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Kyle Freadrich vs. Ryan VandenBussche – 3/3/00

I remember when I first saw Kyle Freadrich. He was playing for the Detroit Vipers in the IHL. He was a monster and it just didn’t seem fair that the Vipers that year were rolling with guys like himself, Alek Stojanov, Doug Doull, and Gordie Dwyer. But it was Freadrich that really stood out to me. At 6’6, 250 lbs, he was a certified beast. I was a big fan of Mel Angelstad, one of the minor league’s best fighters, and Freadrich seemed to just cruise past Mel like he was just some run of the mill ham and egger. I was shocked how easily Freadrich mowed down Mel, not just once but twice in the same game. Kudos to Mel for trying to even things out but Freadrich seemed unstoppable that night. It made me really take notice of this up and coming Heavyweight.  

Freadrich, an Edmonton native, was only in his first year as a pro at the time after slugging it out in the WHL for three years. While in the Dub, Freadrich made his bones against other notable up and comers like Scott Parker, Mitch Fritz, Stephen Peat, Reed Low, Mike Varhaug, Graham Belak, Rob Skrlac, among others, but it wasn’t until he was in the IHL that I first saw him destroying a badass like Mad Mel. That season he also scored a clear cut win over crafty scrapper Dody Wood who was playing for the Kansas City Blades at the time. Freadrich also had a solid bout with Orlando Solar Bears enforcer Barry Dreger, a rapid fire southpaw who had impressed me in the past with his all-out style. It seemed like only a matter of time before he made it to the show and started taking on NHL regulars.

By the time the 99-00 season rolled around, Ryan VandenBussche had already developed a reputation for getting into some serious swing outs, both in his thus far brief NHL career but also in the minors as well. He broke into the league in the mid 90’s with the New York Rangers but was only used sparingly in preseason games and a handful of games here or there. By the start of the 99-00 season, VandenBussche was with the Chicago Blackhawks but had still not played more than 16 games in a season.

In only a few stints with the Rangers and Blackhawks, “Vandy” had already had some action packed fights to his credit.  Fights with Dan Kordic, Stu Grimson and Brendan Witt stand out as some of Vandy’s best fights from that time but he really made some noise with his vicious career ending knockout of Toronto Maple Leafs tough guy Nick Kypreos during the 97-98 preseason. Seeing Kypreos lying face down in a pool of his own blood was an eye opener and made me take notice of this young, undersized scrapper who hailed from Simcoe, Ontario. In the AHL, VandenBussche also had some major league wars under his belt. He was a seasoned minor league scrapper with big fights against Dennis Bonvie, Chris Murray, Fredrik Oduya, Darin Kimble and Darren Langdon, to name a few.  

The 99-00 season would serve as VandenBussche’s first “full” NHL season and he would not disappoint. While Kyle Freadrich was pounding out wins over Mel Angelstad in the IHL, VandenBussche was punching it out with guys like Stu Grimson, Reed Low, Dennis Bonvie and Jason Strudwick. He was finally getting some regular playing time and he also got to ride shotgun with Bob Probert who was slowly nearing the end of his legendary career and who would be resurgent that year.

As the season progressed, the Tampa Bay Lightning called up Kyle Freadrich from their IHL affiliate in Detroit on a few occasions. The Lightning had guys like young Gordie Dwyer and veteran Reid Simpson doing the heavy lifting in the fight department that year but now they were giving their young gun hand a chance. In his first regular season fight he took on one of the league’s top young Heavyweights in Georges Laraque in a decent, close bout that might be scored a draw. He would then face off with veteran Florida Panthers enforcer Paul Laus in another close scrap a week later. He would be sent down to the “I” for some more seasoning before getting called up again near the end of the year.

On March 3, 2000, the Tampa Bay Lightning invaded the United Center in Chicago. That night we would witness not only one of the best fights of the season but one of the best fights of all time. At 3:27 of the opening period, Freadrich and VandenBussche dropped the gloves by the Lightning bench and went to war. VandenBussche was giving up 6” and 50 lbs. to the hulking Freadrich in an almost modern day David vs. Goliath setting. The opening exchange was vicious. I remember when I first caught this fight it was a highlight clip from a newscast. They were already firing away in mid exchange, Freadrich with rights and VandenBussche with lefts. Those kinds of righty-lefty toe to toe style fights always seemed to give us some of the best exchanges and this one would not disappoint. Both stood in there staring down the barrel of the gun, giving and taking. As they punched it out, you can see a reaction from two Tampa Bay players on the bench behind them- as two of Freadrich’s teeth went flying by them. But Freadrich hardly seemed to miss a beat and kept the right going while VandenBussche just continued to pump the left hands in rapid fire.

At one point it seemed as if VandenBussche would take the day but there was a pause and some readjusting by both fighters. If you notice-Freadrich slips his right arm out of his sleeve, freeing him up to catch Vandy with a good head snapping right hand that began to shift the momentum in his favor. Freadrich tried to capitalize on his advantage, firing a flurry of rights and uppercuts. VandenBussche responded in kind and they began to exchange punches again before falling back against the boards in total exhaustion. The linesmen then came in to break up the thrilling affair.

Both fighters were battered and bloodied. VandenBussche skated to the box all disheveled, his nose bloodied. Freadrich went to the Lightning dressing room bleeding from a cut above his right eye.  It’s amazing the kind of pain and punishment they were both able to inflict and withstand. Both of these fine warriors wound up in the hospital with concussions. Freadrich lost his two front teeth and suffered a broken nose. VandenBussche’s eye was swollen shut and he suffered a deep cut on one of the fingers of his left hand.

When all was said and done Freadrich and VandenBussche had engaged in not only the Fight of the Year for the 99-00 season but also one of the best fights of all time.  Both tough guys would continue on although it’s hard to imagine either fighter getting into a fight that could eclipse that one. VandenBussche would certainly give it his best shot. He would go on to have a slew of great fights, always going all out win lose or draw. He would play another four years with the Chicago Blackhawks getting into Fight of the Year style fights in each one including the 04-05 season in which he got into a Fight of the Year war in the AHL with old nemesis Dennis Bonvie.

Freadrich would only play one more season before he was done with hockey altogether. Concussion problems resulting from an elbow to the head ended his career prematurely. It’s hard to say how things might’ve panned out for Freadrich had he been able to continue playing. At his size he could have been a contender in the Heavyweight division which seemed to have no shortage of monster enforcers at that time. The way things went down we are left to ponder what could have been. But even with the briefest of NHL careers he was still able to leave his mark on the fight game.

Big time thank you to 4thLineVoice for his help with this piece.