Ottawa Senators forward Chris Neil played his 900th NHL game Thursday night against the New Jersey Devils and scored a goal and had an assist early on in the game. The only thing remaining for Neil was to get into a fight to cap off the “Gordie Howe” hat trick, which is when a player scores a goal, gets an assist, and gets into a fight in the same game.
Neil asked Jordan Tootoo of the New Jersey Devils if he would fight him to get the “Gordie Howe” hat trick, and Tootoo agreed, according to USA Today.
WATCH:
This is why hockey is the best. Jordin TooToo giving Chris Neil the fight for his Gordie Howe hat trick. pic.twitter.com/F2WRrNdoB2
— Jordie (@BarstoolJordie) October 23, 2015
Tootoo was very happy to play his part in Neil’s incredible career accomplishment, telling the Ottawa Citizen after the game that, “It’s not only physically demanding. It’s mentally draining, night in, night out. But some people are built to withstand that and those people are few and far between. Kudos to him for playing so long. He was probably someone who was always told ‘you’re not good enough’. He has proven otherwise.”
Hockey is a sport of tradition, and there’s not better tradition than showing you respect an opponent by agreeing to punch him in the face.