There is nothing in all of sports as exciting or entrancing as the spontaneous hockey fight. NHL fans applaud and cheer nightly their approval of a good tussle. There is no need to stick up for your enjoyment of hockey fights. If you like fights in hockey, so be it, enjoy them. Cheering a good brawl does not make you callous or violent. It makes you a well-rounded, comprehensive fan of the game. So, hockey fight fans, what were the best fights of the 2009-2010 NHL season?
Top 2009-2010 Hockey Fights
1) Cam Janssen vs. Pierre Luc Letourneau-Leblond Mar 20, 2010
St. Louis Blues’ Cam Janssen and New Jersey Devils’ Pierre Luc Letourneau-Leblond dropped the gloves in what will ever be remembered as one of the longest NHL scraps ever. Cam Janssen is noted for his long marathon bouts, but Leblond kept up with him punch for punch. This was a long technical bout, nothing full-throttle here. What hockey fight fans saw was an epic and an all-time unforgettable donnybrook. This fight may linger as the most-talked about tussle from the 2009-2010 season, a scrap on par with Marty McSorley's legendary battle with Bob Probert in the 1990s. Janssen vs. Leblond receives my vote for hockey fight of the year.
2) Steve MacIntyre vs. Brian McGrattan Oct 24, 2009
Two of the toughest guys in the league slugged it out in an early season punch-out. Steve MacIntyre resided in Edmonton at the time and Brian McGrattan was ingratiating himself to the Calgary Flames organization. MacIntyre took the early portion of the fight, but the wily, powerful McGrattan came back strong and finished solid, even opening a few cuts on MacIntyre. While the arguable decision may have gone to McGrattan, there was no question as to whether fans witnessed a terrific fight.
3) Rick Rypien vs. Cam Janssen Dec 31, 2009
Rick Rypien of the Vancouver Canucks is perhaps the most excitingly wild scrapper in the NHL. The quick-throwing, fiery middleweight had some spectacular bouts in the 2009-2010 season, with his dandy fracas with Cam Janssen the most memorable. Fans were astonished at the two players’ ability to constantly chuck knuckles – no defense here. More fists flew in this bout than in a dozen or more ordinary hockey fights.
4) Brandon Prust vs. Rick Rypien Jan 9, 2010
Rick Rypien was once again found a willing participant to oblige him in a bout of fisticuffs. Brandon Prust, playing for the Calgary Flames (now a New York Ranger), matched up equally with Rypien in the size and strength departments, and the result was a bona fide, toe-to-toe – or skate-to-skate, really – hockey fight classic.
5) David Koci vs. Brian McGrattan Jan 11, 2010
Brian McGrattan had some epic encounters in the 2009-2010 season, tallying 14 fighting majors, two of which were against journeyman tough guy David Koci. In the second of their two scraps, each of the two behemoths, McGrattan of the Flames, Koci of the Colorado Avalanche, landed solid punches in a seesaw battle that delighted fans and sparked both benches.
Brian D'Ambrosio - Brian D'Ambrosio is the author of more than 500 published articles and seven books, including From Haikus to Hatmaking: A Year in the Life ...
