No Ryan Reeves fight is to be missed, but Sunday night’s fight was a must-see for a different reason.
Barely three minutes into the first period of the game against the Arizona Coyotes, the Minnesota Wild came up to answer the call after Boko Imam pushed him to drop his gloves. This was followed by perhaps the most boring fight ever seen in the NHL.
A full 28 seconds elapsed between both players dropping their gloves and someone who actually made physical contact or tried to fight. It took even more time before Imama landed a giant throw and ended up with his head in Reeves’ lap.
A little headlock later and the officials decided to separate them. What a disappointment.
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Reeves is a veteran here. According to the data, he has a total of 83 recorded fights in his 814-game NHL career. HockeyFights.comwhile it was only Imama’s third fight in the top division in his multiple NHL games.
After this show of calm fisticuffs, Wild forward Marcus Foligno decided to cheer the Mullett Arena fans on. Less than 90 seconds after Reeves didn’t fight, Foligno was dancing with familiar partner Liam O’Brien and got the better of him.
After this vigorous throw Wild Youth Mason Shaw entered into force and had three fights in the first 25 minutes of the game.
In what can only be described as a rarity, Reeves was all over the stats sheet in this one. He scored his second goal of the season later in the first period before assisting Connor Dewar in the second period. Despite a big night from Reeves, Minnesota lost to Arizona 5-4 in overtime.
With a goal, an assist and a “struggle” on his ledger, Reeves pulled off a Gordie Howe hat-trick for what he believes is the first time in his career – at any level.
“High school?” This was reported by Reeves according to Joe Smith from The Athletic. “No, you can’t fight in high school. I don’t know if I ever had one.”
He may not be able to lift the Stanley Cup or score 30 goals in a season, but the 36-year-old winger was able to reach one big milestone in the twilight of his career, even if the fight shouldn’t count.
Source: sports.yahoo.com