Philadelphia Flyers forward Nic Deslauriers engaged in one of the most epic fights of the NHL season Saturday afternoon, dropping the gloves with New York Rangers giant Matt Rempe in a heavyweight tilt for the ages.
The two combatants went toe to toe three minutes into the game, sizing each other up at center ice before launching haymaker after haymaker. Deslauriers recorded the takedown, sending the fans in attendance at Wells Fargo Center into a cloud of euphoria.
The fans weren’t the only ones entertained. Deslauriers’s teammates were fired up after his bombastic bout, and they expressed their appreciation for the 33-year-old after the game.
“I got a front-row seat to it. I was right there trying to gas him up,” said Scott Laughton.
“That stuff goes a long way throughout our room. I don’t know if I’ve played with a tougher guy than that. Him and [Wayne Simmonds] are neck and neck there. But D-Lo’s all about the boys, and I’ve got so much respect for him.”
Regarded as one of the toughest players in hockey, Deslauriers has been taking on opponents’ top bruisers for over a decade. The third-round pick from the 2009 NHL Entry Draft has amassed 734 penalty minutes in his 11 seasons as an NHLer while racking up a whopping 1,999 career hits — good for ninth among all active players.
Amazingly, Deslauriers has never been suspended even once since making his NHL debut in 2014.
“He’s an absolute animal. A warrior for us out there. I wouldn’t want to fight him,” goaltender Sam Ersson joked. “You could feel the atmosphere in the building, and for us as a team, it just provides us with so much energy.”
Deslauriers’s heart is appreciated unanimously throughout the organization, but he hasn’t been immune to the occasional scratching even despite serving as a major source of grit and physicality. Nevertheless, Deslauriers has still managed to positively impact his teammates regardless of whether he’s in or out of the lineup.
Flyers head coach John Tortorella sees it every day.
“He’s a big part of our chemistry,” said Tortorella. “What he does, what he has to do, how he prepares for a game, what he’s probably gonna have to do each and every game, I think the guys respect him. The coaching staff certainly does, and it’s a huge part of the camaraderie within the group.”
Deslauriers and the Flyers will return to action Sunday afternoon when they take on the Pittsburgh Penguins at PPG Paints Arena in the Steel City. Given the Flyers’ storied rivalry with the Penguins, Deslauriers adding another scrap to his stat sheet would hardly be surprising.
