Friday Fights: The League Goes Soft
By Nation Dan
6 years agoHello out there, I’m on the air, it’s Hockey Fights today. This is a weekly feature where we will take a look back at the best tilts of the week that was, a fond look back at the fights that were, and a strong finger wag at the worst fight of the week.
With the magic that was last week, and its 17 glorious bouts, has made this week somewhat disappointing. In week 19, Friday Fights had the lowest number of fights in a week with only six total fights. That is a dismal number that we’re trying not to dwell on over here.
Our projected total for the season has once again dipped below the 300 mark, which would be the first time ever since hockeyfights.com started tracking the stats. Alas, in the absence of quantity, we did see a general rise in the quality of fights. Only one of the six fights dipped below a rating of 4.4 out of 10 our scale.
In this instalment, we have two of the leagues biggest guys going at it, a historical tilt from 1996 and a superstar who attacks from behind. Let’s get to the fights.
No. 3:
Tanner Glass vs Duncan Siemens
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A bit of a marathon here for certain. Glass lays a big (legal) hit behind the net and then answers the bell with Siemens. Siemens second ever fight in the NHL goes against him pretty strongly. Credit to him for standing in there though.
No. 2:
Jamie Oleksiak vs Zdeno Chara
With two of the biggest guys in the league going to war here, selfishly I had a lot of fun with this one in the social channels. The fight may not have been the best, but like any good fight it’s all about how you hype it, right?
No. 1:
Mark Borowiecki vs Tom Wilson
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This fight was a good tussle with Wilson definitely getting the best of Borowiecki. The true hero of this highlight was the dude at :28. A few bubbly pops into this one, dude was stoked to see the hometown guy smash.
Classic Fight of the Week:
Reid Simpson vs Dennis Vial
Mar 2, 1996 1pd 14:24
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No announcers. This is the way hockey should be available to be watched. But man I can’t believe I haven’t seen this until today.
Finger Wag of the Week:
This is where we normally feature the one fight that probably deserved two minutes for occurring, rather than a major. Or a player that needs to be put on blast
Steven Stamkos vs Karl Alzner
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I like what Stamkos is doing here in theory. He is standing up for his Hart trophy candidate. He is standing up for a teammate whom it looked like just took a knee on knee hit (he didn’t really). But if you’re going to do that, square up and take the man. Don’t attack his back and then go full huggy bear and hold on for dear life.
If you want to see all the fights from the week, and indeed the season, you have only to visit us over at HockeyFights.com
So that’s the fights that were the fights. What say you citizens of the Nation? Did you like my picks? Did I miss a fight you thought was better or worse? Do you have a suggestion for the classic fight you want to see next week? Hit me up on twitter @TheNationDan or send it in the comments below.
Square up and protect your head.
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