Stu Bickel, the sometimes forward, sometimes defenseman for the Minnesota Wild, played 1:29 of Saturday night’s 7-1 loss to the Dallas Stars. However, during that 1:29, Bickel ended up racking up 39 penalty minutes, 37 of which came on one shift, which also ended up as his last of the game.
Bickel first visited the penalty box after an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty while getting into a minor tussle with Erik Cole. However, it was a little over seven minutes later that the real fireworks began.
It was clear that the Wild were looking for a scrap to try and change the momentum. Wild forward Ryan Carter got things started when he hit Stars defenseman Trevor Daley into Dallas netminder Kari Lehtnonen. Then all hell broke loose (via hockeyfights.com)
A few Stars players went after Carter, including Vernon Fiddler, who ended up dropping the gloves. Meanwhile, Bickel was near the pile and he was looking to go with anyone that was willing. Bickel threw a few fists at Jason Demers, one of which felled the Stars blueliner. After Demers got back to his feet, it was back on, but Daley jumped into the mix, too.
Again, Bickel knocked Demers to the ground. Daley tried to jump in to pull Bickel off of Demers. Both Demers and Bickel got to their feet and the punches kept coming with Demers landing a few while Bickel was tied up. Those two eventually went to the ground.
So what was the result of all that?
Bickel earned an aggressor penalty, which comes with a game misconduct. He also got himself an instigator minor, a five-minute major for fighting and an additional 10-minute misconduct. So that’s where the 37 minutes came from.
The aggressor penalty is not something that you’ll see called a lot, but here’s how the NHL describes it.
Rule 46.2 Aggressor: The aggressor in an altercation shall be the player who continues to throw punches in an attempt to inflict punishment on his opponent who is in a defenseless position or who is an unwilling combatant.
A player must be deemed the aggressor when he has clearly won the fight but he continues throwing and landing punches in a further attempt to inflict punishment and/or injury on his opponent who is no longer in a position to defend himself.
Bickel could potentially be suspended for his role in continuing the fight. Demers, Fiddler and Carter all received fighting majors, while Demers got an additional 10-minute misconduct.
It was an ugly night all around, but particularly so for the Wild who were just flat out embarrassed in that game.
