It was a shock to a lot of people when Montreal's Jesperi Kotkaniemi decided to drop the gloves and fight Philadelphia's Robert Hagg earlier this week. Kotkaniemi did it to stick up for teammate Ryan Poehling, who had taken a hit along the boards. It was Kotkaniemi's first NHL fight and if his grandmother gets his way, it'll be his last.
"Grandma just texted me, 'Don't do that again,'" Kotkaniemi said with a laugh when asked about the fight recently. "I think that was her biggest worry."
Kotkaniemi surprised a lot of people with how well he did in his first fight, not allowing Hagg to even get a hit in (the video is posted below). Despite that, Habs head coach Claude Julien said he's not planning on converting the young centre to an enforcer any time soon.
"I don't have an issue with him stepping in to help his teammate," Julien said. "But certainly not going to tell him to start fighting and that's not his game, I think we expect other things from him. But nice to see that he can stand up for himself."
Poehling was appreciative of Kotkaniemi's efforts and his willingness to stick up for him, even if he found it a little funny.
"I didn't really see it during the time, I looked up and saw (Kotkaniemi) fighting and I started chuckling almost," Poehling said to reporters, via TSN. "Then I saw the fight after the game and I was like, 'Wow, he can really throw.'"
-
-
