Official Site of Darcy Hordichuk

Jared Boll vs Darcy Hordichuk from the Columbus Blue Jackets at Nashville Predators game on Jan 31, 2008.

With less than nine minutes left Thursday night, Nashville Predators enforcer Darcy Hordichuk picked a fight with the Blue Jackets’ top-line right winger.

It wasn’t a case of the playground bully trying to take the honor student’s MP3 player. The Jackets’ top-line winger was rookie Jared Boll, who leads the NHL with 19 fights.

The action-packed scrap featured not only a clash of tough guys but of contrasting cultures within the ever-changing hockey fight game.

Hordichuk, 27, is decidedly old school: a heavyweight whose primary mission is to serve and protect. Boll, 21, is Tigger on skates: an energetic banger who can fight but contributes in other capacities.

“It’s just like society. You need police officers around to keep the kids in order,” Hordichuk said hours before his dustup. “I’d rather stand in front of Boll’s punch than one of Jody Shelley’s punches any day.”