There isn’t a long, sordid history between the San Jose Sharks and the Toronto Maple Leafs. The two sides are cordial and have participated in many trades over the years.
When they faced off on Thursday night, you would have thought that this was a rivalry night for the ages.
It started off at the drop of the puck when the Sharks’ Joe Thornton and the Maple Leafs’ Nazem Kadri jostling for position. They would smack one another with their sticks and only two seconds into the game; they decide to fight.
It was a spirited fight and set the tone for the Leafs’ 3-2 win. But the most amazing part of it is the fact that Kadri got a fistful of Thornton’s facial hair in his hand during the fight. He nonchalantly drops the hair onto the ice and moves on to the penalty box.
Thornton is no spring chicken at 38 years old but hair shouldn’t fall out like that. To make the situation even weirder, backup goaltender for the Sharks, Aaron Dell held onto the hair after the fight.
.@ADell32 snags a souvenir after Joe Thornton’s fight ? pic.twitter.com/ffudEdQaAy
— San Jose Sharks (@SanJoseSharks) January 5, 2018
Hockey players are an odd bunch, yet this somehow qualifies as an all-time oddity.