The Barch VS Gallant Series

Tonight, the Islanders defeated the Devils by a score of 5-3 to earn the teams first pre season win of the season.  The game wasn't without its fireworks though as Islanders enforcer Brett Gallant and Devils enforcer Krys Barch engaged in a series of three fights throughout the night.  If some of you are unfamiliar with Gallant, he has been the top enforcer of the Islanders AHL affiliate the Bridgeport Sound Tigers for the last couple seasons.  Videos of the three scraps of his from tonight can be found below:

If you notice, at the start of the one above they take each others helmets off.  This is done to combat a new rule instituted by the NHL.  That rule is that fighters will be given an extra minor penalty if they take off their own helmets prior to the start of a fight.  The loophole found by these two guys has caught the attention of a lot of media people including puckdaddy over at Yahoo.

Personally, I feel as though if the team wants to devote their 13th or 14th forward spot to a fighter that it should be Gallant and not Eric Boulton.  Unlike Boulton, Gallant is actually a smart player for his style and not just a pair of fists on skates.