the ice. For example, Brendan Shanahan's wife Catherine was once married to Craig Janney. It's a fairly strange story that caused a lot of St. Louis Blues to believe that the trade of Shanahan in exchange for Chris Pronger (defenseman) happened solely because of the awkward situation. With them being teammates, we could only imagine what actually happened behind the scenes.
At least the Blues did something about the apparent situation involving Shanahan instead of letting the incident rock their locker room on a regular basis. Janney eventually found out about Catherine's relationship with Shanahan, and boy, was he furious. There was probably more than fighting in the locker room, but it's certainly an understandable reason as to why they still don't speak.
10 Still Friends: Shane Doan and Jarome Iginla
Shane Doan and Jarome Iginla are two forwards who go way back. Aside from the fact they both played junior hockey with the Kamloops Blazers of the WHL (Western Hockey League), they were also drafted seventh and 11th overall at the 1995 NHL Draft, respectively.
Shane, however, might be the bigger name among the two because his father, Bernie, is a former NHL player who was drafted 80th overall in the sixth round by the St. Louis Blues at the 1971 NHL Amateur Draft and briefly played with the Kansas City Blues and Toledo Hornets.
Doan announced his retirement in 2017. Although he has never won a Stanley Cup, he played more NHL games than any other player who has never got to hold Lord Stanley. Despite all his successes, he kept in touch with his respectable pal Jarome, who has been described as “a warm, welcoming individual who goes above and beyond when it comes to making his teammates feel comfortable.”
9 Still Can't Stand Each Other: Sean Avery and Brenden Morrow
Chances are, you already know that Sean Avery (left winger) is one of the most hated players in NHL history. Maybe you've hated him for a while, too.
Anyways, Avery was best known for his agitating style of play as well as his controversial behavior on and off the ice. He wasn't much of a friendly guy who had a lot of advocates.
Brenden Morrow was one of Avery's earliest critics.
When the Dallas Stars captain heard the news that the troublesome defenseman signed a four-year, $15.5 million contract and joined the team, Morrow repeatedly talked about how much he hated Avery. Morrow once told the Dallas News: "I imagine if we wouldn't have signed him, I would have said I still hate him."
Fortunately, Avery spent just one year in Dallas before clearing waivers to return to the New York Rangers in 2009. Still, Avery's departure didn't stop both parties from taking indirect shots at each other.
8 Friends: Claude Lemieux and Darren McCarty
Claude Lemieux and Darren McCarty may be light years away from becoming best friends, but it's amazing how the two have always been civil towards each other considering the old-school Colorado Avalanche and Detroit Red Wings rivalry in the 90s.
The personal rivalry, of course, was the action-packed series of moments when Lemieux delivered a cheap shot to Kris Draper (center) and McCarty, who played the role of an enforcer, went after Lemieux in retaliation. This led to a notorious Wings-Avs brawl when McCarty began swinging and Lemieux tried to get away.
The two ran into each other at a meet-and-greet, where they signed autographs together. The feeling was definitely mutual at the Gibraltar Trade Center in Mount Clemens, Michigan. McCarty told the Detroit Free Press: "I hated Claude as a hockey player, but the player and the man are not the same. He’s a really good guy." There you have it.
7 Still Can't Stand Each Other: Sergei Fedorov and Pavel Bure
Although Russian NHL stars Pavel Bure and Sergei Fedorov never played on the same team together, they were former teammates on the Russian national team as well as the 1998 Winter Olympics team in Nagano, Japan.
Though, gold medals weren't the only thing that these two men were chasing. They were also chasing Russian tennis star Anna Kournikova, who was arguably the most famous female tennis player who has never won a singles title in her career. Of course, Kournikova got the attention not only the two, but also the world with her stunning beauty, so we don't blame the fellas for falling for her.
Fedorov claimed that he was married to Kournikova in 2001, but it has also been reported that Bure proposed to Kournikova in 2000. Being that Kournikova began seeing Fedorov so soon after Bure, things must have been awkward for a long time.
6 Still Friends: Gino Odjick and Pavel Bure
Here's a more positive entry of Pavel Bure, who was friends with Gino Odjick (left winger) when they played together for the Vancouver Canucks. They both played for other NHL teams after departing from the Canucks, but they managed to remain close friends who continuously managed to keep tabs on each other. Odjick told The Province: "When I played, if anyone went into Pavel's airspace, he was getting a beating...In the last four years of my career, we didn't play together. But no one dared touch him, even still."
"I was on another team and if they touched him, they were going to play me sooner or later. And that's just the way it was."
Some bad blood between Bure and his former coach Pat Quinn delayed the Canucks from retiring his No. 10 jersey retired, but thanks to some convincing statements from a legit bro, Odjick, Vancouver finally retired the jersey in their rafters on November 2, 2013.
5 Still Can't Stand Each Other: P.K. Subban and Brendan Gallagher
There were many rumblings when P.K. Subban was unexpectedly traded out of Montreal two years ago that the reason he was traded were non-hockey related. As two years have passed since the trade, it's becoming clear that Subban wasn't unanimous in the Habs locker room. Some teammates just didn't mesh well with Subban's grand personality and penchant for grabbing the spotlight, and that frustration was vented by P.K.'s former teammate Brendan Gallagher. In a game between the Nashville Predators and Montreal Canadiens at the Bell Centre this past season, Gallagher and Subban were at each other's throats all game, with trash talk going both ways and both guys never hesitated to take shots at the other.
After the game, Gallagher sounded like he was finally getting some old feelings off his chest: "He was talking, doing what he does," Gallagher said, according to Sportsnet's Eric Engels. "But, like I said, I don't know why we're talking about him. That's kind of what he wants. He came in here and tried to make it about P.K. Subban, which is what he does."
In turn, when asked about Gallagher scoring and throwing P.K. a cocky smile, Subban responded: “I just saw the blood dripping down his face when he tried to hit me and fell down. So that’s what I saw. I didn’t see anything else..
4 Still Friends: Chris Chelios and Gary Suter
Former defensemen Chris Chelios and Gary Suter are two of the biggest names in hockey history even though the two only played together with the Chicago Blackhawks in the 90s. Chelios served as a Hawks captain from 1995-99 while Suter finished his Hawks contract on a high note with 42 points in the 1997-98 season and moved on to sign a three-year, $10 million contract with the San Jose Sharks as an unrestricted free agent.
Despite the short time the two have known each other, their relationship went beyond the usual teammate story.
They had a bromance dating back to the good old days where they almost played college hockey at the University of Wisconsin. They were mentor-mentee teammates and even shared a parent-godparent relationship as Chelios is the godfather to Suter's son Jared. Now this is a really close friendship between two well-known guys who are close to each other and shared achievements with one another.
3 Still Can't Stand Each Other: Patrick Roy and Mario Tremblay
If the name Mario Tremblay rings a bell, it's not because he was a teammate of Patrick Roy, but the new head coach who often mocked Roy's limited English-speaking skills and pretty much became the most despised Montreal Canadiens head coach, despite being a fan favorite among Habs fans back in the 70s.
Tremblay was basically the reason why Roy was traded to the Colorado Avalanche in exchange for Jocelyn Thibault, Martin Rucinsky and Andrei Kovalenko.
Although the coach and goalie are back on speaking terms, there's likely some tension that continues to linger because the Habs have been without a cup since the 1993 Stanley Cup Final and Roy might've been the perfect goalie who could've helped out the wretched French Canadian-based team, but the past is in the past and Roy didn't really have any control over his future as an NHL star.
2 Still Friends: Wayne Gretzky and Mark Messier
Wayne Gretzky, better known as The Great One, and Mark Messier, better known as The Moose, are two of the best hockey players of all-time for their scoring and strength, respectively.
They were high-caliber legends with stacked resumes that continue to attract attention by fans up to this day.
The two have actually been friends since they were 17, but when Gretzky announced his departure from the Edmonton Oilers at a press conference on August 9, 1988, we couldn't hold back our tears after he said: "I promised Mess I wouldn't do this." We're sure that Messier bursted into tears too.
Fast forward to October 8, 2014 when the Oilers' reunion took place at the Rexall Place, Messier told the media that he and Gretzky were still "very good friends." The pair's friendship wasn't just a friendship, it was The Great Bromance that every hockey fan should know about regardless if they're old or new to the sport.
1 Still Can't Stand Each Other: Jeremy Roenick and Patrick Marleau
Okay, this is kind of an odd pair of teammates to break down since Patrick Marleau is still in the league as a veteran forward with the Toronto Maple Leafs while Jeremy Roenick is a former center who remains relevant due to his current gig as a hockey analyst for NBC. But in case you forgot or were completely oblivious, Marleau and Roenick once played for the San Jose Sharks in the late 2000s before Roenick announced his retirement in 2009 and finished with 1,126 points (513 G, 703 A) in 1,363 games played.
Roenick, however, never held back on his thoughts on others, but apparently saved the best for last when he ran into Marleau, who often shrugged off criticism from Roenick, who once told KNBR: "He (Patrick Marleau) is still very, very good...but I don’t see him being one of the locker room favorites...As good of a player as he is, Joe Thornton is the most popular player in the locker room, by far." All we can say is that it was good that Marleau seemingly took Roenick's comments with a grain of salt each and every time.