Vasily Podkolzin has already earned plenty of respect in Edmonton for the way he plays, but his fight with Anaheim’s Drew Helleson pushed that reputation well beyond Oilers territory.
The sequence started when Helleson drove Connor McDavid into the Anaheim goal post on a rush. Helleson wasn’t penalized for the hit, and Podkolzin answered with a fight that quickly turned ugly. He landed a series of blows to Helleson’s back and neck while Helleson tried to swing back and got rag-dolled in the exchange.
The officiating decisions only added to the noise. Helleson received two minutes for unsportsmanlike conduct, while Podkolzin was assessed five minutes for fighting, two minutes for instigating the fight, a ten minute misconduct, and ten minutes for being the aggressor. That left Anaheim on a five-minute power play and sent Podkolzin out of the game.
The reaction across the hockey world was immediate. Many praised Podkolzin for stepping in after the McDavid hit, and plenty of people questioned how Helleson escaped a five-minute fighting major too after dropping his glove and throwing punches.
Former NHL tough guy Jay Rosehill, co-host of Daily Faceoff Toronto, said he had never seen one player get tagged with a fight major while the other got nothing.
“Is that in the new CBA or something? I’ve never heard of that in my goddamn life,” Rosehill said.
“All you have to do is not penalize the ever living sh*t out of the Oilers in this case for standing up for their superstar. I’m not saying you have to let them have free reign or go bananas on the guy, but like what was that?
What did it even get?”
On Fan Hockey Show in Toronto, Elliotte Friedman said Helleson was “flailing” during the fight and that it was not a one-man battle.
Said Friedman: “I don’t think anybody is arguing with the fact that Podkolzin, from an Oilers’ standpoint, did 100% exactly the right thing.”
Former NHL GM Brian Burke also backed Podkolzin on Oilers Now, saying, “I thought it was a good response by Podkolzin. I didn’t like the penalty call.”
He added, “I love that. I love that part of our game, where players stick up for one another still to this day.”
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