Bob Gould certainly didn’t have the best fight in Capitals history, but he certainly had the most memorable; an epic beatdown of the one and only Mario Lemieux on one of the few occasions the Super One decided to drop the gloves in his illustrious career, which is why he’ll be remembered with reverence and awe by the old-timers years after you’ve forgotten about Peat v. Stock.
So with that in mind, I’ve decided to name this every-once-in-a-great-while column about Caps fights the “Bob Gould Memorial Fight Corner”. Let’s get to this past weekend’s tangled tussles.
1/20/12 @Carolina Hurricanes, 4:53, First Period
Kombatants: Matt “Jimmy Darmody Hair” Hendricks, (6 ft., 208 lbs, 34 officially sanctioned hockeyfights.com NHL bouts) vs. Derek “Everyday I’m” Joslin, (6’1, 210 lbs, 3 officially sanctioned hockeyfights.com NHL bouts)
Analysis: Joslin takes exception to a hit from Hendricks in the corner, and here we go. I love Matt Hendricks, but you can see why he was a training camp tryout a year or two ago. He clearly lacks the athletic ability of the younger, quicker Joslin, but God bless him, he’s got a ton of Ecksteinian heart. A quickie that results in no real heavy punches and a Hendricks pin.
Verdict: Hendricks, by a left ventricle.
1/22/12 @Pittsburgh Penguins, 16:58 Second Period
Kombatants: “Tumultuous” Troy Brouwer, (6’ 3, 213 lbs, 16 officially sanctioned hockeyfights.com NHL bouts) vs. Tyler “Nostrildamus” Kennedy, (5’ 11, 183 lbs, 13 officially sanctioned hockeyfights.com NHL bouts)
Analysis: Hey look at that! The Capitals are finally standing up for themselves! Matt Hendricks trips Tyler Kennedy (which gets called), Evgeni Malkin trips Karl Alzner very close to post-whistle (which doesn’t get called, and, quick side note here-does anyone play dirtier and get less heat for it than Malkin? I venture, nay). Then we have scrum time (which used to be “fracas time” until the concept of “fracas” was retired when Dale Hunter’s time as a player for the Washington Capitals came to an end). Out of the swirling mass of humanity we get Tyler Kennedy thinking it’s a good idea to take on guy who is about 4-5 inches taller than he is, and outweighs him by about 20 lbs. No bueno.
Verdict: I haven’t seen a Kennedy take that bad of a beating since Chappaquiddick. Zing!
