In 156 NHL games before Thursday night, Blues defenseman Pierre-Olivier Joseph had been in zero fights in the NHL and really hadn’t even thought about it.
But when Utah’s Maveric Lamoureux stuck out his knee Thursday to hit Alexey Toropchenko, sending the Blues forward down to the ice, Joseph didn’t hesitate to go after Lamoureux for his first NHL fight.
“I didn’t think about anything else,†Joseph said. “I just wanted to protect ‘Torpo.’ It was a bad hit.â€
“My protector!†Toropchenko called out from across the Blues dressing room.
Joseph did well for a first-time fighter — he said he’d picked up tips from fighting teammates over the years — and, while Toropchenko had to be helped off the ice and to the training room, he was back on the ice before the five-minute fighting penalties had ended.
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“I’m just happy that nothing happened injury-wise and that he’s fine, too,†Joseph said. “I just never thought I was fighting in my life, and here I am just dropping them. But yeah, just have to protect my guy.
“In moments like that you just got to step up for each other and I’m sure would have done the same thing for me. And I think that just shows chemistry in the room. And I think everyone has instinct, and I think mine just kicked in at this moment.â€
His brother and teammate, Mathieu, sent a clip of the fight to their mother.
“She kind of asked a couple of questions and I kind of didn’t answer them,†Pierre-Olivier said. “They’re down on vacation right now, so she was a little chipped up about it. But I think it’s just part of hockey. She knows that things are gonna happen. I just think she was happy that I stepped up for one of my teammates.â€
Indeed, stepping in like Joseph did is a time-honored hockey tradition and one of those ways that teams promote esprit de corps.
“I think it’s really important,†Blues coach Drew Bannister said, “and I think it shows to our team aspect and how we’re coming together as a team now. And we’ve seen that for the last few few weeks. It doesn’t have to be one guy, it can be five guys on the ice. And I’ve seen that more and more as we’ve gone into games, but certainly, even leading back to the game before, Jake (Neighbours) jumping in for a guy, then (Pavel Buchnevich) jumping in. ‘Torpo’ gets hit and P-O’s immediate related reaction is to help out his teammate and get in. And it goes a long way for, certainly the guys on the ice, but the energy on our bench.â€
The fight did cause a few issues for the Blues on Thursday. Joseph got 17 minutes of penalties — two for instigating, five for fighting and a 10-minute misconduct that accompanies the instigating penalty. The fight came 29 seconds into the second period, so the Blues had to play most of the period with only five defensemen. But Bannister was OK with that.
“One hundred percent,†he said. “He’s sticking up for a teammate.â€
“It was a long time in the penalty box,†Joseph said. “I had time to talk about a lot of things with the people in there. I was talking to ref. I didn’t know what the rules were really about fighting and stuff like that. But yeah, I would do it all over again today if I had to.â€
Joseph spent more time in the penalty box Thursday than on the ice. He finished with just 11:55 of ice time, which earlier in the season was fairly normal for him when he was on the third pairing. But the game before the Utah one, when the Blues played Tampa Bay, marked his move up the ladder to a top four spot alongside Justin Faulk. He had played 23:53 against Tampa Bay, twice as much as he got against Utah.
“He definitely makes you feel comfortable,†Joseph said of Faulk. “Just someone that loves the game so much, and he has passion for it, and he’s a big competitive person. So, yeah, just think we’re getting more used to each other and more confident with each other on the ice too. And yeah, it’s just having fun with him right now.â€
Joseph might have some fraternal company soon. His brother Mathieu, a forward who is out because of a lower-body injury, is getting closer to returning, Bannister said
“I would consider him closer to day to day now,†Bannister said. “... He’ll skate on our day off (Sunday), he’ll skate with us on Monday, hopefully full contact, and then we’ll go from there. But I think he’s getting very close to being a player for us.â€
