COLUMBUS, Ohio — Blue Jackets center Sean Kuraly was skating hard on the forecheck just as Chicago Blackhawks legend Jonathan Toews gathered the puck and took a tight turn in a corner. It was the second period of a Dec. 23 game in the United Center, and things were about to get messy.
Kuraly didn’t break stride, slamming into Toews with a hip-first hit that took the Blackhawks captain off his skates and sent him sailing backward into the boards. It was, by any measure, a clean hit, but the fact that it involved Toews guaranteed a response.
Here’s where the story takes a peculiar twist.
The first Blackhawks player to get to Kuraly was Chicago defenseman Connor Murphy, who put Kuraly in a headlock and started roughing him up as a multiplayer scrum, including Toews, formed around them.
One period later, Kuraly sparked another skirmish when he cross-checked Murphy just seconds after a Blue Jackets power play expired, sending Murphy sprawling to the ice and attracting another crowd of players.
Not much has changed since Kuraly and Murphy were kids growing up just a few miles apart in Dublin, Ohio, a northwest suburb of Columbus. But the scraps that used to take place in their basements are now set in the NHL arenas.
Kuraly laughed at the idea that his spat with Murphy was the first time they’d locked horns.
“Oh, no, no,” Kuraly said. “It’s just the first time it was caught on video, maybe.”
Sean Kuraly unloads a big hit on Jonathan Toews, and a big scrum ensues.
Alex Stalock really wanted a piece of Mathieu Olivier. He was ready to drop ’em. #Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/vM5ZH5QIaJ
— Charlie Roumeliotis (@CRoumeliotis) December 24, 2022
Murphy and Kuraly are products of the Ohio AAA Blue Jackets program. They practiced and played together for five seasons in their youth before Kuraly, at 16, went off to play in the USHL in 2010. Murphy opted for Canadian juniors the following season.
“We were friends and teammates as long as I can remember, way back to, like, fifth grade,” Murphy said. “Always competitive, always fiery. It was more the basement hockey games than practices or anything organized where it got heated.
“It was like any bunch of kids…things always turn into a fight eventually.”
Nobody got a bigger kick out of their Dec. 23 antics than coach Ed Gingher, who runs the Ohio AAA Blue Jackets program and coached both players.
“Kurls and Murph are both so competitive, even in drills,” Gingher said. “Both want to win and, probably more importantly, not let the other guy win. They would practice so hard, so I wasn’t really surprised seeing that.”
It’s been a rough season for both players. The Blue Jackets and Blackhawks are holding down the bottom of the NHL standings heading into their 1 pm game Saturday at Nationwide Arena.
The Blackhawks are the worst club in the NHL, with just two wins (2-17-1) in their past 20 games. The Blue Jackets have lost seven in a row in regulation — one short of matching a franchise record — and are only two points ahead of Chicago.
It can be said that Kuraly has played several games with simmering anger, and that was definitely the case in the earlier meeting with Chicago. The Blue Jackets were down 4-0 when he lowered the boom on Toews.
“There’s no targeting there,” Kuraly said. “I just played the hockey game, and it ended up being Toews. He didn’t say anything afterwards. I think he knows it was a clean hockey hit. The team’s down 4-0.
“It’s not like I was going after Toews. He’s a great player. I have a lot of respect for him. He’s a competitor. A Stanley Cup champion. I think he probably respects that I play the game hard, but maybe I’m wrong.”
Murphy said Kuraly left him no choice but to get involved.
“You have to jump in: He hit the Taser,” Murphy said. “Anytime anyone does that, it doesn’t matter who, you have to jump in.”
As for their second scrap…
“I was mad,” Kuraly said. “I saw a red sweater. I hit a red sweater. I got cross-checked by a red sweater, so I cross-checked a red sweater back. I’m not seeing a friend in that situation.”
Murphy’s take: “He ran at me. I was just annoyed because they were on the power play; there was no reason for it.”
When the game ended — Chicago won 5-2 — both players fired missives at each via cellphone from their dressing rooms. It’s customary for NHL friends to meet up after the game in the hallway before the visiting club departs for its flight.
Kuraly to Murphy: “You still in the building, a-hole?”
Murphy to Kuraly: “Am I gonna need a bodyguard to come say hello?”
Nobody will be surprised if acquaintances are renewed Saturday. It’s one of the reasons to watch, along with Seth Jones’ first game in Nationwide Arena since he was traded by the Blue Jackets to Chicago after the 2020-21 season.
But Kuraly and Murphy agreed that they’d always be friends.
“We can’t get too fiery with each other,” Murphy said. “I’m engaged (to be married). He’ll be one of my groomsmen. We’re gonna need to be on the same page by next summer.”
(Photo of Connor Murphy and Sean Kuraly from January 2022: Jason Mowry / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
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