Two players fighting off a face off is considered a "Staged Fight". Had this been Mcgrattan and Gazdic the anti-fighting bandwagon would have been crying. You cannot pick and choose what is a staged fight. Either all fights off the draw are considered "staged" or none are.
I agree this wasn't staged, but this same type of situation has happened hundreds if not thousands of times before Landeskog and Ladd fought, and when this type of fight happens between one dimensional players its considered a "staged fight". There is a double standard.
If this scenario happened and it was Bordeleau and Peluso you wouldn't be saying that.
Take the Rangers and Devils game from 2012. Bad blood between the teams, one team trying to set the tone, another team refusing to back down. "One team looking to maintain position in the PO picture (Rags) and the other team looking to gain in the standings and get themselves right (Devils) Divisional opponents."
You can make a case for any situation.
The difference between last night and NYR-NJD was that in last nights game, the score was 1-1 with 8 minutes left in the 2nd period. A tight game still very much in the balance.
In the NYR-NJD game, the three fights took place 4 seconds after the drop of the puck to start the game.
Yes, each team was sending a message, so there is that similarity, but beyond that not really a fair comparisson.
Additionally, the game was Mid March (19th) with the Devils sitting comfortably in a playoff position.
Colorado is desperate, neither the Devils or the Rangers were desperate.
And that what makes that situation in 2012 staged, is that Torts could have avoided it. He saw the Devils line up and countered with his goons. He knew full well what was going to happen.
The same could not be said last night.
Apples and lugnuts
