NHL & Minor Leagues » Fighting Ilya

Comrie delivers Ilya a message
Thrashers star embarrassed Oilers last season

By JIM MATHESON
Edmonton Journal

Ilya Kovalchuk grabbed some hair. Mike Comrie didn't have his sweater on when it was over.

Thrashers' Ilya Kovalchuk, right, fights with Mike Comrie in the first period Sunday. Comrie, with his sweater not tied down, was thrown out.

The two most unlikely punchers in the NHL went at it Sunday, forgetting for a wild few minutes why they're paid the big bucks.

"Holy mackerel, I don't think either team wants to see those guys dropping their gloves," said Atlanta GM Don Waddell.

"I mean, what's up with that? Is there some bad blood there we don't know about?"

Maybe just a little.

"Sure, we remembered what he did to us last year," said Comrie, referring to Kovalchuk mocking the Edmonton bench after scoring a breakaway goal two minutes after the Oilers nailed him for using an illegal stick.

"I felt somebody had to deal with him, and if not me, somebody else would have," said Comrie.

"He says things he shouldn't say and does a lot of improper things. It's not the first time he's done it (shown up a team)."

Comrie came across and tried to hit Kovalchuk earlier in the first period and was given a tripping penalty for his trouble, but said that was just his competitiveness clicking in.

He wanted the hit, and it was on Kovalchuk; so much the better.

"He had come by our bench earlier, yelling at us," said Comrie.

Kovalchuk was in the eye of the storm from the beginning.

"They were actually screaming at me the whole game. They're morons," said Kovalchuk. "The way they play is ridiculous."

The two came together near the benches in the last minute of the first period and Kovalchuk stuck a stick in Comrie's ear before they dropped the gloves.

"Just a heat-of-the-moment thing," said Comrie. "We're both pretty competitive guys and, well, one thing led to another. Yeah, he pulled my hair. I don't know what he was doing there."

The Thrashers got the break in the fight, though, when Comrie was tossed from the game for not having his sweater tied down -- understandable because he's had only one NHL fight before (with Daniel Briere, in retaliation for being speared by the Phoenix centre).

But not smart, considering Comrie plays a pretty feisty game.

"I don't fight, so, yeah, I just don't think of tying it down," said Comrie, admitting his mistake.

Kovalchuk, who's never had an NHL fight before, got away with a double minor (unsportsmanlike conduct, high sticking) when he could have received a gross misconduct -- not to mention an instigator penalty.

The bottom line: he stayed in the game, while the Oilers lost their No. 1 centre, Jiri Dopita taking Comrie's spot between Anson Carter and Ryan Smyth.

Waddell knows Kovalchuk ruffles a few feathers, but says that's also what makes him effective: his ability to play with enthusiasm.

"His stick's legal now. It has been since early in the year when Florida caught him, too," said Waddell. "I mean, lots of guys in this league use illegal sticks but don't get called ... but Ilya's looks bad, so he does."

And it often is, but on Sunday he had good lumber. He didn't keep his hot scoring streak going, after scoring five goals in his previous two games -- including his first career hat trick against Washington on Friday to get to 17 goals on the season.

"He's a dynamic personality. I think it can get other teams off their game because they're worrying about him, but he has to back it up," said Waddell. "He's only 19 years old."

from: faceoff.com

-------------------------------------------
"...you go the box you know, eh, two minutes by yourself, and you feel shame, you know, and then you get free."