Old Time Hockey Has Never Been More Back Than This Fight Between Jonah Gadjovich And Brenden Dillon
We're finally getting our game back. For years it started to feel like we were losing our way. That the stat nerds were coming in to completely rip this beautiful game away from us. Fights were on the decline, you had skill guys playing on the 4th line, and there was nobody on the ice to police the game. Guys could get away with anything out there because, at worst, they'd have to drop the gloves with some 2nd round pick who hadn't fought in 3 years.
But just as the enforcer was feared to be on the way towards extinction, fighting in the NHL has made an immaculate comeback. It may not be on a nightly basis yet, but almost every team has a heavyweight they can throw in their lineup if necessary. Guys who live by the code and are willing to bleed for their team.
Brenden Dillon is actually more of a player than an enforcer, but he's still good to get into 6,7,8 fights per season. Jonah Gadjovich is more of a stereotypical enforcer playing on a team that doesn't necessarily need someone to fill that role considering most of the Panthers are a bunch of rats who fight their own battles. But these are two big boys who can fight in that top weight class, and holy shit what a tilt they put on for the hockey world to see last night.
This is why you can never take fighting out of hockey. The uncultured swine out there will tell you that it's barbaric and just gratuitous violence. But you listen to Brenden Dillon talk about the brief set up of that fight and how much decision making actually goes into it.
Going up against the defending Stanley Cup champs. He knows his team needs a little spark. He knows the Devils need to send a little message to a Panthers team who they're going to play again just 48 hours later. He knows that Jonah Gadjovich is a big boy who is out there to do a job, and Brenden Dillon is a willing combatant. It's not just someone getting their feelings hurt and responding with violence. It's a strategic way to inject a little life into the game, and inject a ton of juice into the building with about 100 punches being tossed around by both of them. No defense or nothing, just two fellas unloading the clip until they can't unload anymore. Fuckin' beauties.
P.S. -- Maybe just let Brenden Dillon be the pregame dj before next game instead of having to bash his knuckles against someone's skull again.