Blood, Sweat, and Fisticuffs: Confessions of a Blackhawk Enforcer

When Adam Burish was drafted by the Blackhawks in the 2002 Entry Draft, there was no telling what he would be all about. He was a fresh-faced 19 year old out of Madison, WI, with a quick smile but an even quicker temper. He has accrued a slew of penalty minutes, and he would just as soon drop the gloves than solve things diplomatically.

He is best known for a fight he had in Vancouver last season. He was taking the opening face off of the game against Bryan Ritchie, and as soon as the puck hit the ice, the players dropped their gloves and sticks and started hammering away at each other. When talking about the incident, Burish describes it like this:

"I'm sure many of you saw a fight I had last year against a guy in Vancouver. The game had not even started yet. The guy from Vancouver and I were about to take the opening face off to start the game. We stood across from each other and he said, "How's it going tonight Bur?" I said, "Pretty good, you want to get our teams into this game right away and set the tone?" He said, "You bet." So I said, "Once the ref drops the puck, let's do it!"

This is the kind of attitude that Burish brings to the rink everyday. He doesn't view fighting as something to be shied away from. He views fighting as something integral to the game of hockey. He, in fact, believes that there are certain times in a game where it is important to possibly fight.

"The majority of fights happen in the first one-and-a-half periods. Because this is your best shot at swinging momentum.

"You may find your team down 2-0 just 10 minutes into the first period. The crowd isn't into it, you look down your bench and guys are frustrated and a little sluggish. This is a great time to go look for a fight. Often times, you will see a player go out there and run into a few guys seeing if anybody will skate up to him and challenge him. If not, you will see a guy whose team is down 2-0 skate up to a guy get in his face maybe push him and tell him: 'Let's go!'"

Another reason that he gives for his frequent fights:

"The next and final reason you fight is to stick up for a teammate or to prove a point to the other team. Let's say Jonathan Toews is flying around the ice, stick-handling around the other team. He's already scored two goals and one of the opposing team's tough guys wants to try and intimidate him with a big hit or slash in an attempt to slow him down.

As a team, we have a responsibility to stick up for each other and make sure the other team understands that if you want to take a cheap shot at one of us, you are going to be held accountable."

Adam is deadly serious about his craft. He is an adequate skater and frequently will pepper the goal with shots (he has 14 so far this season), but his main contribution will always be his penalty minutes. This season, he already has 44 in 12 games, and last year, he had 214 in 81 games.

Last year, in fact, was the first time in his young NHL career that he actually scored a goal. He took 69 shots and connected on four of them.

When he is off the rink, he still manages to find ways to scratch his itch for physical confrontation. Earlier this year, he was invited to be a guest bodyguard on the Jerry Springer Show. While the Blackhawks probably frowned upon it, he had a ball, grappling with guests and showing them a thing or two about how NHL'ers do it.

Adam Burish is certainly a fan-favorite with the Blackhawks. I can tell you with absolute certainty that many of my hockey-loving buddies go to 'Hawks games at the UC just to see if the Chi-town Bruiser will drop the gloves and duel the opposing team's enforcer. I have been fortunate enough to see a couple of these fights in person, and they certainly are good for riling a crowd up.

If you would like to read more of Adam Burish's thoughts on fighting, and on hockey in general, check out his blog on the Chicago Sun-Times Web site.