Watch: NHL ref accidentally gets punched during fight
Minnesota Wild forward Brandon Baddock and Dallas Stars defenseman Jerad Rosburg dropped the gloves for a fight midway through the first period of Thursday's exhibition game in Dallas. It was not only a painful experience for them, but also linesman CJ Murray who was attempting to break it up.
During the fight, Baddock attempted to get one more punch in on Rosburg only to accidentally miss and connect directly to Murray's jaw.
Murray seemed to be okay, and it was obviously not intentional for Baddock to hit the official, but that is still a rough hazard of the job for the folks in stripes.
Overall, fighting has been on the decline in the NHL for more than a decade now as teams put far more emphasis on speed, skill, and talent when building their rosters. There is no longer any room for the "enforcer" that skates two or three shifts a game just looking to fight. Teams have started to realize it is not a deterrent to dirty play, and the extra roster spot going to somebody that can score, defend, drive possession, and contribute in other ways is far more meaningful.
The one exception to all of that is preseason games. That is when we see makeshift rosters made up of prospects and players that will soon be in the minor leagues literally fighting for a roster spot and to try to make a good impression with the coaching staff and front office. So we see a lot more fights during the preseason games.
This fight just happened to involve an official accidentally getting punched in the face. Neither Baddock or Rosburg figures to be a lock to make their respective rosters for this season.
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