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Fighting in the NHL isn’t entirely dead.
At least, not yet.
Gone are the days of line brawls. But Philadelphia Flyers vet Nic Deslauriers and New York Rangers rookie Matt Rempe went toe-to-toe on Saturday afternoon in the best scrap you will see this season.
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The fight actually began before the game even started, with Deslauriers and Rempe jawing with one another. Then, once they both took the ice together, it was time to throw down.
The 6-foot-1, 218-pound Deslauriers stood toe-to-toe with the 6-7, 241-pound Rempe with both men landing heavy shots. Rempe appeared to be landing a bit more often. But when it was all said and done, it was Deslauriers who sent his foe crashing to the ice.
Both men got a standing ovation from the sold-out crowd at Philadelphia’s Wells Fargo Center. They both then left the ice for the penalty box, with Deslauriers sporting a pretty sizable gash on his forehead.
Even fans of other teams had to share their admiration for the two players.
“Like two majestic lions squaring off in the wild,” one fan tweeted.
“What a tilt. That’s a throwback NHL fight right there,” said another.
The two rivals have each had a strong 2023-24 season.
New York entered the season with Stanley Cup aspirations and currently leads the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference. Philadelphia, meanwhile, was expected to be one of the league’s worst teams. Instead, the Flyers currently sit in third place in the metro division. That’s despite starting goaltender Carter Hart leaving the team to turn himself in to Canadian police over sexual assault charges stemming from an incident in 2018 that involved five members of the Canadian World Junior hockey team.
Hockey will likely never return to the hay days of the 80’s when it comes to fighting. But it’s nice to be reminded that you can still see a good scrap every now and then.