Sabres’ Dennis Gilbert Vs. Blue Jackets’ Mathieu Olivier Fight: Make It Make Sense

Well, it appears the Buffalo Sabres’ decade-long troubles have finally come to an end.

They’re on a four-game heater, and after defenseman Dennis Gilbert received a steady diet of rights off the opening faceoff Tuesday night against the Columbus Blue Jackets, nobody will push them around anymore.

Only in hockey does any of what happened when Gilbert dropped his gloves against Mathieu Olivier of the Blue Jackets make sense. The Sabres, presumably incensed at their lack of response when Stefan Noesen of the New Jersey Devils hit Sabres star Tage Thompson the game prior, decided to make their statement by picking a fight with someone who had absolutely nothing to do with the situation.

We can only imagine Olivier felt compelled to accept the invitation because that’s what these guys do.

“One of their star players took a dirty hit in the game before, and they obviously wanted to send a message and stand up for themselves,” Olivier told the Morning Juice on Columbus sports radio. “For me, it was more about making sure they didn’t send that message against our group. We’re not the team to do that against.”

So the Sabres have apparently restored their honor and sent the league a message…with a meaningless, staged fight.

Carry on, then…

Here’s more in today’s video column:

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