NHL History: This Penguin is responsible for referees stopping goalie fights nowadays

The hockey world is livid right now. Perhaps it's a trifling reason why, but it's a valid reason: NHL refs aren't letting goalies fight anymore.

Sunday night the referees of the Los Angeles Kings vs. Boston Bruins matchup kept Darcy Kuemper and Jeremy Swayman from dropping the gloves and giving the NHL its first goalie fight since February 1, 2020.

That's five years, friends. Five years since we've seen two padded up netminders chuck haymakers at each other.

It's a sad reality in most sports nowadays that they've all gone soft, but why is it so taboo to let goalies fight when skaters do it regularly?

Allow me to introduce you to former Penguins goaltender, Brent Johnson, who initiated the end of goalie fights as we know it.

Who is Brent Johnson?

Brent Johnson was a journeyman NHL goaltender who played on four teams in a 12 year career spanning from 1998 to 2012.

His final stop came with Pittsburgh after they won the Stanley Cup in 2009 and he retired a few years later with the Penguins.

Johnson was a good goaltender. He had a career .904 save percentage and a positive 140-112-31 record. The problem is that he was never really the star of the show in the NHL. Most of his work came as a backup, and 2011 was no different as Johnson backed up legend Marc-Andre Fleury.

However, on one fateful day, Johnson became the star that would never burn out, etching his name not only in Penguins history, but NHL history.

The Day Goalie Fights Died

The date is February 2, 2011. The Penguins were just about ready to put the finishing touches on the Islanders (dang, sore subject) in a 3-0 route. Johnson had stopped all 20 Islanders shots on his way to a shutout.

With 17 seconds left in the game and the puck in the other end of the ice, Johnson's shutout was sure.

Until known pot stirrer, Matt Cooke, "clipped" Islanders goalie, Rick DiPietro behind his own net, causing a scrum to ensue. Two division rivals, the Islanders sucked that year, and the Penguins just took their lunch money - yeah, it makes sense why tempers would flare.

But then, from 200 feet away comes Brent Johnson. I'll let you watch for yourself what happens next. Words can't describe the cinema that is about to unfold.

Now follow along. The referee tried to impede Johnson's path. But Johnson hit him with the coolest outside edge pivot you'll ever see on the ice, squared up to his target, and needed just a single left haymaker to send DiPietro to the shadow realm.

Johnson one-tapped him. Absolutely brilliant.

The Fallout

Here's the crazy thing: Johnson literally broke DiPietro's face. DiPietro was out six weeks with multiple facial fractures including a broken orbital bone and only played 16 more games in the NHL afterwards.

But that's not even the best part.

The only two goalies in NHL history to be selected first overall in the draft were Marc-Andre Fleury and one Rick DiPietro.

If you want a breakdown on Fleury's career, we've got it well documented for you HERE, but DiPietro?

He had worse career numbers than our aforementioned Brent Johnson in the same amount of career length. Everybody laugh at the Islanders!

Brent Johnson effectively ended a first overall pick's career (DiPietro was only 31). Meanwhile, the infinitely superior first overall pick was cackling on the bench as he prepared to go in for the final 17 seconds of the game.

And poor Brent Johnson didn't even get credit for his shutout because he got a five minute penalty for fighting. Such a shame. Flower wasn't busy in the final seconds, and the Penguins held on to win 3-0.

So there you have it. This is why the NHL doesn't want goalies fighting anymore. All the pent up rage waxing ever hotter as these masked menaces stand stationary between their red pipes? Perhaps it's too much power to be put on display in a scrap.

And yet, that's exactly why hockey fans want to see goalie fights.

Hey, maybe these goalies just need to learn the outside edge pivot like Johnson pulled.

Break ankles, then break a dude's face.