San Jose Sharks defenceman Brenden Dillon was caught on video last weekend at the SAP Center having a civilized conversation with the player he just finished fighting. The video was a huge internet hit that is going viral and making the late night talk show rounds.
Hockey players -- tough as they are -- doesn't usually start cordial chats in the penalty box with players they just had a fight with. But that is the persona we are forced to believe in, after all, it's a rough sport. But these players are also human and moments like these are simply priceless.
Brendan Dillon was obviously wearing a microphone during the game. His opponent, Austin Watson of the Predators, chimed in a during the surreal moment.
The video starts with Dillon obviously challenging Austin to a fight. Nothing out of the ordinary among hockey players. What's awesome is that the two finished the fight with compliments of each other. You can even hear Watson telling Dillon: "Atta-boy, good job."
In the penalty box, the two players talked about going for cardio training in the off-season. Watson said, "I’ll come see Joey, we’ll mix it in this summer," to which Dillon replied, "Uh, Joey doesn’t know cardio.”The Joey in this conversation is their mutual friend and Predator forward Ryan Johansen. Before going back to the ice, the two exchanged pleasantries once more with Austin wishing Dillon good luck and the former reciprocating the sentiment.
Hockey players (especially among Canadians) are notorious for letting things go after a fight. Grudges usually aren't held except in the most extreme of circumstances. It's only natural that after the fight, the protagonists went about business as usual. This is definitely something you don't usually see in today's sport culture.
The cool thing about this is that this kind of attitude spills over onto the streets of Canada. I remember back in 2011, I was hanging out with a few tourists in Halifax when we saw a fight at the well-loved Pizza Square section at the heart of downtown. The guys I was with were obviously agitated by what's happening and was looking to stop the fight. I had to stop them from interfering as they could just escalate it and ensuring them that they will see the most amazing thing ever. And yes, as I predicted, the fighters, dressed in their Saturday Night best, all bloodied, hugged and went about as if nothing happened as people around them cheered the release of tension. Awesome stuff and we got to eat cheeseburgers and pizza slices afterward.
It's a hockey life...a hockey culture. And it's just great to see that competition shouldn't get in the way of sportsmanship.
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