2010-11 Fight of the Year

[JKidd]

The grand daddy of them all... the one fight that left you talking about it long after it was done. The fight that you will remember the rest of the summer waiting for the next hockey season to start.

Nominees

Steve MacIntyre vs. Raitis Ivanans Oct 7, 2010

Jay Rosehill vs. Francis Lessard Feb 19, 2011

Jamie Benn vs. Jarome Iginla Dec 23, 2010

Nathan Horton vs. Zach Smith Apr 9, 2011

John Erskine vs. Eric Boulton Nov 14, 2010

My pick

All these fights are different in so many ways... two heavy weights settling a score at the end of the game, a youngster wanting to make his name against an old enforcer, the captain standing up for himself and his team, two middle weights throwing with destructive intentions, and two heavyweights dancing to dance.

Lots of other great fights that will get HM's later on.

But, for my pick, I'm going to go with the two middleweights at the end of the year that throw caution to the wind and stand in there for your classic punch in the face contest... Nathan Horton and Zack Smith. Its one thing to tuck your chin and windmill at your opponent, it's another to take his best shot a few times on the jaw, stay upright and keep throwing your own fist back at him. Due to the hard punches that land, the frequency they land, and the balls to the walls attitude, Horton/Smith gets my nod.

Honorable mentions:
Jim Vandermeer vs. Milan Lucic Feb 27, 2011
Krys Barch vs. Cam Janssen Jan 2, 2011
Kevin Westgarth vs. Chris Neil Nov 22, 2010
Ryan Wilson vs. Jordin Tootoo Mar 12, 2011

Previous winners

2003-04: Chris Simon vs Grant McNeill (Simon vs McNeill Nov 26, 2003)
2005-06: Todd Fedoruk vs Brian McGrattan (Fedoruk vs McGrattan Jan 19, 2006)
2006-07: Eric Godard vs. Derek Boogaard I (Godard vs Boogaard I Jan 9, 2007)
2007-08: Riley Cote vs Shawn Thornton (Cote vs Thornton Oct 27, 2007)
2008-09: Riley Cote vs Eric Godard (Cote vs Godard Oct 14, 2008)
2009-10: Cam Janssen vs. Pierre-Luc Letourneau-Leblond (Cam Janssen vs. Leblond Mar 20, 2010)

[kam]

tough call, all were great. Jamie Benn vs. Jarome Iginla

[Ottenator]

Definately some great fights here, but I gotta go with Erksine-Boulton.There's nothing better than watching two heavyweights slug it out toe2toe.

[Boston Sucks]

Kaleta/Dorsett was better than all these.

[brandonh19]

While Boulton v Erskine was great, to me its a toss up between Horton v Smith, and Iginla v Benn. I like seeing the more skilled guys (smith excluded) being angry and wanting to keep throwing.

[Sapunka16]

Boulton-Erskine for me. It was haymaker after haymaker and several of them landed.

I thought the Smith-Horton fight was a bit overrated. They exchanged a bit at the beginning, nothing special, then the rest was mostly missed punches except Smith landing two on Horton.

Sure they were throwing hard, but the Janssen-Barch fight (which isn't even a voting option) and the Boulton-Erskine fight were the same way considering the willingness of the fighters to throw hard punches without care, except those fights seemed to have more punches actually land.

[skacore]

Iginla vs. Benn for me. Love seeing the heavyweights duke it out but I don't know, this year I just had an itch seeing star players fight. Benn vs. Iginla just seemed like a slight passing of the torch, not that Iginla is done yet but Benn is well on his way to being one of the new breed power forwards in the league and he showed he can hang with one of the best.

[29th_Candidate]

Boulton vs. Erskine.


These two guys haymakered each others' heads into mush. Unbelievable.

[schlado]

I'm gonna have to go with Erskine vs Boulton.

[gdameo]

Originally Posted by Boston Sucks

Kaleta/Dorsett was better than all these.

this - that's what i was thinking

[E.C.]

Iginla-Benn and Lessard-Rosehill were both toe-to-toe fights. Smith-Horton was a wild swinging affair. However the Boulton-Erskine fight was BOTH of these. Boulton and Erskine were both swinging wildly and throwing heavier punches than in the other fights. I vote for Boulton vs Erskine.

[diablo]

Jay Rosehill vs. Francis Lessard

[Isles4life]

Man do I love getting to watch all these again (except for having to listen to Jack Edwards in the Smith-Horton fight, it doesn't get any easier to hear). In general, I tend to be all-about two smaller guys showing no fear and throwing with reckless abandon. But a pair of heavyweights topped that for me this year. Boulton-Erskine was electrifying to watch, as both guys landed their fair share of haymakers, which all looked to pack quite a wallop.

[V12_Bi-Turbo]

Erskine vs Boulton, that was unreal

[jp4202003]

Erskines return to prominence and Boulton continuing to impress. IMO.