Watch: Avs rookie jumps Wild's Bjugstad, hammers him in unfair hockey fight
Nick Bjugstad isn't known as a fighter in the NHL, and he never even had a chance to drop his gloves before a rookie playing in his first game began punching him in the face.
The hockey fight happened in the third period of Minnesota's 5-4 home loss to the Colorado Avalanche Monday night. Bjugstad gave Kyle Burroughs a shove – a typical thing after the whistle blows – only to have Burroughs immediately drop his gloves and begin pounding Bjugstad in the face with closed fists.
Bjugstad had a gash over his nose and his face was reddened. But the question is if Bjugstad even knew he was about to be involved in fight. Wild coach Dean Evason said "the guy got the jump on him."
"I'm not sure he was ready for this fight," said Bally Sports North analyst Ryan Carter. "He's got the gloves off, throwing punches before Bjugstad even knows what's going on. I don't think Bjugstad expected that whatsoever."
Bjugstad finished the game with a goal, assist and a fight for the Gordie Howe Hat Trick.
Title: Bring Me The Sports co-owner, editor Email: joe@bringmethenews.com Twitter: @JoeBMTN Education: Southwest Minnesota State University Location: Minneapolis, Minnesota Expertise: All things Minnesota sports Nelson has covered Minnesota sports for two decades, starting his media career in sports radio. He worked at small market Minnesota stations in Marshall and St. Cloud before joining one of the nation's highest-rated sports stations, KFAN-FM 100.3 in the Twin Cities. There, he was the producer of the top-rated mid-morning sports show with Minnesota Vikings announcer Paul Allen. His radio experience helped blossom a career as a sports writer, joining Minneapolis-based Bring Me The News in 2011. Nelson and Adam Uren became co-owners of Bring Me The News in 2018 and have since more than tripled the site's traffic and launched Bring Me The Sports in cooperation with the Sports Illustrated/FanNation umbrella. Nelson has covered the Super Bowl and numerous training camps, NFL combines, the MLB All-Star Game and Minnesota playoff games, in addition to the day-to-day happenings on and off the field of play. Nelson also has extensive knowledge of non-sports subjects, including news and weather. He works closely with Bring Me The News meteorologist Sven Sundgaard to produce a bevy of weather and climate information for Minnesota readers. Nelson helped launch and manage the Bring Me The News Radio Network, which provided more than 50 radio stations around Minnesota with daily news, sports and weather reports from 2011-17.