It’s not uncommon to see the NHL’s willing participants using warmups to book fights or future altercations. Many times, deals are brokered in these close encounters, allowing for issues to be settled with all parties in agreement. It sounds silly, but these conversations can be incredibly useful, as it can often prevent all hell from breaking loose in times when scores must be settled.
What’s not as common is that these negotiations will drag on, and on, and on, and on. And without is resulting in blows right then and there. But that was the case when Kyle Clifford of the St. Louis Blues and Kurtis Gabriel of the San Jose Sharks met at centre ice during warmups before their game Monday night.
The two enforcers stood face-to-face for what seemed like an eternity, having what appears at some points to be a good-natured discussion, and at other points a highly contentious one.
It took so long for the two to arrive at the same page that, as blood pooled back into the boots over time, the two decided to carry on the conversation while travelling up and down the red line boundary that separates the two teams.
As predicted, the two were slanging fists at each other before three minutes had elapsed in the game.
It was a decent fight, but like most staged bouts talked about at length beforehand, no matter the sport, the lead-up was more entertaining.
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