I don’t mind. So long as the Giants come home with the two points and without injuries then I am all for us beating them up along the way. It is going to be entertaining but unfortunately I am not going to be able to watch it. Oh well, I am sure the fight videos will surface sometime after the game.

Some of them goals were very tidy. The finishes by Burgoyne and Martin were especially good and I can see why Martin got man-of-the-match. It is good to have him back on the ice and hopefully for the rest of the season.

Fight Reviews:

1) Payette gets the early going but Rushton catches him with the left hook sending him to the ice. Rushton throws the arms up doing a lap of honor to get the fans off their seats. The atmosphere is rocking.

2) Payette seemed as anxious to stir something up as Rushton but it was Rushton who got it going. Not many punches thrown and Rushton falls to the ice. In the penalty box both guys exchanging strong words.

3) In the video you can only catch the tail end of a hit. Not sure who it was on but it was by Payette and Rushton didn’t like it. He throws a punch at Payette and a big scrum ensues.

4) The video shows nothing of the Phillips fight but by all accounts Phillips caught his man flush with a punch dropping him to the ice.

The four fights tonight tie a club record for number of fights in a game.

Enter Jason Rushton. He has played four games now for the club getting in two fights so far and even scoring a goal and an assist with the limited ice time that has been afforded to him. He may not have scored in tonight’s contest but he was quick to drop the gloves, put the Vipers players off their game, give the Giants stars the freedom to play their game free of intimidation and ultimately win the game 4-1.

It was one of the bigger crowds of the season and the face-off had to be delayed due to the amount of people outside come 7.30 p.m. The game had been billed as a guaranteed fight night, a night were the Giants would show the Vipers that they were no longer push overs. The people bought into it and came in their droves for a nights entertainment.

The fighting came early and came often as well as goals for the Giants. Rushton was quick to drop the gloves with Payette sending an immediate message to the Vipers bench that the days of walking over the Giants physically and trying to put them off their game with physical intimidation were over. He beat up Payette and retired to the bench to serve his five for fighting, a two plus ten minute misconduct for instigating.

The Giants responded with the crowd behind them after the physical action by scoring the games first goals. Tyler Howells grabbed the first goal minutes after the first fight and the Giants didn’t look back. Burgoyne, his blue line partner, made it two-nil going into the period break. Steve Thornton added a third early in the second and the Giants took control.

The fighting wasn’t over there however as Rushton went with Payette again. Clearly focusing on the Vipers goon and taking his concentration away from the Giants players, notably Thornton who had served a suspension earlier in the year for high sticking Payette.

It worked.
Payette got wound up more and more from the penalty box by Rushton who must have been all to happy to spend his time there having done his work with his fists than sit on the bench watching everyone else play.

Rushton decided to send one more message to Payette and that Vipers bench ahead of tomorrow nights game by going after him again. A bit of a scrum ensued and the upshot of it all was Rushton being tossed from the game.

The bonus of that was that he not only took one, but two Vipers players with him in the shape of Payette and Derek Campbell. Campbell who is one of the Vipers better players was now out of the way and the Giants could sail home for the victory.

Tonight was clearly a sign of the place of the enforcer in the game of hockey and Rushton’s team-mates clearly fed off the increase in crowd noise and the ability to focus on their game without having to look over their backs. Evidence also stands in the entertainment it brought the crowd. Not only did it stoke up a building rivalry to new levels but it also had the crowd on their feet with reports from those in the thick of the atmosphere suggesting it was as noisy tonight as it had been in a long time in the recently very quiet Odyssey.

I want to see win’s first and foremost like the next guy, but its clear the best winning hockey to watch is the hockey that comes with some nasty stuff. It is that stuff that really generates a buzz and boisterous crowd in the stands. Just ask fans of the Philadelphia Flyers about that one.

The best part about the whole thing is that the two teams go head-to-head tomorrow night again in the Odyssey and this time I will be tuning into the webcast. A win is crucial and maybe the physical stuff will have been beaten out of Rushton and Payette though the way the game appeared to come to a close tonight you can bet their might well be scored to settle.

Last week Cardiff’s Brad Voth was handed a 12-game suspension for a slash to the legs while Hull’s Kozak was suspended 10-games for an incident. To look at the slow-mo in that video looks like a bad slash/high-stick to the face of Andre Payette by Thornton and while Payette looked to be provoking him the league will still look at the reaction as a big no-no.

The resulting injury to Payette will factor in on the suspension but the intent to injrue will also be looked at as to the number of games. Althoug the Giants won the game to go top of the Elite League the result will be bitter sweet due to this incident. Thornton is an impact player for the Giants and it will hurt them whatever the suspenison.

On the actual incident, referee Mike Hicks only handed down a 2+2 for accidental high-sticking but it probably won’t rest at that.

As I type this I have come across confirmation that the Newcastle Vipers will refer the incident to the leauge and call for a suspension. To be fair I would expect to see the Giants do the same in a similar incident and so I can’t really blame them. I did half expect the Vipers to leave punishment to on the ice at the next meeting between the sides though knowing their style they will look for the suspension to have Thornton back in time for their next meet and go after him during that game. Fair do’s I suppose.

No doubt big debate will continue on this one in the coming days and we’ll have to sit back and see what is called.