One of the most talked about stories from the world of hockey this week was unquestionably the attempt by
Marc-Andre Fleury to take on fellow netminder
Jordan Binnington. During the game between the Minnesota Wild and St. Louis Blues, Fleury had had enough of Binnington's antics, which included going after the Wild's
Ryan Hartman with his blocker and stick. Fleury skated down the ice and challenged Binnington, but the officials got between them. That was disappointing for many fans, as well as fellow goaltender
Linus Ullmark of the Boston Bruins.
Ullmark was asked about the incident Saturday, and made it clear the officials shouldn't have stopped it, adding goalie fighting is a "lost art".
"I thought it was BS the refs didn't let them"
"It's a lost (art). I grew up watching Detroit, [Ron] Hextall, Tim Thomas [Tuukka] Rask went after it."
Ironically, one of the times, and perhaps the only time Rask "went after it", he was stopped by the officials.
Ullmark, who is currently enjoying a possible Vezina-winning season, has a point. While not unheard of, goalie fights were never all that common, and that's what made them great! It was usually a good indicator that a game had reached a fevered pitch, and fans were about to be treated to something special. Officials took that away by getting between Fleury and Binnington. Ullmark added "it would take a lot" for him to challenge another goalie, but he really wanted to see this one.
SHOULD THE OFFICIALS HAVE STOPPED FLEURY AND BINNINGTON FROM FIGHTING? MARCH 18 233 ANSWERS |
NO, LET THEM GO! | 198 | 85 % |
YES, THERE'S NO NEED FOR IT | 28 | 12 % |
NOT SURE | 7 | 3 % |
LIST OF POLLS |