Robert Alan Probert (June 5, 1965 – July 5, 2010) was a Canadian professional ice hockey forward.
Probert played for the National Hockey League's Detroit Red Wings and Chicago Blackhawks.
1983
Probert was drafted as the fourth pick in the third round (46th overall) in the 1983 NHL Entry Draft, in which the Red Wings also selected Kocur and Steve Yzerman.
1984
After being drafted, he spent one more season with the Alexanders before spending his 1984–85 season with both the Hamilton Steelhawks and the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds of the OHL.
1985
During the 1985–1986 and 1986–1987 seasons, Probert spent the majority of his time with the Red Wings while occasionally playing for their minor league affiliate Adirondack Red Wings of the American Hockey League.
In the 1985–1986 season, he finished third on the team in penalty minutes behind Kocur and Randy Ladouceur, both of whom played more regular season games than Probert.
1986
In the 1986–1987 season, Probert accumulated only 24 points, but amassed 221 penalty minutes.
1987
While a successful player by some measures, including being voted to the 1987–88 Campbell Conference all-star team, Probert was best known for his activities as a fighter and enforcer, as well as being one half of the "Bruise Brothers" with then-Red Wing teammate Joey Kocur, during the late 1980s and early 1990s.
Probert was also known for his off-ice antics and legal problems.
Prior to playing with the Detroit Red Wings, Probert was with the Brantford Alexanders of the Ontario Hockey League.
The 1987–1988 season was the pinnacle of Probert's career.
He cemented his reputation as an enforcer with a league-leading 398 penalty minutes, the sixth-highest single-season total in NHL history.
He also tied for third on the team with 62 points, and played in his only NHL All-Star Game.
In addition he contributed the most points during the Red Wings' playoff run, in which Yzerman missed all but the final three games with a knee injury.
In a 2007 news story, he recalled a time that he sucker-punched enforcer Kevin Maguire of the Buffalo Sabres (December 23, 1987) after Maguire attacked Yzerman.
1989
Probert's career hit a snag in 1989 when he was arrested for cocaine possession while crossing the Detroit–Windsor border.
U.S. Customs agents at the Detroit–Windsor Tunnel found 14 grams of cocaine hidden in Probert's underpants.
He served three months in a federal prison in Minnesota, three more months in a halfway house, and was indefinitely suspended from the NHL.
The NHL lifted the suspension at the conclusion of his prison term.
Probert was initially ordered to be deported to Canada following his conviction, but he immediately filed for an appeal.
The appeal process allowed him to resume his career with the Red Wings, but barred him from traveling with the team to Canada, as he would not be allowed to return to the United States.
1992
The matter was resolved on 7 December 1992, when the Immigration and Naturalization Service granted his appeal, restoring his travel privileges between the United States and Canada.
When Probert returned to the Red Wings, he was temporarily one of the alternate captains of the team along with Gerard Gallant.
While his penalty minutes remained high, he also averaged 40 points a season.
During his last season with the Red Wings, he accumulated only 17 points for the team.
At this time, Probert once again got into trouble with the law.
1994
On 15 July 1994, he had minor injuries when he crashed his motorcycle into a car in West Bloomfield Township, Michigan.
Police determined that his blood alcohol level was approximately triple the legal limit, and that there were also trace amounts of cocaine in his system.
At the time of the accident, Probert had been ruled an unrestricted free agent.
On July 19, the Red Wings announced that they would not offer him a contract.
"This is the end," said senior vice-president Jim Devellano.
"[In] my 12 years with the organization ... we've never spent more time on one player and his problems than we have on Probert."
Probert signed with the Chicago Blackhawks on July 23, 1994, but was placed on inactive status by commissioner Gary Bettman in September 1994 while Probert entered rehab following his July 15 crash and subsequent drunk-driving charge.
As a result, Probert sat out the lockout-shortened 1994–95 season before joining the Blackhawks.
Probert's first season with the Blackhawks was the last in which he accumulated over 40 points in a season.
From then on, his points and penalty minutes gradually decreased.
While he never returned to the levels of point production he achieved with the Red Wings, he remained a physical force on the ice and continued many long-term rivalries with other enforcers.
1997
Probert also sustained various injuries during his time with the Blackhawks, most notably a torn rotator cuff injury which caused him to miss most of the 1997–98 season.
1999
One of the more noteworthy occurrences of his career with Chicago is that he scored the final NHL goal at the historic Maple Leaf Gardens on February 13, 1999.
Probert often saw it as his job to protect his teammates, especially Detroit captain Steve Yzerman.
