Fights with some newbies

On Monday there was only on hockey fight with Blues' D.J. King vs the Stars' Krys Barch. This was a good fight with King mostly controlling the fight. Decision to King in that one.

On Tuesday, there were four fights. In the Bruins-Canadiens game Dennis Wideman and Guillaume Latendresse dropped the gloves in a spirited fight where neither guy looked to get the upper hand. I gave that one a draw. That was Latendresse's first in the NHL.

In the Oilers-Wild game, Zack Stortini and Derek Boogaard had a short fight as Stortini had the bear hug on Boogaard at the start of it. Then Boogaard got his right arm free and threw some big punches and then Stortini, knowing he's going to get pounded, grabs Boogaard's left leg and tries to send the big guy down by getting him off balance. But Boogaard doesn't go down, and then Stortini throws a quick right that looks to land, and then he falls to the ice. Boogaard then throws a couple at Stortini as they are both on the ice. The linesmen try and break them up as Boogaard looks pissed that Stortini tried that wrestling move on him. This wasn't much of a fight but if I had to give a decision, I would give it to Boogaard. You can watch the YouTube video of this fight below.

Zack Stortini vs Derek Boogaard

Later in the Oilers-Wild game, Patrick Thoresen and Branko Radivojevic had an ok fight for two guys who don't fight often. It was all Radivojevic at first but Thoresen threw a big right hand that looked to land. I would give this one a draw.

In the Blues-Coyotes game, David Backes and Keith Ballard had an ok good fight for guys who also don't fight often (although Ballard has fought before). I would give this one a draw, maybe a slight edge to Ballard. This was Backes' first NHL fight.

Weak Saturday with two fights

Usually Saturdays have a few fights because almost every team plays, but yesterday there was really one fight and the other one went so fast that the television cameras didn't even get it. The fight that was actually televised was between Lightnings' Ryan Craig and Panthers' Gregory Campbell. They had a short spirited bout with Campbell landing a what seemed to be big punch. I would give that one a draw though because it was all Craig at first in the fight. The fight that was missed by both television feeds was between Blue Jackets' Ole-Kristian Tollefsen and Coyotes' Keith Ballard. I have read that it was a quick fight with neither guy landing anything.

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.