ONE OF THE GREATEST FIGHTERS OF THE 1980S, CHRIS NILAN HAS THE HONOR OF BEING THE MONTREAL CANADIENS ALL-TIME LEADER IN PENALTY MINUTES.

It wasn’t Chris Nilan’s soft hands that made a lasting impression on Canadiens fans during the 1980s – it was his clenched fists. He leads the team’s all-time penalty parade by a wide margin, both in the regular season and in playoff competition. Dave "Tiger” Williams is the only player in NHL history to spend more time in the sin bin.

Chris Nilan spent 10 seasons with the Canadiens, returning to finish his career in Montreal in 1991-92. The rugged right-winger was a member of the 1986 Stanley Cup winning team.

Fittingly nicknamed “Knuckles”, Nilan was born in Boston on February 9, 1958. Picked 231st overall in the 1978 Amateur Draft, the budding strongman spent most of the next season in the minors before joining the big club. Over the next nine seasons Nilan, who assumed the role of protector to the likes of Carbonneau, Gainey and Richer, amassed penalty minutes by the fistful while performing his essential team function.

Playing against the Hartford Whalers on January 22, 1985, Nilan surpassed Rocket Richard’s career penalty minute total to become the most penalized player in Canadiens history.

On the evening of March 31, 1991, the Whalers were once again on the receiving end of a memorable Nilan performance. Over the course of 60 minutes of play, the hard-rock forward managed to become a 10-time offender, with half a dozen minors, a pair of majors, a misconduct and a game misconduct. All told, Nilan spent 42 minutes in the penalty box that evening. His career average of 4.42 minutes per game is still tops in NHL history.

Despite his well-deserved reputation for the rough stuff, the product of a military family had some success in the offensive zone, scoring 15 or more three times and earning an invitation to wear Prince of Wales Conference colors in the 1990-91 All-Star Game. Selected by then-Boston coach Mike Milbury, Nilan was unable to appear due to an injury.

During his rookie season, the young No. 30 spent a few games alongside Bob Gainey and Guy Carbonneau, completing a defensive trio often assigned to counter the opposing teams’ top scoring lines.

Traded to the Rangers on January 27, 1988, and then to the Bruins on June 28, 1990, Nilan was put on waivers by Boston during the 1991-92 season. Claimed by the team that gave him his first shot, “Knuckles” played the last 17 games on the schedule with the Habs.

When he announced his retirement in September 1992, Chris Nilan had appeared in 607 regular season games wearing the Canadiens sweater, scoring 96 times and adding 92 assists for 188 career points. The number that fans remember most easily though is 2,670 – his career penalty minutes total, a team record secure for some time to come.