Jay Beagle knows what it’s like to be up against a seasoned NHL scrapper in your first big-league fight.
On Friday, however, Beagle was merely an observer to teammate and good friend Karl Alzner’s first NHL bout against Steve Downie of the Tampa Bay Lightning.
“Anytime there’s a fight happening, you never know what’s gonna happen, so you’re obviously hoping for the best, hoping that the guy does good,” Beagle said. “He did well. I was happy for him.”
Alzner himself was fairly calm about the ordeal afterwards talking to the press. He explained the jawing at Downie afterwards in the box by Downie taking a final punch when Alzner was on the way down (perilously close to breaking one of Matt Bradley’s rules of gentlemanly fighting: never hit a guy when he’s down).
It earned him a nod from coaches Dale Hunter and Jim Johnson as well.
“Him and Jimmy both came down and said ‘good job,’” Alzner said. “I think they appreciate when anyone does something like that for the team.”
Despite ...
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