David Koci reminds us of what hockey once was

Chicago Blackhawks' David Koci made his NHL season debut last night and made a bang. He reminded the old-time hockey fans what hockey once was, a tough hard-working, hard-hitting sport. Koci racked up 42 penalty minutes in his first game which included three fights and a huge clean hit which he got thrown out of the game for.

Koci got into two good fights with Phoenix Coyotes' tough guy Josh Gratton. In their first fight Gratton sent Koci down with two big rights. In round 2 they had a slugfest with both guys landing some nice shots. You can watch both fights below. You can download both fights on Adam's Hockey Site fight clips page.

David Koci vs Josh Gratton round 1


David Koci vs Josh Gratton round 2

In that same Blackhawks-Coyotes game, Danny Richmond and Daniel Carcillo dropped the gloves and had a spirited bout with Carcillo gettting the edge. In the third period David Koci layed out Bill Thomas with a clean check and Nick Boynton went after Koci. They had an uneventful fight with Boynton getting the takedown. I would give that one a draw, maybe Koci an edge.

There were other fights on Saturday. In the Bruins-Flyers game Jeremy Reich and Darren Reid had a fight with Reich getting the edge. In the Rangers-Penguins game, the heavyweight title was on the line as Colton Orr and Georges Laraque had a fight that Laraque dominated. Laraque looked to land two big lefts that sent Orr down to the ice. Win to Laraque and he retains the title. I believe this was Laraque's first fight in three months! That's too long.

In the Devils-Sabres game, Cam Janssen was playing in his first game back from his suspension and it didn't take long before he found a dance partner. Janssen dropped the gloves with Sabres' enforcer Andrew Peters. They had a long fight with not many punches landing as they held each other away from each other. I would give a slight edge to Peters in this fight.