Top 5 NHL players with most penalty minutes to their name 

Getting a penalty is always bad for a team. One player is out and the opposite team gets the chance to score a goal and create momentum.

In ice hockey, a penalty is a sanction for breaking the rules. Most penalties are carried out by placing the guilty player in the penalty box for a predetermined period. The player cannot take part in the play while taking the penalty.

PIM (pronounced as "pims") is the acronym for "penalty minutes," the statistic used to measure penalties. "Penalties in minutes" (PIM) is an abbreviation, albeit the whole phrase is seldom ever used in modern society. It displays the overall duration of penalties that each player or team has been assessed for.

Players who have amassed the most amounts of PIM in their careers were some of the meanest players on the ice. These are some of them.

1. Tiger Williams: 3,971 penalty minutes

Tiger Williams tops this list with 3,971 career minutes spent.

Williams was able to score goals but was better recognized for his enforcer work. Throughout his career, he played for five different NHL clubs.

From his NHL debut on January 7, 1975, against the New York Islanders, until his trade to the Vancouver Canucks on February 18, 1980, he was a member of the Maple Leafs. While playing for Toronto, he broke several Maple Leaf and NHL records for penalty minutes and twice led the league with 338 in 1976–1977 and 298 in 1978–79.

2. Dale Hunter: 3,565 minutes

Hunter presently holds the second-most minutes in NHL history, trailing only Dave "Tiger" Williams, despite playing 1,407 fewer games than Williams (3,565 total). He also has 731 minutes in the playoffs, which is the highest in the NHL. His No. 32 jersey was retired by the Capitals. Hunter (1,020 points and 3,565 PIMs over 1,407 NHL games) is the only NHL player to have ever scored over 1,000 points and accrued over 3,000 PIMs.

He was most infamous for the Pierre Turgeon incident where he checked Turgeon from behind after the latter scored a goal. Hunter got a 21-game suspension for his actions.

3. Tie Domi: 3,515 minutes

Tie Domi is third all-time in NHL history for penalty minutes and is the franchise's all-time leader for the Maple Leafs. With 333 major fights, he also holds the record for most significant fights in NHL history.

4. Marty McSorley: 3,381 minutes

Marty McSorley is fourth with 3,381 career minutes. He was a talented athlete who could play both forward and defense. From 2002 to 2004, he served as the American Hockey League's Springfield Falcons' head coach. He served as an enforcer for Wayne Gretzky while they were teammates with the Edmonton Oilers and the Los Angeles Kings.

5. Bob Probert: 3,300 minutes

Bob Probert is fifth with 3,300 total minutes. Probert was a member of the Chicago Blackhawks and the Detroit Red Wings of the National Hockey League.

Probert was a successful player by some standards, including being selected to the 1987–88 Campbell Conference All-Star team, but in the late 1980s and early 1990s, he was best known for his work as a fighter and enforcer, as well as for being one half of the "Bruise Brothers" with then-Red Wing teammate Joey Kocur. Probert was also well-known for his mischief off the ice, including legal issues.