Max Comtois and Will Borgen drop the gloves in a spirited scrap

Do you know how I know that NHL hockey is back? The boys have dropped the gloves.

Last night Chicago Blackhawks forward Sam Lafferty and Colorado Avalanche defenseman Josh Manson dropped the gloves and registered the first official fighting majors of the 2022-23 NHL season, even if their tilt was more of a wrestling match than a fist fight.

Check out the pair going head to head from last evening:

Again, more of a wrestling match or a bear hugging contest then anything, but given that I haven't seen a fight in the NHL in nearly half a calendar year, I'll take it. Manson is clearly the decisive winner in this tilt, being that he's the only one of the two to actually land a punch. Still... hockey's back, baby!

Not to be outdone, Seattle Kraken forward Will Borgen and Anaheim Ducks forward Maxime Comtois also dropped the gloves and, frankly, put on a better showing than Lafferty and Manson.

Check out the two youngsters chucking knuckles near center ice in Anaheim last night:

Not bad, certainly a better tilt than we were treated to by Lafferty and Manson. These guys at least get a few shots off before grabbing on and wrestling each other to the ice. If I had to give the edge to one over the other it would be Comtois. Borgen appears to throw more punches, but not many of them land. As for Comtois, he lands at least a couple very hard rights but he does lose his balance to end the tilt. Hmmm... maybe Borgen should actually got the nod here? Not sure... damn... I wish they squared up again to give us a more definitive answer. In any case, both men will live to fight another day.

For Borgen this is just his third NHL fight and Comtois his eighth NHL fight, according to hockeyfights.com. They're both big boys with Borgen having a one inch height advantage at 6"3' and Comtois having a five pound weight advantage at 210 pounds. So, either way you chop it up this is a fair fight.