0 of 5

It's one thing to have the willingness to compete and a high enough battle level for a player to drop his gloves and fight in the NHL.

It's quite another thing to be good at it.

When players square off, there's always a chance for real damage to be done. Superb athletes who are in the prime of their athletic careers bring strength and anger to the battle. That combination makes for a dangerous fighter.

But when the fighter also has skill and knowledge, that's when he can conduct himself comfortably in a hockey fight.

The other guy may be just as big and strong, but when a hockey player has skills in the fistic arts, he becomes a very dangerous customer.

Here's our look at the top fighters in the game.

(Fight stats are courtesy of HockeyFights.com.)