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Oilers prospect reaches out to opponent after fight ends with ugly knockout

stan temming
·2 min read
Colby Cave of the Bakersfield Condors (left) looks over Martin Pospisil of the Stockton Heat (right) after knocking him out during a first period fight between the two on Saturday. (Twitter//@Ginohard_)
Colby Cave looks over Martin Pospisil after knocking him out. (Twitter//@Ginohard_)

While the end to this fight over the weekend was quite disturbing, the sportsmanlike gesture of Colby Cave was quite the opposite.

With the Stockton Heat leading the Bakersfield Condors 2-0 in the first period on Saturday night, Cave — who is currently in the Edmonton Oilers development system — absorbed a hit from Heat forward Martin Pospisil while battling for a puck in the neutral zone. Following some pushing and shoving between the two, Cave and Pospisil — a fourth-round selection of the Calgary Flames in the 2018 NHL draft — dropped the gloves.

That’s when Cave’s Saskatchewan upbringing came to the forefront.

After defending himself from a few of Pospisil’s swings, Cave hammers the 19-year-old with a right hand that sends him sprawling to the ice.

Cave’s concern for his opponent can be seen immediately as he barely takes his eyes off of Pospisil’s motionless body while Stockton’s trainer rushes to his side. Thankfully, the young Slovakian was able to skate off the ice under his own power, according to hockeyfights.com.

Pospisil was clearly still on Cave’s mind following the game’s final whistle, a 4-3 victory for the Heat. The 24-year-old decided to reach out to him via text message. Following a short conversation between the two, Pospisil decided to show his gratitude for Cave’s concern by posting a screenshot of their exchange to Twitter .

You have to tip your cap to the Condors centreman for making the best of a bad situation.

Cave — who started the season with the Edmonton Oilers before clearing waivers on Oct. 13 — doesn’t have a fight to his name in his 58 games of NHL experience with the Oilers and Boston Bruins. However, according to hockeyfights.com, he entered Saturday’s game with nine AHL and six WHL bouts under his belt.

And while Pospisil was only playing in his sixth professional game of his young career, his fight with Cave was his second in as many nights after only four tussles in 93 regular-season games with the USHL’s Sioux City Musketeers.

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