Regardless of the sport preseason games are by and large meaningless. The only reason anyone cares about spring training is that it's an excuse to go to somewhere that isn't covered in snow for a little while. Other than that preseason games usually consist of players going through the motions while trying to avoid injuring themselves; apparently the Buffalo Sabres and Toronto Maple Leafs didn't get that memo.
Some bad blood between the two teams erupted in the third period when Sabres goon John Scott picked a fight with the Leafs' Phil Kessel, who is more than a half foot shorter than Scott and not much of a fighter, that prompted everyone on the ice to engage in the donnybrook, including the goalies, according to the Toronto Star.
Kessel tried his best to avoid the fight as he skated away from Scott slashing at him with his stick, a move that will probably earn him a fine if not a suspension, but eventually ended up taking on an opponent more his size as he got the best of Brian Flynn, according to Canada.com.
"It was pretty stupid, right? He said he was going to jump me," Kessel told the Associated Press. "What are you going to do? He's a big boy, so if he's coming after me, what are you going to do?"
As the rest of the team fought Leafs' netminder Jonathan Bernier skated out near the Sabres' blue line and challenged his counterpart Ryan Miller to tussle. The two traded shots for a couple of minutes as they struggled with all of their equipment, according to the Associated Press.
"I just asked him if he wanted to go, and obviously I don't think he seemed that he actually wanted to go, but that's the way it goes," Bernier told the Associated Press. "It's a hockey game, but you get hyper in energy and I wanted to defend my teammates."
Well... that escalated quickly. #oldtimehockey #eddieshore
— Ryan Miller (@RyanMiller3039) September 23, 2013
Also during the brawl new Leaf David Clarkson left the bench to take part in the fracas, most likely this will lead to a lengthy suspension for Clarkson. Last week Arizona's Paul Bissonnette was given a 10-game suspension for the same offense, according to TSN.
When all was said and done over 100 penalty minutes, including the very rare five-minute fighting majors that were given to the goalies, were handed out with expected discipline still to come for some of those involved, according to TSN.
