Welcome to our final regular season installment of Hockey Fights of the Week. We'll have a "Best Fights of 2013" post coming in the near future, but this is our final regular column about the best fights in hockey now that the regular season has concluded.
Did the final week of the regular season end with a bang? You better believe it. We saw some of the best fights of the season during the final few games on the schedule. This was one of the most difficult weeks to rank as numerous players left us with memorable fights before their year came to an end.
5. Shawn Thornton (BOS) vs. Jay Rosehill (PHI) – April 23
This fight almost ended before it even started as Rosehill threw a big punch and whiffed, sending him down to the ice and with his back turned away from his opponent. He was able to find his feet and face the right way thanks to a bit of sportsmanship from Thornton. When the two men finally got things going we were treated to a fairly even scrap.
4. Tim Jackman (CGY) vs. Ryan Reaves (STL) – April 25
Jackman was rocked by a big hit from Chris Porter and was seeking vengeance. Unfortunately, he chose to mix it up with Reaves. Big mistake. As we've talked about in this column in the past, Reaves is one of the most underrated and most entertaining fighters to watch in the NHL. It's also worth noting that he scored two goals in this game, adding insult to injury to Jackman's night.
3. Mike Brown (EDM) vs. Zenon Konopka (MIN) – April 26
Brown and Konopka wasted little time dropping the mitts, starting their scrap just two seconds into the hockey game. What a great battle this one was. While we don't have our stopwatch handy, it's safe to say this was one of the longest scraps of the season as well as one of the most intense. Though Brown landed some big shots, we give the edge to Konopka in this one. Despite Konopka energizing the crowd early, the momentum didn't last long. The Oilers scored three times in the first period, eventually winning by a 6-1 score.
2. Chris Neil (OTT) vs. Milan Lucic (BOS) – April 28
It's pretty difficult to choose a winner in this one. After talking it over for a while, both men eventually dropped the mitts and engaged in an even bout. Lucic appeared to land some rights on Neil while Neil appeared to catch Lucic with a few of his lefts.
1. Dalton Prout (CBJ) vs. Eric Nystrom (DAL) – April 25
Prout and Nystrom won't be competing for the Stanley Cup this season. The Dallas Stars missed out on the playoffs by a decent margin while the Columbus Blue Jackets were shown the door thanks to a tiebreaker. Knowing their 2013 was coming to a close, Prout and Nystrom gave us a memorable scrap before they skated into the off-season.
Previous installments:
April 15 – April 21
April 8 – April 14
April 1 – April 7
March 25 – March 31
March 18 – March 24
March 11 – March 17
March 4 – March 10
February 25 – March 3
February 18 – February 24
February 11 – February 17
February 4 – February 10
January 28 – February 3
January 21- January 27
A big "Thank you" to Hockey Fights, our #1 resource for hockey fight videos.
