Any fight involving Ryan Reeves isn’t one you can skip, but Sunday night’s bout should be seen for another reason entirely.
Not even three minutes into the first period of the game against the Arizona Coyotes, the Minnesota Wild Bruiser stepped up to answer the call after Boko Imama dropped the glove. What followed was perhaps the most boring fight the NHL has ever seen.
There was a full 28 seconds between the two players dropping their gloves and actually making any physical contact or attempting to fight. More downtime passed before Imama went for a huge throwing punch and ended up with his head in Reeves’ lap.
After a while there was a scuffle and the officials decided to separate the two. What a disappointment
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Reeves is the veteran here. In his 814-game NHL career, he has a total of 83 recorded fights, according to hockeyfights.comWhile it was Imama’s third top-division bout in his handful of NHL games.
After that display of calm boxing, Wild forward Marcus Foligno decided to give the Mullet Arena crowd something to really cheer about. Less than 90 seconds after Reeves non-fight, Foligno dances familiar companion Liam O’Brien and did better than him.
After that spirited fling, wild youngster Mason Shaw swung into action And had three fights in the first 25 minutes of the game.
In what can only be described as a rarity, Reeves was on the entire stat sheet. He tallied his second goal of the season later in the first period before picking up an assist on Connor Dewar’s second period marker. Despite a big night from Reeves, Minnesota fell to Arizona 5–4 in overtime.
With a goal, an assist and a “fight” on his ledger, Reeves pulled off a Gordie Howe hat trick – the first in his career – at any level.
“High School?” Reeves said, according to Joe Smith of The Athletic. “No, you can’t fight in high school. I don’t know that I ever had one.
He may not have had the chance to lift the Stanley Cup or score 30 goals in a season, but the 36-year-old winger was able to achieve a milestone in the twilight years of his career, even if the fight didn’t really matter.
