One of the toughest players in NHL history lost his battle with cancer on Thursday as former Edmonton Oilers forward Dave Semenko died at the age of 59.

Semenko served as Wayne Gretzky’s bodyguard throughout the 1980s, winning two Stanley Cups with the legendary Oilers’ teams.

The Battle of Alberta with the Calgary Flames was at its peak during that area and former Flames tough guy, and current Moose Jaw Warriors Head Coach, Tim Hunter was Semenko’s biggest rival.

“His death hits home, I lost my brother three years ago at the same age of 59 to cancer,” said Hunter. “Even though we battled hard on the ice, we’re still human beings and had a lot of respect for each other.”

Even though they went to war on the ice over the course of the 1980s, Hunter said they grew to respect each other and enjoyed bumping into each other in rinks throughout the years after hanging up their skates.

“At first it was just a meeting where you run into a guy and he’s a scout for the Oilers and it’s, ‘Hey, how are you doing?’ and then later on, we were signing that famous Battle of Alberta photo with him and I glaring at each other with smirks on our face and we got to know each other through that and we’d have a laugh about who would ever thought that we’d be in business together,” said Hunter.

“He was a real good guy and talking to all the guys that played with the Oilers throughout the years from Ryan Smyth on up, they loved him. Great guy, fun in the locker room, so it’s a real sad day.”

According to hockeyfights.com, Hunter and Semenko squared off four times in fights during their careers. Hunter said their first fight gave him a good indication of how far Semenko was willing to go to stand up for his teammates.

“It was in Calgary in Corral in the early 80s and I was called up to play and everything went well in the fight and I was proud as a peacock, stuck my chin out to give him a ‘How do you like them apples?’ and he suckered me over the linesman,” said Hunter. “I knew from that moment on that I had to be on guard because this guy was willing to go to any extend to send a message, but that was the way of the west in those days, it was the Wild West.”

Semenko doesn’t rank in the top-25 for career penalty minutes, but ruled based on his reputation more than anything.

“He policed the rink by the fear of violence, if anyone acted up, he was a tough guy to handle, he was a much bigger fella than I am and he played for keeps,” said Hunter.

“There was a lot of hatred, but we looked back years later and laughed at how hard we played against each other and how much we hated each other.”

Following his retirement, Semenko served as a professional scout for the Oilers from 1997-2015.