Thank Goodness It’s The Friday Fight Club
As we wrap another exciting week of NHL hockey and head into the annual All Star Break, we tend to look back at some of the things that have happened over the course of the first half of the season. How is your team doing? What are the biggest surprises, disappointments? What can your team do to make itself better before the February 27th trading deadline? The answers to these and many other burning questions…well, they won’t be found in this article. This article is for those who like to vent their frustrations out on others because, well, they just happen to play for the other team and weren’t playing too nice. This for those who take umbrage to either being poked at, crosschecked, or somehow introduced into the boards at an odd angle. If you’re going to dispense punishment, you had be ready “To Go” when the time comes…
First Up, the Ottawa Senators and Phoenix Coyotes got together Tuesday for a nice evening at the rink. However, it seems that the Senators Zach Smith and the Coyotes Kyle Chipchura were just not feeling too good about each other. One thing led to another, and by the time the second period was starting they had clearly had enough of one another…
I would give the decision to Chipchura because of his ability to escape Smith’s headlock, and he managed to get in just a few more punches…
On January 22nd, Milan Lucic hooked up with Tom Sestito during the Bruins & Flyers match up this past Sunday. This is not to say these two don’t get along, though they certainly seem to have a difference of opinion needless to say…
NESN and Bruins Commentator Jack Edwards knowing this was the NFL’s Championship Sunday re-assured the viewers that they would do their best to hold up the entertainment factor, and as it turns out he wasn’t kidding either. Later on, the Bruins Steven Kampfer just gets hammered by the Flyers Brayden Schenn (we’re talking “Bang!” for Schenn, “Tweet!” for Kampfer). While Kampfer was trying to remember, well, anything really, Schenn was confronted at center ice by Chris Kelley who I guess felt Schenn wasn’t being too nice to his fellow man.
Kelly gets credit for standing up for his teammate. The fight itself was basically a draw. As for Kampfer, their is something that is said commonly in most sports. Something to the effect of “…having your head on a swivel”…or getting Excedrin Headache #10, named Brayden Schenn.
If this wasn’t enough entertainment for the paying customers in Philadelphia, with the Flyers just having comeback from two goals down to tie the game at 3-3, Shawn Thronton and former Shark Jody Shelly didn’t want to be left out of the days festivities and would engage in a scrap of their own.
Thornton and Shelly battled to a draw. In case you were wondering, the Bruins won the game in overtime 6-5.
The Friday Fight Club also caught up with another former Shark, this time Scott Nichol and we wondered how he was doing in St.Louis. Apparently, so was the Dallas Stars’ Jake Dowell who broadsided Nichol into the boards. Nichol, taking exception to Dowell’s rudeness did not hesitate to answer back.
Nichol may not be the NHL’s biggest man, but was we all learned while he was in San Jose that his size doesn’t matter. What matters is the size of his fight, and now Mr Dowell knows that too.
North of the border there was Nick Foligno versus Dion Phaneuf on January 17th. Ottawa and Toronto have become quite a rivalry since the Senators re-entered the NHL 20 years ago. To say the two teams don’t like each other is an understatement. I’m not quite sure how this fight got started as both were going for the puck against the boards. What is clear is that Foligno and Phaneuf may have had some past heated exchanges. Well, either that or one owes the other five bucks for some inane bet between the two…
I give this one to Folingo for two reasons; 1) He landed more punches, and 2) He showed great refrain by pulling Phaneuf’s sweater over his head and not resorting to the league banned “Three Stooges Eye Tweak” move. (Hey Moe, hey Moe…nyuck nyuck nyuck…)…
And finally, there was a skirmish between Tim Gleason of the Carolina Hurricanes and Deryk Engelland of the Pittsburgh Penguins. This was a fight that seemed to spark though another scrum that was broken up by the officials. The Penguins telecast may have been a little quick to go to commercial. However, isn’t technology great? The fans at home got to see this after the break…
Rock’em Sock’em indeed…
We hope you enjoyed this installment of the Friday Fight Club. The good thing about the All Star Break is that for once I actually got to do this on a Friday. With the Sharks schedule picking up, we’ll squeeze in future fight clubs whenever we can. They may not always be on Friday, but they will never lack in excitement, drama and sheer entertainment value.
The King Shark
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*Video Sources: You Tube and Hockeyfights.com