The most annoying New York Rangers of all-time

The New York Rangers have had their share of enemies and their own villains.

There used to be a place in the NHL for players whose biggest asset was their ability to fight. Guys like Bob Probert and the New York Rangers Tie Domi, Chris Nilan and Joey Kocur (to name a few) remained gainfully employed in the league mostly because of their ability and willingness to exchange haymakers. They were called “enforcers.”

As you know, the NHL game has changed over the past quarter century to one that places a premium speed, puck possession, stamina, and intelligence over size-alone and fighting. Enforcers who earned a living by punching the daylights out of opponents (despite any deficits in speed, skill, and production) have been replaced by faster, more-skilled players.

However, there is something that hasn’t changed — the place for agitators.

Unlike enforcers (whose usefulness depended on their ability to make opponents think twice before taking cheap shots at their superstar teammates, and beat down any who did) the agitator can skate well, contribute to the offense, and annoy the other team’s top players enough to throw them off their game.

Historically, agitators have thrived in the NHL. Among the most effective were Claude Lemieux, Esa Tikkanen, Ken Linesman, Matt Cooke, Dale Hunter, Dan Carcillo, and, without question, Sean Avery.

Today, Boston’s Brad Marchand, Colorado’s Nazem Kadri, Montreal’s Brendan Gallagher, Chicago’s Andrew Shaw, and Calgary’s Matthew Tkachuk are among those best at drawing the ire of the opposition and its fans.

Rangers Brendan Lemieux and Tony DeAngelo are making headway in that department, both on and off the ice. They haven’t been on the team for long, but each has a proven ability to regularly piss off officials, opposing players, coaches, fanbases, Twitter followers and team officials (sometimes even their own).

Here’s a closer look at how Lemieux and DeAngelo do it, as well as some other annoying Rangers, ranked from “least of all evils” (No. 5) to “most deserving of having to pick his own Chiclets off the ice” (No. 1).