Blackhawks and Ducks throw down the gloves

Friday night was a wild night for the Blackhawks and Ducks that is. They brought back some old-time hockey with four hockey fights in the game. The first fight was between heavyweights David Koci and George Parros. They both exchange right hands and grapple and then go down to the ice together. I give that one a draw as neither guy looked to land a solid punch. Later in the game Tuomo Ruutu looked to high-stick Andy McDonald, so Chris Kunitz dropped his gloves, grabbed Ruutu and started throwing punches at him. Ruutu turtled as Kunitz threw punches and didn't really hurt Ruutu at all. Later, Ryan Getzlaf and Danny Richmond dropped the gloves but it was all Getzlaf as Richmond waited to throw a punch and then he lost his balance and went down. Decision to Getzlaf in that fight. Then later in the game, something that hasn't happened in a while happened. On the faceoff, before the puck was dropped, David Koci and Sean O'Donnell had some words and gave each other pushes and sticks, and they dropped the gloves and threw punches furiously at each other. Koci with the better punches but O'Donnell got some in too, and Koci got the takedown as well. Decision to Koci in that fight. You can watch that fight below.

David Koci vs Sean O'Donnell

In the Rangers-Thrashers game, Colton Orr and Eric Boulton had a rematch from their first fight earlier this season with Orr knocking down Boulton with a punch. This time it was a closer fight with Orr having the edge early on and then Boulton came back with some punches. But I give the decision to Orr in that fight. In the Sabres-Lightning game, Andrew Peters and Andre Roy dropped the gloves. It was mostly Peters in this fight as it looked like Roy went down from a Peters punch.

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