Boy on Ice by John Branch

Author:John Branch [Branch, John]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781443417068
Publisher: HarperCollins Canada
Published: 2014-03-14T16:00:00+00:00

7

THE FIGHT DID NOT seem different than all the others, except that Derek lost, which was unusual, and he lost a tooth, which no one really saw. Only in hindsight did any of it seem significant.

It was October 16, 2008, an early-season road game against the Florida Panthers. The Wild won, 6–2, and Derek recorded an assist. It was his first point of any kind—goal or assist—since the playoff game against the Anaheim Ducks two seasons earlier.

The fight Derek lost was against Wade Belak, an affable defenseman with a shock of red hair. Belak was born in Saskatoon, just like Derek, and grew up mostly in Battleford, Saskatchewan, not far from Melfort. As a teen, Belak played in the Western Hockey League for the Saskatoon Blades, whose general manager was Daryl Lubiniecki, later the Prince George executive who traded for 17-year-old Derek. Belak was a first-round NHL draft choice in 1994. Like Derek, he had a younger brother, Graham, drafted into the NHL, in the optimistic hope that the family name and a willingness to fight would carry him into the league and to similar stardom.

By the time that Derek and Belak fought in South Florida in Minnesota’s third game of the season, the six-foot, five-inch, 225-pound Belak was 32, an improbable age for someone making a living as an enforcer. But teams viewed him as a solid defenseman with a willingness to throw punches with the heavyweights of the league. He could play decent minutes, fight when necessary, and keep the team loose. Belak seemed to enjoy his role. Others in the fighting fraternity liked Belak and respected him, Derek included.

Belak clutched Derek’s jersey near the bottom, while Derek grabbed Belak’s near the collar. The players yanked themselves into a slow-motion spin, throwing spot-on punches with their free hands while trying to keep their balance. Like a campfire that smolders before suddenly crackling with flames again, the fight slowed several times before another punch reignited it.

Each man took fists to the face, many times. Along the way, one of the punches knocked a false tooth out of Derek’s mouth. He never winced, not even as the officials slid between the exhausted fighters and nudged them toward the penalty boxes.

A team doctor for the Florida Panthers examined Derek and noted that the post of the false tooth hung in his mouth by a piece of skin. He removed the hardware and recommended a visit to the Wild’s team dentist when the team returned to Minnesota.

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