CALGARY — MacKenzie Weegar is a lefty.
Nobody told Jonathan Huberdeau.
He only found out while Weegar was feeding him a steady diet of lefts in a fight the two Flames teammates still joke about today.
Yes, before the two lads became the closest of friends as Florida Panthers, they squared off in a QMJHL tilt a decade earlier that got quite a bit of attention at the time.
“I pumped him, that’s about it,” laughed Weegar when asked what he remembers of their centre-ice showdown.
“He’s got that French temper I find, where he gets super competitive and then he’ll snap.
“He shows it, I’d say a couple times a year. He’ll snap for sure. The wires cross and he’ll start going after a guy.”
That’s what happened Dec. 9, 2012 when Huberdeau, captain of the Saint John Sea Dogs, let push come to shove in a heated tilt with the Halifax Mooseheads.
“It was Martin Frk… I didn’t like him and I was all over him,” smiled Huberdeau, who had fought Frk two months earlier.
“That’s when Weegs came in, yapping at me.
“I didn’t know him at the time, and I definitely didn’t know he was a lefty, so he got me pretty good. I mean, I’m not a fighter, but he could fight pretty good. Back in the days he used to fight a lot.”
So keen on disengaging from the official and getting to Weegar was Huberdeau that while trying to free himself from the grasp of the linesman, the official fell and tore his knee, earning Huberdeau a four-game suspension.
It was hardly worth it, as after Huberdeau opened with a pair of solid right hands, Weegar countered with a half-dozen hard lefts before the two helmetless combatants wrestled hard to the ice.
That summer, Weegar was a seventh-round pick of the Panthers, setting the stage for a comical reunion of sorts that fall.
“I remember when I came to Florida’s camp the guys brought it up, put the video up and they started giving it a good time,” chuckled Weegar, who had a career-high 81 penalty minutes last season.
“Good laughs, it was actually pretty funny.”
The two still joke about it from time to time.
“Couple chirps back and forth — I let him know I got the better of him and that was that,” said Weegar, who has 11 NHL fights to his credit, compared to Huberdeau’s four.
"It only comes up if somebody new brings it up. But between him and I, maybe once in a while I’ll bring it up on the ice, like, 'remember back in the day? Don’t let me do that again to ya.'"
“He always says he should learn how to fight or that he wants to fight more. And we’re just like, ‘Johnny, what are you doing? Please don’t.’”
Huberdeau isn’t ready to concede to his pal just yet.
“He keeps saying that (he’ll beat me up again), but now I know he’s a lefty so I’ve got a chance,” smiled Huberdeau, whose six-foot-one, 200-pound frame is similar to Weegar’s six-foot, 206-pound chassis.
“I’ve fought like five times, but it has been a while.
“If you have to fight, you have to, to protect a teammate or if someone does something dirty to you.
“I’ll protect myself if I get mad enough, but it’s not my first thought. Obviously I don’t want to go in the box for five minutes and that’s probably the main thinking.”
His last bout came four years ago against former Flame, Paul Byron.
If you stay in the game long enough you’re bound to team up with someone you’ve previously fought, which is why no one should be surprised Weegar also fought Nazem Kadri three years ago.
“He might have got the best of me that night,” smiled Kadri, a veteran of 14 NHL tilts, who did indeed take a few hard lefts before their brief bout ended.
“He’s a lefty, kind of threw me off a little bit.
“He’s certainly not the first teammate I’ve had that encounter with.
“He’s a great guy, I love Weegs.
“I haven’t talked to him about it yet, but as players we talk about those kind of fights all the time. It’s something to reminisce on, especially on a plane ride or bus ride.
“It’s always fun to hear both sides of the story.”
Weegar said he’s fought several guys who’ve turned into teammates, including Noel Acciari, prompting plenty of laughs down the road.
“When a guy comes in who you’ve fought it’s always pretty funny,” he said.
“I don’t think that’s the first time (Huberdeau) has gotten into a fight with someone who has come to his team. I think him and Jonathan Racine had something going on in junior too.
“He likes to go after his own teammates before he even knows it.”
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