At the end of last week, Dalton Prout and Milan Lucic engaged in a fight that resulted in the one-punch heard ‘round the hockey world.
At the end of the overtime period between Columbus and Boston, Lucic and Prout began a shoving match that led to a (short) fight between the two. After dropping the gloves, Prout caught Lucic squarely with a punch that dropped the Bruins power forward to the ice.
The next night, Prout’s Columbus Blue Jackets travelled to Philadelphia to play the Flyers. According to Jason Botchford of the Vancouver Province, even the officials appreciated Prout for dropping Lucic.
“The refs never come over to talk to me. I don’t wear a letter. But before the game, a ref came up to me and said ‘Good job, last night.’
“That’s the first time I’ve ever talked with an official other than arguing about a call.”
“Later, the shorter ref came up and said ‘Nice right hand.’ ”
Although the fight process appeared to be started by Lucic when he engaged Prout by shoving him in the back, the Bruins forward was furious about the incident, telling Boston.com that he didn’t want to fight Prout and that it was a gutless move.
“It was the end of the game and I let him know that I wasn’t going to fight him. I wasn’t prepared and I let my guard down and that’s what happens when you let your guard down. I’ve been in over 100 fights and I never took a shot like that.
“There have been many times where I could’ve done the exact same thing, and I could’ve held off because he wouldn’t drop his gloves. I find it to be gutless and that’s my thoughts on it.”
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This, coming from a player who, among other things, has been fined for an obscene gesture towards Montreal fans and ran defenseless goalie Ryan Miller.
Prout responded by saying that as soon as Lucic grabbed his collar, the fight was on.
Lucic, the smallest big man in the game, appears to be loathed by even the refs.
