NHL stars fight if necessary

Players such as Vinny Lecavalier must balance protecting themselves and being off the ice.

By DAMIAN CRISTODERO, Times Staff Writer
Published November 12, 2007

ADVERTISEMENT [AP photo] Vinny Lecavalier takes on the Flyers' Scott Hartnell on Oct. 25, one game after he fought the Capitals' Shaone Morrisonn.

First came the challenge: Thrashers defenseman Garnet Exelby bumping the Lightning's Vinny Lecavalier after a whistle.

Then the response: Lecavalier pushing Exelby into a corner and, basically, asking him if he wanted a fat lip.

Before any punches were thrown, Tampa Bay defenseman Shane O'Brien got in the middle.

"Not that he needs me to go in there and protect him. That's not why I went in there," O'Brien said of Lecavalier. "We don't need him to break a hand on a helmet or hurt his shoulder or even be off the ice for five minutes. He's that valuable to our team."

To fight or not to fight.

It is the dilemma faced by NHL stars, whose skills their teams count on but who also adhere to the players' code of honor and conduct.

"It's such a fine line," former Lightning coach Terry Crisp said. "They're so competitive, the juices just flow and they forget. They want to drop the gloves."

So while a knucklehead might be taught a lesson, it also means five minutes in the penalty box, 12 more if the referee decides you were the instigator. For Tampa Bay, that would be valuable time without a player like Lecavalier, who last season had 52 goals and 108 points.

No wonder Crisp said he cringed when his best players put up their dukes: "As a coach, it's the last thing you want to see. You hold your breath and say, 'I hope this ends fast and they fall to the ice in a wrestling match.'"

The league is full of stars who can take care of themselves - Calgary's Jarome Iginla, Boston's Zdeno Chara, Edmonton's Sheldon Souray and the Rangers' Brendan Shanahan, to name a few.

Lecavalier, 27, is in that class, too. But the muscled 6-foot-4, 219-pounder does not fight often - only 19 bouts in nine seasons. So it was notable in October that the center had fights on consecutive nights with Washington's Shaone Morrisonn and Philadelphia's Scott Hartnell.

"In those games, it just kind of happened," Lecavalier said. "It's not something I look for. It's not something I pre-plan."

Panthers star Nathan Horton, who has fought twice after only four fights in four previous seasons, agreed.

"I'm not really looking to go fight," he said. "I don't want to. But like everybody else, you have to protect yourself. You have to react to what happens."

Triggers vary, Florida coach Jacques Martin said.

There is frustration, anger at cheap shots, "and sometimes you just want to show your teammates you care.

"What you don't want is those players fighting a lot and to be fighting the fighters. But if something happens in a game and you get mad, it's a reaction."

That is what happened when Lecavalier fought Iginla during Game 3 of the 2004 Stanley Cup final in an evenly matched haymaker-tossing battle.

In contrast, Lecavalier went after Morrisonn, and got 17 penalty minutes, for what he believed was a late check into the side boards. Lecavalier fought Hartnell after taking a cross-check to the back of the head.

Add Exelby's hijinks and you wonder if teams are goading the willing Lecavalier into fights to get him off the ice.

"I don't think so," he said. "Besides, I fight only in situations it has to happen."

But Lightning coach John Tortorella said, "Part of the game is trying to antagonize top players."

Another part is sticking up for one's self.

"Vinny has always taken care of that on his own," Tortorella said. "That just puts him in a whole other category as far as one of the top players in the league handling that stuff."

As for the injury threat, he said, "We overthink that. Players get injured in so many ways."

Not just by responding to challenges.

Damian Cristodero can be reached at cristodero@sptimes.com.

[Last modified November 11, 2007, 23:53:36]