Nick Kypreos

Nick Kypreos is a Stanley Cup champion and Hockeycentral analyst

Chris Pronger.

Hockey can overwhelm you with emotions that border on psychotic.

Earlier this week, Sam Cosentino, who covers junior hockey for Sportsnet, was on Hockeycentral@Noon and we talked about this month's controversial hits in junior hockey.

Cosentino rightfully asked when the game of hockey went from separating a player from the puck with a legal body check, to what we witnessed between Patrice Cormier and Mikael Tam.

I told Sam that, for some players, the objective isn't just to separate the puck from the stick, but to separate one's head from their shoulders.

I also told Sam that when I competed, there were nights when I looked in the eyes of another player and felt I could kill him with a check like the ones we've seen. That is an emotion that I can honestly tell you I'm not very proud of.

Nick will be at The Home Depot on Centennial Parkway just off the QEW in Hamilton to sign autographs, talk hockey and backyard rinks.

One night in Chicago, winger Jim Cummins threw a roundhouse elbow at my face that gave me no opportunity to defend myself. He broke my nose and fractured my cheekbone. I was never more pissed off in my career. The rest of that game I couldn't tell you the score, what period it was, or the city we were playing in. But what I could tell you was how my blood was boiling and what my intent was the rest of the game.

After feeling the wrath of Jim's elbow on my face, I could only visualize my payback on Cummins and little else. Hurting him real bad wouldn't have left me remorseful, but rather with a sense of accomplishment.

Not everyone who plays the game will "lose it" quite like that. But for those that do build a reputation for losing it, it also buys them a lot more room on the ice to make better plays. From Terrible Ted Lindsay to Bobby Clarke to Behn Wilson, make no mistake these guys have been prevalent in every era throughout hockey history.

The guys I remember playing with or against most that could snap with the best of them were Scott Stevens, Dino Ciccarelli, Dale Hunter, Mark Messier, Tie Domi, and Chris Pronger.

The guy who put the fear of God in me the most was Dave "Charlie" Manson. Just his nickname gave me the heebie-jeebies before a game. Guys like this would step on your head and not think twice about it if it meant their team would win.

The game has changed somewhat today, but not enough that these types of players no longer exist. I couldn't begin to tell you what possessed Patrice Cormier to lay one of the worst elbows you'll ever see in any era.

Was it payback for a cheap shot no one saw? Was it payback from another incident in a previous game? Whatever it was that drove him, Cormier's intent was evident the moment he left the bench. He didn't even try to mask the elbow by first leaning in as if it were a shoulder check.

What I can tell you is the game has a way of overwhelming you with emotions that border on psychotic.

Patrice Cormier is one of those guys.

Welcome to the club.