Sidney Crosby and the 25 Best Star-Player Fights of All Time

Some NHL fans come to the games to see fights. Other fans have their eyes glued to the star players on either team. Sometimes, the fans get the best of both worlds when those star players drop the mitts themselves.

Sit back and enjoy as some of the games biggest and brightest stars, both past and present, go toe to toe with one another.

Sidney Crosby vs. Matt Niskanen

Sidney Crosby is valuable to the Penguins, so you know if he decides to drop the gloves, he is pretty heated. This wasn't a bad effort for someone who rarely fights.

Alex Ovechkin vs. Brandon Dubinsky

Alexander Ovechkin has been known to punish people with body checks, but his fights are few and far between. Ovi gets involved in a pretty good tilt here with Brandon Dubinsky.

Wayne Gretzky vs. Dave Taylor

If you ever wondered why Wayne Gretzky never fought, this is why.

Bobby Orr vs. Earl Heiskala

This fight is representative of old-time hockey. Bobby Orr is considered by some to be the greatest player to ever play the game. Yet, he was willing to drop the mitts at any time.

Cam Neely vs. Lindy Ruff

Cam Neely is another superstar Bruin that never backed down from a fight. With results like this, who could blame him.

Eric Lindros vs. Scott Stevens

This fight had plenty of star power. Eric Lindros and Scott Stevens had been going at it all night and finally decided to give the fans something to cheer about.

Alex Semin vs. Marc Staal

This was an absolutely brutal fight, but I am so entertained by it. Alex Semin showed us that some players aren't meant to square up to fight.

Mario Lemieux vs. Gary Lupul

Mario Lemieux may not have been able to stack up to Wayne Gretzky on the stat sheet, but he would have pounded the Great One in a fight.

Joe Sakic vs. Doug Gilmour

Joe Sakic is one of the best players of the past 15 years. That didn't stop him from taking down a very formidable Doug Gilmour is the above fight.

Todd Bertuzzi vs. Shane O'Brien

Todd Bertuzzi once had some serious star power in the NHL. Now, he is a bit more inclined to pound people in fights.

Mark Messier vs. Darius Kasparaitis

Mark Messier usually just went about his business on the ice as a leader and a huge producer. However, few can resist the urge to throw a few punches at Darius Kasparaitis.

Mats Sundin vs. Dave Hannan

Mats Sundin was a joy to watch with his outstanding offensive skill set. In fights, however, Sundin was not quite as impressive.

Steve Yzerman vs. Kevin Maguire

Only the most heated of moments could bring out this side of Steve Yzerman.

Evgeni Malkin vs. Rick Nash

Evgeni Malkin and Rick Nash are two big-bodied skill players that are known more for their offensive prowess than fighting ability. However, it sure was entertaining to see them go at it.

Evgeni Malkin vs. Henrik Zetterberg

Evgeni Malkin is at it again, expect this time Henrik Zetterberg is his opponent.

Ron Hextall vs. Chris Chelios

Talk about an entertaining fight. Both Chris Chelios and Ron Hextall could be considered star players, and they went at it in this fight.

Chris Chelios vs. Theo Fleury

It seems like every time Chris Chelios decided to drop the mitts, a brawl followed.

Phil Esposito vs. Paul Shmyr

Phil Esposito was a legendary goal scorer, but that didn't stop him from fighting once in a while.

Gretzky and Kurri Team Up

Even fighting as a team, Gretzky and Kurri hardly made one formidable fighter.

Joe Thornton vs. Ryan Getzlaf

Joe Thornton and Ryan Getzlaf are both superstars in the NHL, and considering the fact that this was the playoffs, this was an epic fight.

Mike Richards vs. Steve Ott

Fights like the one above are what make Mike Richards a unique superstar in today's NHL.

Steven Stamkos vs. Nikolai Zherdev

Not bad for Steven Stamkos in his first NHL fight.

David Backes vs. Jonathan Toews

David Backes and Jonathan Toews are a couple of stars for their respective NHL teams. Toews is a bigger star, but the advantage goes to Backes on this day.

Jarome Iginla vs. Jamie Benn

This is one of the finest star-studded blood baths the NHL has ever seen.

Patrick Roy vs. Mike Vernon

Anytime two superstar goaltenders go at it, it is worthy of mentioning.