Did last week’s fights deliver one of the best of 2014-15? You be the judge, but we’re always excited when two captains start throwing punches. Aside from that, the other major story here involves NHL officials and the fact they’re breaking up fights earlier and earlier. Unless you’re going to ban fighting, ban it, otherwise let the fights play out as they normally would.
Before diving into the top-5 fights of the week, here’s the Ryan Reaves – Eric Bolton example of what the NHL needs to address. Either let the guys fight or ban fighting. It’s that simple.
On to the rankings…
5. Mark Borowiecki (OTT) vs Milan Lucic (BOS) – Dec. 13th
What a bizarre fight. It’s kind of incredible how far that glove slid on the ice. It’s also remarkable that a stick that no one appeared to be holding played such a major role. We’re going to give the win to the hockey stick as it really hung in there.
4. Brandon Bollig (CGY) vs Chris Stewart (BUF) – Dec. 11th
After being named a healthy scratch, Stewart was eager to disprove the comments stating that he needed to play more physical on the ice. What better way than to pick on a familiar foe in Bollig? We’re not sure if Stewart dropping the gloves changed any of the popular opinions about him, but this was a pretty solid fight by both men.
3. Brendan Smith (DET) vs Richard Panik (TOR) – Dec. 13th
We criticized the officials for breaking up fights too early, but this is one where they should have stepped in sooner. Smith wanted to dance but almost instantly found himself swimming in his sweater. Panik had no objection beating a blind man and the result was one lopsided tussle.
2. Andrew Shaw (CHI) vs Chris Kelly (BOS) – Dec. 11th
The excitement leading up to this fight played a big factor in our ranking. When Shaw and Kelly finally started throwing punches, there were some angry bombs. Kelly lands the vast majority of the big blows here and it’s awesome seeing the two fight surrounded by a bunch of equipment.
1. Andrew Ladd (WIN) vs Gabriel Landeskog (COL) – Dec. 11th
Captain vs. Captain! There’s something special about two captains dropping their mitts. Landeskog is averaging one fight a season in his first few years in the NHL, but you’d never know that based on how he handles the more experienced Ladd.
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