The Florida Panthers weren't afraid to fight for one another this season.
While the total number of scraps around the NHL dipped to 280 this season - the fewest since HockeyFights.com began keeping track of the data in 2000 - the Panthers saw a spike in their own fighting numbers, as a new brand of toughness helped define their 2017-18 campaign.
Panthers Embraced Team Toughness Under Boughner
With new head coach Bob Boughner at the helm, the Panthers paced the league with 49 fights, instilling the same sort of intimidating swagger into their game that Boughner had when he appeared in over 600 NHL games as a rugged defenseman with the nickname "The Boogeyman."
Of the 31 teams in the league, the Panthers had more than double the amount of fights than 25 of them - a feature, not a bug of Boughner's approach.
"It was huge," said defenseman Alexander Petrovic, who ranked second on the Panthers with six fights. "When teams came into Florida, to Sunrise, they knew they were in for a hard, tough game. I think just building that identity moving forward, teams aren't going to be taking us lightly anymore. That's a good thing. It pushes us to become better."
Petrovic was one of 14 players to drop the gloves for the Panthers this season and one of eight to take part in multiple fights. Aaron Ekblad, Derek MacKenzie and Jamie McGinn each fought three times, while Jared McCann, MacKenzie Weegar and Colton Sceviour scrapped twice.
Then, there was Micheal Haley.
Haley, who signed a two-year deal with the Panthers last summer, was one of just three players in the entire league to hit double-digit fighting majors this season, leading the league with a career-high 22 - nine more than the next highest player and the most in the NHL since 2010-11.
According to HockeyFights.com voters, Haley only lost four of those 22 fights.
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"When you do it every night, I think, hopefully, they see that it's infectious," Haley said when asked about setting the physical tone for his teammates. "Obviously, I don't want them doing it as much as me. Every now and then you see guys stick up for everybody. That's good. It shows that we won't be pushed around."
Much to Haley's delight, the Panthers were rarely pushed around this season. And although the 32-year-old's bouts drew most of the attention, it was the non-traditional fighters stepping into the ring that truly signaled the changing of the guard in South Florida.
Even young skill players like McCann, who had two career NHL fights under his belt before he dropped the gloves with Philadelphia Flyers tough guy Radko Gudas on March 4, answered the bell.
In that game, McCann leapt into action without hesitation after Gudas leveled his linemate, Maxim Mamin.
"It shows a lot of character," Boughner said of the team's pack mentality. "His partner, his winger got hit there. I think that's part of our culture and our identity. We want to be a hard team to play against, especially at home. Sticking up for each other is part of it. I think he did a great job."
With no shortage of this newfound toughness up and down the lineup, opponents usually left BB&T Center with a few bruises and rarely any points to show for it, as the Panthers finished their campaign with a franchise record 27 wins on home ice.
"At the beginning, it was definitely important to show that this wasn't an easy barn to come in," Haley said. "You're not just going to come in here, have an easy game and take two points. I think we all bought in. By the end of the year, it was a really hard building to come to."
