Before diving into another edition of Hockey Fights of the Week, we have a bone to pick with the NHL. As things currently stand, fighting is legal in the NHL. You may not realize fighting is still legal in the NHL because the game’s officials keep stepping in and breaking up fights.
The recent “fight” with Steve Ott and Dan Carcillo is a perfect example. The officials step in right as the first punches are being thrown. Some have pointed to Ott unhooking his helmet as the reason, but other fights around the league have been broken up in similar fashion.
If fighting is legal, let the boys fight. If you want to remove it from the game, go ahead and do so. The current practice of interrupting fights is infuriating.
Now, on to the fights …
5. Anthony Peluso (WIN) vs Derek Dorsett (VAN) – Feb. 3rd
The officials almost ruined this one, but Peluso and Dorsett were able to keep swinging and keep the linesmen at bay. Dorsett was out of his league in this one and Peluso looks like he thoroughly enjoyed himself.
4. Cody McLeod (COL) vs Chris Thorburn (WIN) – Feb. 8th
McLeod and Thorburn renewed an old rivalry. The two originally fought in February of 2012 and they dropped the gloves in the first period of this game. Obviously the score wasn’t settled as the two went back at it in the third period. We’re going to call this one a draw, but McLeod may have had a slight edge.
3. Patrick Maroon (ANA) vs Luke Witkowski (TB) – Feb. 8th
Maroon does a little bit of everything in this fight. He throws short jabs with his left and plenty of uppercuts and overhand punches with his right. He even throws in a respectable pat on Witkowski’s helmet after a lopsided victory.
2. Ryan Strome (NYI) vs Torey Krug (BOS) – Feb. 7th
The cameras take a while to find this fight, but when they do we see that Strome and Krug are already engaged in a battle in which a helmet plays a fairly significant role. Strome emerges as the winner, but we have to give a lot of credit to his bucket.
1. Matt Martin (NYI) vs Ryan White (PHI) – Feb. 5th
Want to see Martin’s nose get obliterated? Of course you do. White gets in some vicious shots, but the worst was a high-impact punch to Martin’s nose.
Brace yourself – here it is in slo-mo.
Brutal.
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