50 Best Hockey Fights of the 2000s

Fighting is a part of hockey, some like it, some loathe it.

Over the ten year span from 2000-2009, the leagues that hockey's best fighters call home, the NHL, AHL, and LNAH--combined for more than 25,000 fights.

The following 50 hockey fights are the most entertaining scuffles from that ten year time period.

No. 50: Patrick Cote vs Link Gaetz (February 13, 2004)

The LNAH does not have the highest quality hockey, but it is an excellent source of physical play.

No. 49: Scott Stevens vs. Rick Tocchet (March 10, 2001)

Two of each franchise's most iconic players drop the gloves.

No. 48: Darren Langdon vs. Jody Shelley (December 11, 2005)

This long fight featured several good landing punches.

No. 47: Al Montoya vs. Rick DiPietro (September 24, 2007)

This was during a preseason game that had already resulted in four fights. The goalies dropped the gloves with DiPietro getting the better of Montoya.

No. 46: Derek Parker vs. Mike Varhaug (December 22, 2006)

Loose translation: "Parker got absolutely rocked."

No. 45: Josh Gratton vs. Rocky Thompson (February 20, 2004)

Ah! Right in the shnoz!

No. 44: Todd Fedoruk vs. Francis Lessard (February 5, 2004)

These two were actually teammates in the AHL before trying to pound one-another here.

No. 43: Darcy Hordichuk vs. Ryan VandenBussche (February 29, 2004)

Both of these fighters are no strangers to going toe-to-toe, and did so in this bout.

No. 42: Jeff Glass vs. Justin Peters (April 11, 2009)

At the end of a line brawl, the goalies fight at center ice.

No. 41: Brendan Brooks vs. Rick Rypien (November 7, 2006)

Rypien was knocked down, but came back strong.

No. 40: Brian McGrattan vs. Colton Orr (October 13, 2007)

These two have been among the NHL's best fighters over the past several years. In this video, they show why.

No. 39: Jon Mirasty vs. Jeremy Yablonski (December 5, 2009)

These two have the absolute most entertaining player on player fight history of any AHL rivals.

No. 38: Dan Carcillo vs. Derek Dorsett (November 26, 2008)

Carcillo used to be a much more exciting player than he will be with the Chicago Blackhawks in 2011-2012. This fight is one of his best.

No. 37: Grant Marshall vs. Donald Brashear (September 23, 2003)

Brashear was ready to stop when the linesmen came in, but Marshall threw a punch and further irritated the already angry Brashear.

No. 36: Bob Probert vs. Eric Boulton (September 20, 2000)

The young Boulton takes on a legendary Probert.

No. 35: Jeremy Yablonski vs. Jon Mirasty (February 15, 2008)

The second fight between these two that is featured on this countdown, but not the last.

No. 34: Craig Rivet vs. Bryan Marchment (February 21, 2004)

The two just keep going until they can't.

No. 33: Shayne Corson vs. Eric Cairns (April 28, 2002)

Once Cairns finally got his arm free of Corson's grip, there was no stopping the beating.

No. 32: Rob Ray vs. Jeff Odgers (March 26, 2001)

They go toe-to-toe until Odgers falls down.

No. 31: Jeff Odgers vs. Ryan VandenBussche (February 23, 2001)

Nothing like a good toe-to-toe fight to get a crowd going.

No. 30: Jeff Szwez vs. Kevin Westgarth (November 7, 2008)

Szwez didn't do too well.

No. 29: Jim Vandermeer vs. Aaron Downey (November 2, 2005)

These two literally threw until they couldn't any more.

No. 28: Jon Mirasty vs. Jeremy Yablonski (December 4, 2009)

Believe it or not, these two are actually friends off the ice.

No. 27: Sandy McCarthy vs. Donald Brashear (October 1, 2002)

Brashear dominated this fight from beginning to end.

No. 26: Jim Cummins vs. Dale Purinton (January 30, 2002)

Cummins was all over Purinton here, beating the Ranger in a toe-to-toe slugfest.

No. 25: Eric Godard vs. Francis Lessard (May 30, 2002)

Both of these players saw time in the NHL this past season.

No. 24: Todd Fedoruk vs. Brian McGrattan (January 19, 2006)

Two of the NHL's biggest men just traded bombs here.

No. 23: Peter Budaj vs. Hannu Toivonen (November 12, 2004)

After a brawl, referees called the period with over four minutes to play. After the skaters left the ice, the goalies decided to go, with Budaj demolishing Toivonen.

No. 22: Jon Mirasty vs. Jeremy Yablonski (December 14, 2007)

Another great fight between these two.

No. 21: Stu Grimson vs. Reid Simpson (December 28, 2000)

"The Grim Reaper" ends this one early.

No. 20: Stu Grimson vs. Scott Parker (September 16, 2000)

Only one punch in this fight.

No. 19: Krys Barch vs. Dan Carcillo (April 3, 2008)

After a few failed attempts to grab on, Carcillo throws that plan out the window, and puts Barch out of it.

No. 18: Jon Mirasty vs. Jaques Dube (January 25, 2007)

The players are mic'd up in this fight. Hearing the punches land might not be pleasant for some.

No. 17: Donald Brashear vs. Glen Kjernisted (December 7, 2004)

Follow the two players squaring-off at the start of the video. It's not clear why Brashear was so angry, but the otherwise controllable fighter did not stop pounding once his opponent went down.

Beatings don't get much worse than this.

No. 16: John Tripp vs. Johnathan Aitken (January 18, 2004)

A powerful haymaker left Tripp wondering where he was.

No. 15: Todd Fedoruk vs. Derek Boogaard (October 27, 2006)

The single most legendary punch of Derek Boogaard's career, Fedoruk needed a metal plate implanted in his face after the fight.

No. 14: Derek Boogaard vs. Eric Godard (January 9, 2007)

This was the fight that secured Eric Godard a job in the NHL. In the previous game between these two teams, Boogaard was running over Calgary players.

Godard was called up from the AHL for this game, and did his job by protecting the Flames.

No. 13: Todd Fedoruk vs. Colton Orr (March 21, 2007)

This is the definition of a knockout.

No. 12: Andrew Peters vs. Matt Johnson (December 13, 2003)

Peters should've stayed down the first time.

No. 11: Kyle Freadrich vs. Ryan Vandenbussche (March 3, 2000)

The two go toe to toe for a good 15 seconds, pause momentarily, then go at it again before tiring out.

No. 10: Reed Low vs. P.J. Stock (January 21, 2002)

Stock showed no fear in taking on a much larger fighter.

No. 9: Jesse Boulerice vs. Aaron Downey (February 11, 2003)

When hockey players decide to fight without first getting a grip on the opponent, the fight can have devastating results.

Boulerice missed a right, leaving him wide open.

No. 8: Riley Cote vs. Shawn Thornton (October 27, 2007)

Two teams with a tough history stay true to the reputations as Cote and Thornton go hard in this fight.

No. 7: Dennis Bonvie vs. Ryan VandenBussche (Mar 30, 2005)

The ability of these two to keep going and going with such heavy punches is incredible.

No. 6: Mel Angelstad vs. Darcy Hordichuk (October 6, 2000)

The only way this ridiculous fight was going to end was with someone going down.

No. 5: Jon Mirasty vs. Dennis Bonvie (December 26, 2007)

There is no such thing as a boring "Nasty" Mirasty fight. The tough guy who will likely never see the NHL has a long bout here with Dennis Bonvie.

No. 4: Ray Emery vs. Martin Biron and Andrew Peters (February 22, 2007)

This brawl was the result of Chris Drury being run over. Buffalo's coach Lindy Ruff did not like Ottawa taking a shot at the team's captain, and put the right players out in order to send a message.

Ray Emery can handle himself against the league's best fighters, and could probably make the NHL as an enforcer if he weren't already a capable goaltender.

No. 3: Jon Mirasty vs Jeremy Yablonski (December 19, 2008)

There was an issue at the end of the period that needed to be addressed.

These two men settled the problem in the most entertaining manner possible.

No. 2: Stephen Peat vs. P.J. Stock (January 5, 2002)

HOLY JUMPIN! The speed of these punches is something that the bigger heavyweights cannot compete with.

No. 1: Ottawa Senators vs. Philadelphia Flyers (March 5, 2004)

This was the result of a high stick by Ottawa's Martin Havlat made on Philadelphia's Mark Recchi in a game earlier in the season.

The teams combined for 419 penalty minutes in this match. The final two minutes of the game took more than 15 minutes to play due to all the stoppages caused by fights.