Fighting is, and seemingly always has been, a well-established part of the hockey consciousness.
It has recently come under fire though, with some beginning to view it as a now-unnecessary aspect of the game as the nature of the professional level changes - the increased focus on skill and scoring replacing the need for heavy-handed, lumber-legged goons on all levels.
Not to mention the increased sensitivity to and awareness of the effects of brain trauma on the future health of professional athletes - athletes who set an example for the youngsters who idolize them.
But every now and then a fight happens - fisticuffs between a pair of tough players, throwing haymaker after haymaker as they grip and grapple, neither wanting to back down as the blood and spittle flies, fighting for team, fighting for self, fighting for respect, the whole scene a whirling, chaotic mess of flying limbs and flashing color - that just makes you stop and say..."wow."
This is not one of those fights.
This fight is all anticipation followed by one of the single most perfectly timed, well-placed punches you'll ever see.
In the video, the Sorel-Tracy Eperviers' Guillaume Coude and the Cornwall River Kings' Dylan Garrioch of the LNAH square off in a bout that lasted quite a while, comparatively speaking, though only one punch was actually thrown. Check it out...
Coude and Garrioch circled and circled and circled some more at center ice before Coude finally moves forward and plants a perfect fist directly into the unsuspecting Garrioch's chin.
The semi-conscious Garrioch barely hits the ice before Coude's arms fly up in celebration.
He then applauds himself.
Classy guy.
