Fight of the Week – Hockey Fights

Daniel Maggio vs Kurtis Gabriel, Jan 17, 2015

Ben Eklund — Mon, 19 Jan 2015 16:37:16 +0000

The Fight of the Week comes out of the AHL. The Lake Erie Monsters and Iowa Wild met in Des Moines on Saturday in a routine Western Conference matchup for two last-place hockey clubs. The contest featured only one fight, but a long one. Just over two minutes into the game, Lake Erie's Daniel Maggio appeared to have a brief chat with Kurtis Gabriel after a whistle, before the pair dropped the mitts and squared off. After some brief grappling, they opened up and scored combinations of heavy uppercuts and haymakers, many of which appeared to land with acute accuracy under league-required visors. The linesmen hovered close by but let the guys finish the fight, which ended with one final punch by Gabriel before both players fell to the ice.

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Chris Stewart vs Mark Fraser, Jan 6, 2015

Ben Eklund — Mon, 12 Jan 2015 17:20:20 +0000

The New Jersey Devils have been very active in the fighting department lately, racking up 9 fighting majors in their last 7 games. In their matchup against the Buffalo Sabres last week, recently recalled defenseman Mark Fraser found a dance partner in Chris Stewart. This fight began off a faceoff following a Devils goal. Stewart, seemingly looking to spark his team, squared off with Fraser at center ice and opened the scoring with a flurry of jersey jabs. Both players traded licks in a good heavyweight scrap. Currently, the fight page lists Stewart as the winner according to the viewers who voted.

This was Fraser's third fight in four games since making his way back up to the NHL. He found the New York Islanders' Matt Martin the following game. Stewart earned his fifth major of the season. He has been involved in some entertaining scraps this year — four of his five tilts are rated 6.0 or better.

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Jack Skille vs Joe Vitale, Jan 3, 2015

Ben Eklund — Mon, 05 Jan 2015 14:14:43 +0000

The Fight of the Week took place on a fight-filled Saturday night, in an interconference matchup between the Columbus Blue Jackets and Arizona Coyotes. With his team up big in the third period, Coyote Joe Vitale sought to settle a score from earlier in the game, when Jack Skille took out Oliver Ekman-Larsson near the boards with a sneaky slew foot. Vitale pushed the issue with Skille, and Skille willingly answered the bell. It was a very even fight with both players throwing with intent and taking a couple to give a couple.

Interestingly, Vitale, known for his blue-collar play, has fought only 10 times over five NHL seasons. But, when he drops the gloves, it's usually a good one. Seven of his 10 fights have been rated a 6 out of 10 or better by viewers of the fight log.

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Milan Lucic vs Dalton Prout, Dec 27, 2014

Ben Eklund — Tue, 30 Dec 2014 16:35:03 +0000

How could the Fight of the Week be anything else? This highly anticipated fight built up for over a month after Dalton Prout dropped Milan Lucic with one punch on November 21. Lucic distilled his feelings to media about the punch, calling Prout's move “gutless.” Enter Saturday's rematch in Columbus between the Bruins and Blue Jackets. The fans in the arena knew what was brewing; viewers at home waited in anticipation. Lucic and Prout received coincidental minors for roughing in the first period, but avoided fisticuffs through the first frame. Minutes into the second period, Lucic made a beeline for Prout. Prout saw him coming and both players dropped their gloves simultaneously. Lucic teed off with the seething adrenaline of someone seeking vengeance. Prout hung in and tied up Lucic momentarily before starting to throw haymakers of his own. They knocked each others' helmets off and traded huge punches — punches with the weight of a newborn rivalry behind them, perhaps.

The Lucic vs Prout fight on Saturday reminded fans that no matter how the NHL evolves, a fight will always be the great equalizer when there is a score to be settled.

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Nicolas Deslauriers vs Mark Stuart, Dec 16, 2014

Ben Eklund — Mon, 22 Dec 2014 21:04:05 +0000

The Fight of the Week comes via TKO by the Buffalo Sabres' Nicolas Deslauriers. In the final minutes of last Tuesday's Sabres vs Jets game in WInnipeg, Deslauriers hooked up with Mark Stuart for a good ol' exchange of pre-holiday pleasantries. They traded rights to start the fight, keeping things even until Stuart disrupted Deslauriers' rhythm by pulling Deslauriers' jersey over his face. Stuart started taking over, but left himself a little too open. Deslauriers landed a huge right to the earhole, then went underneath and landed one on Stuart's chin to complete the TKO.

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Andrew Ladd vs Gabriel Landeskog, Dec 11, 2014

Ben Eklund — Mon, 15 Dec 2014 06:59:16 +0000

Whenever two captains drop the mitts against each other, fight fans often expect a lot of energy and and raw firepower in an exciting fight. Andrew Ladd and Gabriel Landeskog are captains of the Winnipeg Jets and Colorado Avalanche, respectively. Ergo, we expect a fight between them to amount to a worthwhile battle. However, given neither player is much known for his pugilism, we'll excuse you if you didn't expect much of a fight between Ladd and Landeskog last Thursday.

After chirping each other before a faceoff, they squared off midway through a tie game and traded rights with ill intentions. Ladd's right arm came out of his jersey during the fight, leaving Landeskog to spend most of the fight on offense without a good hold of Ladd. Landeskog did well avoiding many of Ladd's punches while counterattacking strongly. He controlled most of the fight, and while neither player appeared to be worse for wear at the end, our voting page scores this as a win for Landeskog in only his third career NHL fight.

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Jay Rosehill vs Mark Fraser, Nov 28, 2014

Ben Eklund — Tue, 02 Dec 2014 12:51:14 +0000

What a slugfest down on the farm last week between two players who have spent considerable time in the NHL and are best known for these kinds of no-defense dances. Albany's Mark Fraser paired off with Lehigh Valley's Jay Rosehill in the third period of last Friday's AHL game in Albany. Rosehill got Fraser's helmet off early, but it was Fraser landing the better shots at the start of the fight. Once Rosehill got his own helmet off without any intervention from the referees, both fighters went toe-to-toe. Fraser had the upper hand, landing some quality punches until Rosehill switched to his left and battled back. It was a well-earned draw for both players, who mutually ended the fight standing up.

Oddly, despite having both played in the NHL's Eastern Conference the past couple seasons, Fraser and Rosehill have never met up in the big leagues. They've only fought once before, in the AHL in 2007. So there's no real personal rivalry between these two. But after this fight, we certainly wouldn't mind seeing round 2.

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Joel Rechlicz vs Ryan Schnell, Nov 21, 2014

Ben Eklund — Mon, 24 Nov 2014 13:49:01 +0000

Our Fight of the Week comes out of last Friday's AHL game between the Iowa Wild and Rockford Ice Hogs. Midway through the game, Iowa's Joel Rechlicz and Rockford's Ryan Schnell squared off on the hog's head at center ice. Defense took a back seat for most of this fight: Rechlicz led with his left while Schnell connected with a barrage of rights. After the opening rush, they briefly tied up to reset themselves, then opened up again in a good toe-to-toe scrap. Schnell appeared to lose some steam toward the end, which allowed Rechlicz to take control, but both players finished the fight on their feet.

Also deserving mention is Friday's line brawl between the Manchester Monarchs and Binghamton Senators. The opening salvo between Scott Sabourin and Michael Sdao is solid. After their fight was broken up, six other players paired off. Four fights total. Ramped-up emotions also gave way to some interesting penalty box audio after the brawl. Presumably, the mic was turned on during the broadcast to pick up the referee's exchange with the scorekeeper. We got a little more than that. Spoiler alert: it is not family-friendly.

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Antoine Roussel vs Andrew Shaw, Nov 16, 2014

Ben Eklund — Tue, 18 Nov 2014 02:38:39 +0000

With apologies to Zac Rinaldo and Brandon Prust, whose fight I had pegged and ready to publish as the Fight of the Week, the honor goes to a late nominee from one of Sunday night's games. In a rematch of a vitriolic battle from last season, Dallas' ubiquitous pest Antoine Roussel squared off with Chicago's Andrew Shaw. Roussel opened the scoring, but Shaw countered with a powerful and techinical effort that saw him land a combination of uppercuts and overhand punches that almost had Roussel on the ropes. After some grappling, both fighters continued swinging, with most of their punches landing. The linesmen — who stepped in way too early during last year's bout, not that it mattered — let the fight ride to its full conclusion this time. Up in the Stars' broadcasting booth, the commentary of Ralph Strangis and Daryl Reaugh further amplified the raw energy of the fight. Those guys love a great dust-up as much as we do.

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Deryk Engelland vs Liam O’Brien, Nov 4, 2014

Ben Eklund — Wed, 12 Nov 2014 15:35:29 +0000

Last Tuesday, undrafted Capitals rookie Liam O'Brien stepped up against seasoned Flames heavyweight Deryk Engelland. The pair came together after an icing call in the Capitals' zone. They shed the gloves and grabbed hold. Initially, Engelland tried to get O'Brien's helmet and visor off, but, with his right arm free, quickly abandoned that strategy and unleashed a flurry of rights instead. O'Brien returned fire with a stream of punches of his own, and away they went in an old school toe-to-toe bout.

Though Engelland got the better of him in this fight, O'Brien deserves credit for stepping up against a guy who has fought and beaten many of the NHL's best over the years.

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