By: Derek Elliott
Gameworn Guru
Who were your greatest influences and hockey idols as you were growing up?
My greatest influence was my father. Hockey wise when I was younger I liked Cam
Neely, I always liked the rough and tough players. My dad's favorite was always
Bobby Orr and coincidently Bobby Orr is now my agent.
You played for three OHL teams in your three years in the O. London, Sudbury
and Barrie. How was it playing for each organization and which was your favorite?
I liked London but my first year there we only won three games so it was tough.
I liked Sudbury too but I'd have to say Barrie was my favorite it was a great arena
to play in the fans were really into it and we had a good team that season. Plus
it was close for my family to come see me.
When you broke into the OHL in the 95-96 season with the London Knights you made
a big impression with 264 penalty minutes. Is this something the club was expecting
from you?
I think they didn't and I really didn't know what to expect either. I played a
full season of Junior B the year before and I was a hitter and I liked to play
rough but I really didn't fight. My rookie year with the Knights I just started
fighting and it happened.
That same season you were joined by another tough rookie by the name of Justin
McPolin. The two of you made for quite the scary tag-team. Talk about your time
playing with McPolin.
He was the toughest guy in the O! We were good buddies and we talked and hung out
a couple summers ago. He's the one who taught me how to technical fight. My dad
was a boxer and he taught me how to box and how to punch but it was Justin who
taught me the technical side of fighting. He was 20 while playing in London and
he taught me a lot. He was a great Puncher!
A lot of OHL fans look back at that mid nineties era as the toughest ever. The
two of you in London, Boulton and Irwin in Sarnia, Boulerice and Morrone in Plymouth,
Smith and Young in Windsor and many many more. Tell us a little bit about playing
back then and going into buildings like Sarnia and Windsor.
Like you said you had Boulton and Irwin in Sarnia and Windsor had D.J.Smith and
D.J.Mando but Mando wasn't that tough. But we had the toughest division in hockey!
We used to fight every night it was great! It gets you ready for the next level
every team we played against had some really tough guys.
Talk about your rivalry with D.J.Smith.
(laughs and hesitates) I played against him last year or wait a minute he might
have been scratched for that game which was too bad. Thats a guy I'd like to fight
again now. In training camp with Toronto I had a fight with Greg "BirdDog" Smyth
and in camp there's no penalties so after a fight you just pick up your stuff and
continue on. I went to the bench after the fight and they sent me right back out
and I was dead tired and D.J. Smith lines up next to me and jumps me but what are
you gonna do you know? Well me and him had a little rilvary. We had a couple
rivalries in the O and they were pretty good.
I remember the one in Sudbury where you went from one end of the rink to the other.
(Laughing) Yeah and I fell over the net!
I'm going to throw out some names of a few of the heavys you went with in the O
and if you could tell us a little bit about them. Boulton, Boulerice, Harris and Erskine.
Boulton - hard puncher! I remember the first time I fought him I was doing really
well, I was hammering, hammering him, hammering him I hit him with a left hook
and he wobbled and then all his stuff started coming off and I didn't know what
to do all of a sudden I get hit with a shot right in the nose and the ceiling
was in front of me. Then I fought him again in Sarnia behind the net we're going
again and I hit him with a left hook, great and he hit me on top of the head. I
tried to fight him again and he said I'm not fighting you anymore rookie. That's
another guy I'd like to meet up with again now, I'm so much better now than I was
then.
Jessie Boulerice - we had some good fights too. Our fights were toe to toe he's a
tough kid.
Darcy Harris Kitchener - our fights were great! I fought him in Barrie and I
actually got first star of the game I had a goal two assists and the fight.
Ahhh Erskine - I actually fought him twice this year. Have you been to Syracuse-
Crunch.com website? All my fights from this season are up there. I have five KO's
so far this year. I've knocked out Bonvie, McGrattan, Clouthier, Perrott and
Robinson. The Robinson one was sick! The Bonvie was even worse it took him eight
seconds to get up and then he came to my box I was like hey Bonvie what are you
doing here? But back to Erskine the one fight I had with him back then I separated
my shoulder. He's probably one of the toughest guys this year in the AHL and he's
played in the show.
What fight from your OHL days is your most memorable?
My most memorable fight from my days in the O was in Peterborough. I use to wear
a mouth guard whenever I fought so I'm lined up at the faceoff in the far corner
and they throw out Shawn Thornton and he lines up right beside me and says do you
wanna go? I told him to hold on one second, I skated from the faceoff back to the
bench to get my mouth guard and I met him at center ice and we proceeded to go
toe to toe. That was a good fight for sure! I'm good buddies with Shawn and we
get together in the summers and we still talk and laugh about that one.
Who was the toughest guy you fought back in the OHL?
The toughest guy I went up against in the O was probably Boulton.
What was the feeling like being drafted by Toronto your hometown?
That was unbelieveable! I had a feeling it was going to be Toronto. Of course you
want to get drafted in the first couple of rounds. Round five comes Toronto had
a pick right when they were getting ready to call it I stood up and I just had
a feeling it was going to be me. I told my parents and they were ecstatic. I
mean to get drafted by your hometown.
How many camps did you play in for Toronto?
Two camps.
Any memories that stick out from those camps? I know we already touched on
the D.J.Smith incident.
You know the first fight I had was me and Nick Kypreos and I dropped him with a
right hand. One punched him! It was all over TSN and the front page of the paper,
it was actually in Barrie arena.
After the OHL you moved on to the East Coast Hockey League. One memory that
stands out is the brawl you had in warmups against Toledo.
Where I shXXkicked Morrone! (We laugh - Yeah where you and Morrone got reaquainted.)
Actually Kenny Tasker was playing with Toledo and we had Chad Wagner so me and
Wagner fought Morrone and Tasker. Toledo sets up there pucks for warmups right
along the redline so Wagner goes out and knocks them all down and that got Tasker
going and there was a little bit of a scrum and I got hit from somewhere and I
looked over and Morrone was sitting there and I just ripped off all my clothes
all I had on was my Hit's 103.5 tanktop on. I absolutely destroyed Morrone! I hit
him with a right there's actually a picture of him in the air and me holding on
to him. I dropped him twice and when he skated off the ice he fell down again.
And I went over and talked to him, I broke my hand in that fight I mean I handed
this guy six clean shots and I talked to him after the game and not one mark on
his face. He's a tough guy.
Another fight that stands out in my mind from your time in the ECHL was a great
fight you had with Jody Shelley. Tell us about Jody.
Jody is a tough guy. You know to bad he's in my spot right now but yeah very tough
guy. I give him props he goes with everybody and doesn't back down. I think your
thinking of our fight in Dayton. There was one actually in Johnstown too it was
a line brawl. I fought him to start, no actually I was fighting another kid a non
fighter I was beating the shXX out of this kid and Jody Shelley jumps in and I
start fighting with Shelley and someone jumps on him and I grab the kid I was
beating up the first time and he was bleeding all over the place and then Jeremy
Thompson (Rocky's brother) was in the box and jumps over the box and me and him start
going so I had three fights in the brawl. It was quite the scene.
Now you and Shelley must have played together in camp last year?
No I didn't go to NHL camp. They gave me the choice and the best hockey I had
recently played was the Quebec League which is not a bad league but I didn't think
I was ready for NHL camp so I decided to wait.
Now in 01-02 you did'nt play due to your lifetime ban handed down by the ECHL.
What did you do with your time off?
I actually stayed in Peoria where I met my girlfriend Crystal and I started working
as a bouncer at one of the nightclubs down there and a buddy of mine bought a bar
and I worked there for about eight months then I left that place. Basically just
bartending and bouncing for two years.
*Any good bouncing stories?
Yeah but I can't talk about those here.
*I understand, I understand (both of us laughing).
Then in the 02-03 season you went to play in the Q for Verdun. Now how was it
playing in this very, very tough league?
Well it was my kind of league it was great! If you ever get down the Montreal way
you have to check out some of these games there absolutely phenomenal. It's like
another world I mean Montreal is like another world anyways. It's unbelievable
there will be like ten fights in the first period none in the second and then ten
more fights in the third. Some of the tough boys I fought were Link Gaetz three
times I absolutely destroyed him in our third fight we had. I fought Patrick Cote
two times. There were some other ex NHL'ers there like Bobby Dollas so it was a
great league and I mean thats what got me started again.
*The fans must have loved you there?
Oh Yeah! I heard they sold my jerseys for like two thousand dollars.
Your ban was finally lifted and you ended up with Syracuse of the AHL. Now this
must of been an incredible feeling to really be back, to get back into the American
Hockey League and have a fresh start.
Yeah it was a great feeling! It was tough because the first four games I still
wasn't able to play, my ban had been lifted but Dave Andrews the president of the
AHL still hadn't ok'd my playing so I didn't no how long Syracuse was going to
keep me on. So I finally got my chance to play and my first fight was Dennis Bonvie
and so the fans loved me right off the bat. So it was a great feeling to be able
to play again at a high level.
You led the AHL in fights last year what were some of your memorable bouts?
My fights with Bonvie were good. It's funny last year I was playing at about 215-220
pounds and I had'nt played at that level in a while. The fighters are different
from the Q to the A the Q was more of a grab type thing the A your throwing with
bigger guys. So you no I did well in all my fights but I just didn't have the
punching power or the timing and everything from being off hockey for so long.
But still some of the better fights were with Bonvie, I had eight fights with Sean
McMorrow.
*I wanted to ask you about your rivalry with McMorrow?
Just the way he fights he's a grabber and he hugs and I don't like to fight like
that I like to stand and throw. I had a really good one with Ryan Jorde from
Rochester.
*What about you and Brian McGrattan?
Yeah I fought McGrattan last year. Were really good buddies we grew up together
and yeah I fought him once last year and twice this year.
*and you said that was one of your KO victims this year.
Yeah that was my first fight of the year and I caught him with a right hand. My
first seven fights of the year I had four knockouts!
*Whats your weight at this year?
I'm 6'3 240 pounds!
How do you prepare for your upcoming bouts? Do you watch video of your possible
opponents?
Yeah the guys that I know I go in knowing what to expect. That was part of the
problem last year I basically didn't know anybody. This year I know who I'm going
and how there going to fight and with the guys that I don't know I will call my
dad after the pregame skate and ask him because he know's everything about
fighting, he's like a fight doctor.
Now I've heard you and your dad are both into boxing?
Yeah he actually sparred with Mohammad Ali! In 1976 when Ali fought George Chuvalo
in Toronto. I've got a picture at home of my dad and Ali in the ring.
*Do you do any boxing in the off season?
Oh yeah! Not sparring but hitting the bag and shadow boxing.
How did you get the nickname Sugar?
Sugar that was actually Steve Pleau the assistant coach in Worcester. My first
year I was there Steve watched me fight Benjamin Carpentier, I was ducking and
weaving and everything and left, right, right. He said I looked like Sugar Ray
Robinson out there and Sugar just stuck.
When did you start your six guns a blazing, my favorite post fight celebration?
Six guns a blazing, I started that my first year in London the fans loved it!
Now I heard your getting some surgery done on your thumb is that a result of
your fight last week in Columbus with Hoffman from Cleveland?
Yeah that was the fight with Hoffman! I had the jersey over my head and I was
still throwing and connecting and I caught my thumb on one of the shots and I
have tendon damage so I'm going to be out for two months.
*Is the hand pretty sore?
Oh Yeah!
My last question is how does it feel to know if Jody Shelley goes down in
Columbus your the man who will be going up to the big show?
It's a great feeling but I believe if the NHL was going right now we would both
be there especially with the way I've been playing and fighting. A lot of NHL
teams last season started doing that carrying more then one fighter. But of course
man it's a great feeling going from the fXXXXn shXXhouse to the penthouse.
*That's great and you deserve it!
Thank you very much.
SPECIAL THANKS also goes out to David Sweetman of Showtime Hockey Gear
for making this interview possible!
Photo courtesy syracuse-crunch.com
QUICK LINKS
To see Sugden's career stats, click here.
To see those fights Sugden was speaking of, click here.
Who were your greatest influences and hockey idols as you were growing up?
My greatest influence was my father. Hockey wise when I was younger I liked Cam
Neely, I always liked the rough and tough players. My dad's favorite was always
Bobby Orr and coincidently Bobby Orr is now my agent.
You played for three OHL teams in your three years in the O. London, Sudbury
and Barrie. How was it playing for each organization and which was your favorite?
I liked London but my first year there we only won three games so it was tough.
I liked Sudbury too but I'd have to say Barrie was my favorite it was a great arena
to play in the fans were really into it and we had a good team that season. Plus
it was close for my family to come see me.
When you broke into the OHL in the 95-96 season with the London Knights you made
a big impression with 264 penalty minutes. Is this something the club was expecting
from you?
I think they didn't and I really didn't know what to expect either. I played a
full season of Junior B the year before and I was a hitter and I liked to play
rough but I really didn't fight. My rookie year with the Knights I just started
fighting and it happened.
That same season you were joined by another tough rookie by the name of Justin
McPolin. The two of you made for quite the scary tag-team. Talk about your time
playing with McPolin.
He was the toughest guy in the O! We were good buddies and we talked and hung out
a couple summers ago. He's the one who taught me how to technical fight. My dad
was a boxer and he taught me how to box and how to punch but it was Justin who
taught me the technical side of fighting. He was 20 while playing in London and
he taught me a lot. He was a great Puncher!
A lot of OHL fans look back at that mid nineties era as the toughest ever. The
two of you in London, Boulton and Irwin in Sarnia, Boulerice and Morrone in Plymouth,
Smith and Young in Windsor and many many more. Tell us a little bit about playing
back then and going into buildings like Sarnia and Windsor.
Like you said you had Boulton and Irwin in Sarnia and Windsor had D.J.Smith and
D.J.Mando but Mando wasn't that tough. But we had the toughest division in hockey!
We used to fight every night it was great! It gets you ready for the next level
every team we played against had some really tough guys.
Talk about your rivalry with D.J.Smith.
(laughs and hesitates) I played against him last year or wait a minute he might
have been scratched for that game which was too bad. Thats a guy I'd like to fight
again now. In training camp with Toronto I had a fight with Greg "BirdDog" Smyth
and in camp there's no penalties so after a fight you just pick up your stuff and
continue on. I went to the bench after the fight and they sent me right back out
and I was dead tired and D.J. Smith lines up next to me and jumps me but what are
you gonna do you know? Well me and him had a little rilvary. We had a couple
rivalries in the O and they were pretty good.
I remember the one in Sudbury where you went from one end of the rink to the other.
(Laughing) Yeah and I fell over the net!
I'm going to throw out some names of a few of the heavys you went with in the O
and if you could tell us a little bit about them. Boulton, Boulerice, Harris and Erskine.
Boulton - hard puncher! I remember the first time I fought him I was doing really
well, I was hammering, hammering him, hammering him I hit him with a left hook
and he wobbled and then all his stuff started coming off and I didn't know what
to do all of a sudden I get hit with a shot right in the nose and the ceiling
was in front of me. Then I fought him again in Sarnia behind the net we're going
again and I hit him with a left hook, great and he hit me on top of the head. I
tried to fight him again and he said I'm not fighting you anymore rookie. That's
another guy I'd like to meet up with again now, I'm so much better now than I was
then.
Jessie Boulerice - we had some good fights too. Our fights were toe to toe he's a
tough kid.
Darcy Harris Kitchener - our fights were great! I fought him in Barrie and I
actually got first star of the game I had a goal two assists and the fight.
Ahhh Erskine - I actually fought him twice this year. Have you been to Syracuse-
Crunch.com website? All my fights from this season are up there. I have five KO's
so far this year. I've knocked out Bonvie, McGrattan, Clouthier, Perrott and
Robinson. The Robinson one was sick! The Bonvie was even worse it took him eight
seconds to get up and then he came to my box I was like hey Bonvie what are you
doing here? But back to Erskine the one fight I had with him back then I separated
my shoulder. He's probably one of the toughest guys this year in the AHL and he's
played in the show.
What fight from your OHL days is your most memorable?
My most memorable fight from my days in the O was in Peterborough. I use to wear
a mouth guard whenever I fought so I'm lined up at the faceoff in the far corner
and they throw out Shawn Thornton and he lines up right beside me and says do you
wanna go? I told him to hold on one second, I skated from the faceoff back to the
bench to get my mouth guard and I met him at center ice and we proceeded to go
toe to toe. That was a good fight for sure! I'm good buddies with Shawn and we
get together in the summers and we still talk and laugh about that one.
Who was the toughest guy you fought back in the OHL?
The toughest guy I went up against in the O was probably Boulton.
What was the feeling like being drafted by Toronto your hometown?
That was unbelieveable! I had a feeling it was going to be Toronto. Of course you
want to get drafted in the first couple of rounds. Round five comes Toronto had
a pick right when they were getting ready to call it I stood up and I just had
a feeling it was going to be me. I told my parents and they were ecstatic. I
mean to get drafted by your hometown.
How many camps did you play in for Toronto?
Two camps.
Any memories that stick out from those camps? I know we already touched on
the D.J.Smith incident.
You know the first fight I had was me and Nick Kypreos and I dropped him with a
right hand. One punched him! It was all over TSN and the front page of the paper,
it was actually in Barrie arena.
After the OHL you moved on to the East Coast Hockey League. One memory that
stands out is the brawl you had in warmups against Toledo.
Where I shXXkicked Morrone! (We laugh - Yeah where you and Morrone got reaquainted.)
Actually Kenny Tasker was playing with Toledo and we had Chad Wagner so me and
Wagner fought Morrone and Tasker. Toledo sets up there pucks for warmups right
along the redline so Wagner goes out and knocks them all down and that got Tasker
going and there was a little bit of a scrum and I got hit from somewhere and I
looked over and Morrone was sitting there and I just ripped off all my clothes
all I had on was my Hit's 103.5 tanktop on. I absolutely destroyed Morrone! I hit
him with a right there's actually a picture of him in the air and me holding on
to him. I dropped him twice and when he skated off the ice he fell down again.
And I went over and talked to him, I broke my hand in that fight I mean I handed
this guy six clean shots and I talked to him after the game and not one mark on
his face. He's a tough guy.
Another fight that stands out in my mind from your time in the ECHL was a great
fight you had with Jody Shelley. Tell us about Jody.
Jody is a tough guy. You know to bad he's in my spot right now but yeah very tough
guy. I give him props he goes with everybody and doesn't back down. I think your
thinking of our fight in Dayton. There was one actually in Johnstown too it was
a line brawl. I fought him to start, no actually I was fighting another kid a non
fighter I was beating the shXX out of this kid and Jody Shelley jumps in and I
start fighting with Shelley and someone jumps on him and I grab the kid I was
beating up the first time and he was bleeding all over the place and then Jeremy
Thompson (Rocky's brother) was in the box and jumps over the box and me and him start
going so I had three fights in the brawl. It was quite the scene.
Now you and Shelley must have played together in camp last year?
No I didn't go to NHL camp. They gave me the choice and the best hockey I had
recently played was the Quebec League which is not a bad league but I didn't think
I was ready for NHL camp so I decided to wait.
Now in 01-02 you did'nt play due to your lifetime ban handed down by the ECHL.
What did you do with your time off?
I actually stayed in Peoria where I met my girlfriend Crystal and I started working
as a bouncer at one of the nightclubs down there and a buddy of mine bought a bar
and I worked there for about eight months then I left that place. Basically just
bartending and bouncing for two years.
*Any good bouncing stories?
Yeah but I can't talk about those here.
*I understand, I understand (both of us laughing).
Then in the 02-03 season you went to play in the Q for Verdun. Now how was it
playing in this very, very tough league?
Well it was my kind of league it was great! If you ever get down the Montreal way
you have to check out some of these games there absolutely phenomenal. It's like
another world I mean Montreal is like another world anyways. It's unbelievable
there will be like ten fights in the first period none in the second and then ten
more fights in the third. Some of the tough boys I fought were Link Gaetz three
times I absolutely destroyed him in our third fight we had. I fought Patrick Cote
two times. There were some other ex NHL'ers there like Bobby Dollas so it was a
great league and I mean thats what got me started again.
*The fans must have loved you there?
Oh Yeah! I heard they sold my jerseys for like two thousand dollars.
Your ban was finally lifted and you ended up with Syracuse of the AHL. Now this
must of been an incredible feeling to really be back, to get back into the American
Hockey League and have a fresh start.
Yeah it was a great feeling! It was tough because the first four games I still
wasn't able to play, my ban had been lifted but Dave Andrews the president of the
AHL still hadn't ok'd my playing so I didn't no how long Syracuse was going to
keep me on. So I finally got my chance to play and my first fight was Dennis Bonvie
and so the fans loved me right off the bat. So it was a great feeling to be able
to play again at a high level.
You led the AHL in fights last year what were some of your memorable bouts?
My fights with Bonvie were good. It's funny last year I was playing at about 215-220
pounds and I had'nt played at that level in a while. The fighters are different
from the Q to the A the Q was more of a grab type thing the A your throwing with
bigger guys. So you no I did well in all my fights but I just didn't have the
punching power or the timing and everything from being off hockey for so long.
But still some of the better fights were with Bonvie, I had eight fights with Sean
McMorrow.
*I wanted to ask you about your rivalry with McMorrow?
Just the way he fights he's a grabber and he hugs and I don't like to fight like
that I like to stand and throw. I had a really good one with Ryan Jorde from
Rochester.
*What about you and Brian McGrattan?
Yeah I fought McGrattan last year. Were really good buddies we grew up together
and yeah I fought him once last year and twice this year.
*and you said that was one of your KO victims this year.
Yeah that was my first fight of the year and I caught him with a right hand. My
first seven fights of the year I had four knockouts!
*Whats your weight at this year?
I'm 6'3 240 pounds!
How do you prepare for your upcoming bouts? Do you watch video of your possible
opponents?
Yeah the guys that I know I go in knowing what to expect. That was part of the
problem last year I basically didn't know anybody. This year I know who I'm going
and how there going to fight and with the guys that I don't know I will call my
dad after the pregame skate and ask him because he know's everything about
fighting, he's like a fight doctor.
Now I've heard you and your dad are both into boxing?
Yeah he actually sparred with Mohammad Ali! In 1976 when Ali fought George Chuvalo
in Toronto. I've got a picture at home of my dad and Ali in the ring.
*Do you do any boxing in the off season?
Oh yeah! Not sparring but hitting the bag and shadow boxing.
How did you get the nickname Sugar?
Sugar that was actually Steve Pleau the assistant coach in Worcester. My first
year I was there Steve watched me fight Benjamin Carpentier, I was ducking and
weaving and everything and left, right, right. He said I looked like Sugar Ray
Robinson out there and Sugar just stuck.
When did you start your six guns a blazing, my favorite post fight celebration?
Six guns a blazing, I started that my first year in London the fans loved it!
Now I heard your getting some surgery done on your thumb is that a result of
your fight last week in Columbus with Hoffman from Cleveland?
Yeah that was the fight with Hoffman! I had the jersey over my head and I was
still throwing and connecting and I caught my thumb on one of the shots and I
have tendon damage so I'm going to be out for two months.
*Is the hand pretty sore?
Oh Yeah!
My last question is how does it feel to know if Jody Shelley goes down in
Columbus your the man who will be going up to the big show?
It's a great feeling but I believe if the NHL was going right now we would both
be there especially with the way I've been playing and fighting. A lot of NHL
teams last season started doing that carrying more then one fighter. But of course
man it's a great feeling going from the fXXXXn shXXhouse to the penthouse.
*That's great and you deserve it!
Thank you very much.
SPECIAL THANKS also goes out to David Sweetman of