Old-Time Hockey Returns: We've Got Some NHL Rookie Game Fights
It's nice to have hockey back, isn't it?
I had a spring in my step yesterday because for the first time since June — practically an eternity — there was some actual, honest-to-goodness NHL hockey being played.
Rookie games, but still. I'll take what I can get.
And, boy, were there ever some highlight-reel fisticuffs…
Now, a rookie getting in a fight in a bid to make an impression with the team's top brass sitting in the press box is a tale as old as time. That said, I don't remember so many standout tilts on a single night of rookie games.
Let's start with the Philadelphia Flyers and New York Rangers, who are playing a pair of games this weekend at the PPL Center in Allentown, Pennsylvania, home of the AHL's Lehigh Valley Phantoms. The Flyers won this one in overtime thanks to a goal from Nikita Grebenkin.
But, with the Flyers trailing 3-2 late in the second period, Flyers prospect Sawyer Boulton paired up with Rangers prospect Corbin Vaughan for one spirited knuckle-sandwich exchange that ended with Boulton yelling at the Rangers bench, throwing his helmet across the ice, and pumping up the crowd.
Again, this is a rookie game. He got that barn rocking.
The Flyers and Rangers play again on Saturday so maybe there will be an encore performance…
But guess what? The Left Coast wasn't to be outdone because the Anaheim Ducks and San Jose Sharks were holding a rookie game of their own.
This time, 2023 Ducks fourth-round pick Konnor Smith delivered a massive hit and then had to answer to San Jose's Carson Wetsch.
Now, this was Smith's third-straight rookie tournament with a fight. Have a look for yourself, but I think he might have a favorite punch.
I haven't seen that many upper-cuts since I tried to play a Street Fighter machine with a sticky "punch" button.
Just a barrage of massive punches from the big man who spent a few games last season with the AHL's San Diego Gulls.
There's going to be plenty more where this came from in the weeks and months to come.
It just feels so good to have hockey back, doesn't it?