Sean Avery vs Scott Hartnell

New York Rangers Sean Avery vs Philadelphia Flyers Scott Hartnell on January 21, 2010.

Scott Hartnell vs Sean Avery

Philadelphia Flyers' Scott Hartnell vs New York Rangers' Sean Avery on December 30, 2009.

NHL playoffs fights

Even though we're not deep into the playoffs there have been a few fights. This is a surprise to me and a good surprise. The Sharks-Predators series has been nasty as there have been cheap shots, fights, and now even coaches talking through the media about the series. Nice! This series so far has had Ryane Clowe vs Jordin Tootoo, Mike Grier vs Scott Hartnell, and Scott Hannan vs Jerred Smithson all happened at the same time. The best fight was between Clowe and Tootoo as after the fight Tootoo had a bloody nose. Watch the clip of these fights below.

Sharks vs Predators fights

In the Wild-Ducks series, so far there has been one fight with Brent Burns and Chris Kunitz. I gave that one a draw. In the Penguins-Senators series, there has been two fights. The first with Colby Armstrong and Mike Comrie going at it. I gave that one a draw as not much happened in it. Tonight, Dean McAmmond and Maxime Talbot had a spirited bout after Armstrong took out Patrick Eaves with a big hit. I gave the edge to McAmmond in that fight.

Saturday night had fight fever

What a night last night was. There were 8 hockey fights in 14 games last night. Yesterday I wrote about maybe a heavyweight title bout against the Coyotes' Georges Laraque, but we didn't get it last night because the Minnesota Wild scratched Derek Boogaard, so we were robbed of seeing a Boogaard-Laraque fight. Word is that Boogaard either has the flu and that is why he was scratched, or he was scratched by Jacques Lemaire because Lemaire was upset with Boogaard who fought Laraque in their last meeting, which turned around the game.

We'll start off with the Edmonton Oilers-Colorado Avalanche game which had two fights. First Ian Laperriere layed out Ladislav Smid with a good check. Matt Greene didn't like it so he went right after Laperriere and they went at it. Not much of a fight though, it was all wrestling really. The second fight did not include Laperriere for the Avs, what a surprise right? Finally, somebody else on the Avs stood up and dropped the gloves besides Laperriere. Mark Rycroft bumped Oilers' goalie Dwayne Roloson and Ladislav Smid didn't like it, so they exchanged some shoves and nods and off came the gloves. Smid threw all the punches in this fight, nothing looked to cleanly land, but win to Smid in this fight.

In the Los Angeles Kings-Florida Panthers game there were also two fights. The first fight was between Tom Kostopoulos and Chris Gratton. I would give the decision to Gratton in their short bout as he dominated it. Then the guy everyone loves to hate, Sean Avery, got into a fight with Gregory Campbell. I would call that fight a draw.

In the Anaheim Ducks-Nashville Predators game there was action near the end of the game with two fights. First there was Sean O'Donnell and Scott Hartnell going at it in a short fight with O'Donnell mostly getting in shots. Then off to the side while O'Donnell and Hartnell are being broken up by a linesman, Travis Moen and Shea Weber decide to go. Half-way through their fight Weber gets the jersey over Moen's head and Moen throws a blind punch that lands right on Weber's chin that sends Weber down to the ice. Weber was stunned and needed help to get up and off the ice. Wow what a punch by Moen. You got to see that punch, view the video below.

In the Dallas Stars-St. Louis Blues game Krys Barch was back at it again. Barch layed out Ryan Johnson with a big check and Matt Walker came right over to him and away they went. It was a good fight but nothing looked to cleanly land on either player. I would give that fight a draw. Later in the game Barch layed out Blues' Captain Dallas Drake with a good check and Ryan Johnson went after Barch and they had a quick go. It was mostly Barch in that fight and decision to Barch, but good to see Johnson stand up for a teammate (the Bruins should watch that and take a note).

In the Vancouver Canucks-Calgary Flames game Jeff Cowan tried to get Eric Godard to go but Godard kept his gloves on as Cowan dropped them. At that same moment Alex Burrows and Byron Ritchie were getting into it. They dropped the gloves and had a spirited bout with Ritchie getting the upper hand. Decision to Ritchie in their fight. View the video of their fight below.

O'Donnell vs Hartnell and Moen vs Weber


Alex Burrows vs Byron Ritchie

Three fights, one with a surprise fighter

Yesterday we had three fights, and in one of them you won't believe who dropped the gloves. The first fight was between Philadelphia Flyers' Ben Eager and Pittsburgh Penguins' Chris Thorburn. Eager got an instigator in this fight, and that was his third one this season so he gets the automatic one game suspension. Win goes to Eager as it looked like Thorburn didn't really throw any punches. Ben Eager is now tied with Ian Laperriere and Matthew Barnaby with 11 fighting majors to lead the NHL.

The second fight was between Nashville Predators' Scott Hartnell and Columbus Blue Jackets' Dan Fritsche. After a hit on Hartnell by Fritsche, Hartnell dropped the gloves and they went at it. Hartnell got instigating and a few other penalties because he instigated the fight with a shield on. I would give the edge to Hartnell in this fight as he landed more punches, but Fritsche did get the take down.

The third fight was the surprise fight of the night. San Jose's captain Patrick Marleau got into a fight with Phoenix Coyotes' Keith Ballard. Marleau did quite good for a guy who doesn't drop the gloves that often at all. I give the win to Marleau in their fight.