Leafs' Ryan Reaves, Blue Jackets' Mathieu Olivier Gave Us The Heavyweight Fight Of The Year

We got what will almost certainly prove to be the heavyweight bout of the year in the National Hockey League, and it's all thanks to a couple of the league's finest pugilists, Ryan Reaves of the Toronto Maple Leafs and Mathieu Olivier of the Columbus Blue Jackets.

This game was always going to be way more intriguing than the team's record would suggest, because the Blue Jackets have turned it on as of late and are undoubtedly in playoff contention despite a slow start.

Meanwhile, the Leafs are sitting atop the Atlantic Division in their first season under head coach Craig Berube.

But to make things even more interesting, you had Reaves and Olivier in their respective lineups, two fellas who don't shy away from trading knuckle sammich recipes.

That's precisely what they did on Wednesday night, and they hardly wasted any time, dropping the mitts under two minutes into regulation.

Lordy, lordy, lordy… I'm tired from just watching that (which is why I need to head down to the gym).

I thought that fight was over after Reaves lost his balance and Olivier fed him lunch with a few uppercuts, but man, that was a marathon.

Awesome stuff from those two, and they sure fired up their teams… although, one was a bit more fired up than the other. The Jackets had a big night and won this one 5-1 on the road.

There may be a little controversy brewing too, because after the game, Leafs captain Auston Matthews was talking about the fight and how it energized the bench, but said he wished it had gotten a little more out of the home crowd.

"I would have like a little more energy out of the crowd after that," Matthews said. "I thought, y'know, it was a little quiet tonight, especially after two guys like go at it."

You'd think Matthews has played in Toronto long enough to know that critiquing the crowd after getting blown out 5-1 at home, but he has a point. The place should have been rocking after that, but that wasn't exactly the case.

The Leafs and Jackets play again on April 5, so perhaps we'll get a Reaves and Olivier rematch then.