Ten years ago Eric Godard and Derek Boogaard would almost certainly have opened a game like Friday’s tilt by taking it upon themselves to help settle a score.
You see, the last time the Calgary Flames and Minnesota Wild met was two-and-a-half weeks ago when Johnny Gaudreau had his season digitally altered by an Eric Staal slash.
It wasn’t necessarily a fluke, as the Wild channeled their inner Jedi by purposely wielding their sticks like lightsabres.
The goal was to make Johnny Hockey’s evening as uncomfortable as possible.
It worked, as he is still recovering from surgery to repair a broken finger that has kept him out ever since.