The beginning of this fight has one of those great lingering moments of anticipation, as Jay Rosehill of the Toronto Marlies and Francis Lessard of the San Antonio Rampage of the AHL throw the gloves and skate down the ice together, kicking around a helmet before unleashing the fury. Some one needs to splice in the music before Rocky and Apollo punch each other. Ding, ding.
Quite a flurry of punches, no?
Besides sounding like "Police Academy" characters, Lessard and Rosehill are the AHL's penalty minutes leaders. (We assume they are, based on what the announcers say, because the AHL doesn't sort its stats by PIMs.)
According to HockeyFights, Rosehill -- quite the backstory this one has -- is second and Lessard is fourth in total fights. That's probably why this bout had the feeling of a main event, which is something sadly missing from the NHL for the better part of a decade. You made time in your life to see if Bob Probert and Tie Domi would dance. Not sure if there's a pugilistic rivalry anywhere near that level today.
