I thought I was finished with my series on the toughest Penguins. Turns out, I had one last article stashed up my sleeve.
Step into the WABAC machine with me one last time to the early 1970s. In response to the body-bending tactics of hit squads like the Big, Bad Bruins and St. Louis Blues of Plager brothers fame (or infamy), other clubs began to seek out aggressive players in order to protect their stars.
The Pens were no exception. Boasting toughies like Tracy Pratt, Glen “Slats” Sather, hard-rock defenseman Dunc McCallum and the Bryans, Hextall and Watson, the “Pesky Pens” had been one of the NHL’s more aggressive teams in 1969-70, finishing third in team penalty minutes and battling their way to the Stanley Cup Semi-Finals.
However, while other clubs like the Flyers bulked up, the Pens hemorrhaged muscle. By ’73-74, only Hextall and Watson remained. Neither would finish the season in a Pens jersey, replaced by a new breed of tough guys including Steve Durbano, Bob “Battleship” Kelly and quiet-tough Bob Paradise.
Anticipating the need to keep with up the Joneses (and the hated Flyers) in the arms race, GM Jack Button added a pair of rugged rookie defensemen in ’74-75, Colin Campbell and Dennis Owchar.
Described in an early scouting report as “squarely built, helmeted, and mean,” Campbell was taken 27th overall by the Pens in the 1973 Amateur Draft following a solid junior career with Peterborough. Opting to sign with Vancouver of the World Hockey Association instead, “Soupy” racked up 191 minutes in the sin bin for the Blazers in ‘73-74.
Coaxed back into the Pens’ fold, Campbell enjoyed an excellent rookie season, tallying 19 points in 59 games to go with a sparkling plus/minus rating of plus-28. With Durbano out for the season, Campbell stepped into the policeman’s role and paced the club with 172 penalty minutes while dropping the gloves a team-high nine times.
Although just 5’9” and 190 pounds, Soupy was utterly fearless. He often tangled with much larger foes such as Islanders behemoth Clark Gillies, employing wrestling tactics to gain an advantage. During a February 1 tilt with archrival St. Louis, the gritty defender twice took on Floyd Thomson, despite playing with a broken hand.
Hampered by an elbow injury that required surgery, Soupy slipped to a team worst minus-4 in ’75-76. That summer he was loaned to the woeful Colorado Rockies as part of the compensation package for Denis Herron.
After returning to the Steel City, Campbell re-emerged as one of the Pens’ most reliable defensemen in ’78-79. He played particularly well down the homestretch while registering a career-high 20 points and a plus-14, the second-best mark on the team. During the playoffs the little fireplug once more displayed his considerable courage when he dumped, then pounded Bruins bruiser John Wensink.
Despite his bounce-back season, the Pens’ brass exposed Campbell in the 1979 Expansion Draft. He promptly was claimed by Edmonton, where he served as a protector for budding superstar Wayne Gretzky while racking up a then-club record 196 penalty minutes.
As for Owchar? With all due respect to Darius Kasparaitis and Brooks Orpik, the Dryden, Ontario native (pictured above) was arguably the most explosive hitter in franchise history. Blessed with a powerful 5’11” 190-pound frame and a rock-solid base, “Owch” delivered hits that registered on the Richter Scale.
The husky defender’s specialty was the shoulder check. Like a snake in the grass, Owchar would lie in wait for an opposing puck carrier to venture across the middle of the ice with his head down. In most cases the would-be goal scorer was separated from the puck, and his senses, with brutal efficiency.
Called up from Hershey in November 1974 to replace Jean-Guy Lagace, himself a master of the hip check, Owchar responded with a slew of thundering hits. Possessing a cannon of a shot and a flair for offense, the former fourth-round pick showed genuine promise.
Following an injury-plagued ‘75-76 campaign, Owchar—quite literally—hit his stride in ‘76-77. In a little over half a season he knocked three opponents out of action with booming body checks, effectively ending the career of the Canucks’ Mike Robitaille. His prowess as a hitter soon gained the attention of The Hockey News.
“The source of the youngster’s destructiveness isn’t a lead pipe,” chimed the publication, “but a shoulder buried into the chest of an unsuspecting puck carrier.”
Although an infrequent fighter, Owchar could handle himself in a scrap. He twice took on and whipped pugnacious Garry Howatt during a 3-2 victory over the Islanders at the Civic Arena on January 22, 1977.
Ironically, Dennis soon became a casualty of his own aggressive play. Eight days later, he suffered torn knee ligaments during a collision with Boston’s Mike Milbury. Struggling to regain his form, he was traded to Colorado for Tom Edur the following season.
Clackson, Too
I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention one other tough guy from the ‘70s.
Kimbel Gerald Clackson, a fierce defenseman out of Saskatoon, played only one season for the Pens in ’79-80. During that brief span he established himself as one of the gamest, toughest skaters ever to sport the skating Penguin crest.
A battler from his junior days when he gave the rugged Gillies all he could handle, Clackson continued his ultra-aggressive ways in the WHA, engaging in over 30 fights during the ’75-76 season as a member of the Indianapolis Racers. Moving on to Winnipeg, he served as the backbone for two AVCO Cup winners.
Following the NHL-WHA merger, the intense defender joined the Pens, who’d selected him in the fifth round of the 1975 Amateur Draft.
A player of limited skills but enormous heart, Clackson dropped the gloves a whopping 17 times in 45 regular-season games. During a January 19 clash with Edmonton at the Civic Arena, he unceremoniously dumped Gretzky behind the net to ignite a wild, brawl-filled affair that resulted in a combined 265 penalty minutes and several scraps with Oilers heavy Dave Semenko.
I happened to attend the game and vividly recall the linesmen trying in vain to drag the combative defenseman off the ice, only to have Clackson return to engage Semenko a third time.
With the Pens hopelessly outclassed during the pivotal Game 3 of the Preliminary Round that spring, Clackson attempted uphold the team’s honor single-handed by taking on Bruins baddies Terry O’Reilly (twice) and Al Secord. Ray Bourque, too.
Following the season, the Pens dealt the scrappy lefty to Quebec as compensation for signing Nordiques free-agent Paul Baxter. Ironically, Baxter (962 PIM) and Clackson (932) were the two most penalized players in WHA history.
