The art of fighting in hockey, as described by Winnipeg Jets defenceman Brenden Dillon.

Winnipeg's Brenden Dillon has a long history with dropping the mitts. So, it's no accident that he leads the Jets in fighting majors on the year.

As a matter of fact, his involvement in the fisticuffs dates all the way back to his first year of Junior with the Western Hockey League's Seattle Thunderbirds.

"I still remember my first one," he reminisced in a sit-down with The Hockey News. "We were playing Portland in Seattle at the time. I always remember it.

"Our captain Thomas Hickey got jumped in a scrum, and I remember sitting there kind of watching the fight go on. It was actually a bigger, tougher guy who grabbed him. He beat up our guy pretty good. The next day the coach just absolutely tore a shred off me, just like, you know, you can't be letting your teammates get beat up like that. So, sure enough, I was next."

He might not have been all of his current 6-foot-4 and 225-pounds at the time, but Dillon was not a late developer. 

And he certainly wasn't afraid to throw down.

"You know, if it's between yourself and another guy for a roster spot and you can bring that element to your game, it's really only going to help you and sometimes create a little bit more room for yourself and your teammates on the ice," he shared.

Of Winnipeg's nine fights this season, Dillon has been an active participant in four - including the team's two most recent bouts. 

"Sometimes you might go 30 or even 40 games without a fight," he laughed. "And then sometimes it might happen on back-to-back nights. You want to stick it out for your teammates. There's a bunch of different ways that it comes about."

Most recently, Dillon took on Arizona's Liam O'Brien, before throwing Florida's Sam Reinhart all over the ice just two games later.  

Interestingly enough, Reinhart is actually one of his friends, whom he skated with this past offseason.

"None of us want anybody to get injured, that’s for sure," Dillon said. "The thing with some of these fights, the Reinhart one in particular, I didn’t even know it was him until about halfway through the fight and I was like 'oh, shoot'.

"And with hockey, I could get traded to the Florida Panthers tomorrow and be teammates and basically doing the same thing sticking up for him the next day."

For Dillon, it's not about being angry or a man full of vengeance. Fighters hold both a respected and necessary role on every team.

"Usually, you’re just in the heat of the battle for your teammates, your mind is a blur, and next thing you know you’re chucking ‘em."

Earlier in the season, Dillon threw down with veteran forward Tanner Pearson. Before that, it was former teammate Evander Kane.

For the tilt with Kane, the two combatants opted to remove their buckets before exchanging punches.

"I remember Kaner, he was behind the net and then it was kind of like, 'you want to go?' I kind of looked at him and he looked at me and said, 'let’s take our helmets off,'" Dillon recalled.

"I knew he'd had that wrist injury, like maybe a year prior he had that slice. So when that’s going on, things are moving a million miles an hour, You don’t even really think about it. It just kind of came off. And those ones, when you’re falling, when you’re going down, there’s skates, there are so many different things that can come into it."

"The rule changed in my first couple years in junior or whatever, where it became a penalty if you took your helmet off. I know they want to avoid concussions and all that. But then the amount of broken hands and broken fingers and knuckles... that's four-to-six weeks you're out as well."

With the threat of injury, there must be some sort of fear or nervousness in advance of squaring off with a strong opponent, right? 

"Every single time. I mean, at least a little bit."

"It takes a lot of courage for anybody to look somebody in the eye, and basically go toe to toe with until someone is on the ice," Dillon said. 

"It's that fight or flight mentality that either you’re going to run away from it, or you’re going to kind of embrace it. I want to have that mentality, going into every one knowing that you could lose this one, and you’re basically treading for your life."

Sure, things worked out alright in his tilt with Kane, but Dillon does make sure to do his homework on potential opponents. 

"Kaner is a big, strong guy who I know well," he said. "I've seen him have some really good fights where he's knocked guys out or injured guys in fights. And I would say every single fight I've been in there is almost like a quick second guessing after it happens. You drop your gloves and you're running through that split-second and you're like, 'okay, here we go, we're doing this'."

With four tilts to his name through just 24 games this season, Dillon is on pace to shatter his career-high mark of five fights, which was originally set in 2014-15 with San Jose, before being repeated in 2020-21 with Washington, and again in 2021-22 with Winnipeg. 

Breaking into the league in Dallas, the big blueliner spent significant time alongside current Stars captain Jamie Benn. 

Two years ago, Benn respectfully answered the bell after Dillon laid a heavy check on his teammate John Klingberg. 

"Benny and I are still good buddies," Dillon laughed. "When I fought Benny, you know, it's a guy you went to dinner with the night before. You still chat with each other all the time, we're going to each other's weddings.

"It's a brotherhood. Sometimes, there are just little things that happens on the ice, I think I hit Klingberg, and then him being the captain, I don't know, their toughest guy? He almost felt as a captain that was his time to step up. I never took it personal, I totally understood where he was coming from. After the game we met up and had a handshake."

So far this season, Dillon has 12 different infractions for 36 penalty minutes, with four being his fighting majors. And other than two fights, Dillon has remained out of the penalty box over the last nine games, keeping his team on even playing ground for the most part. 

Although eager to talk about each of the fights in detail, it is in asking about his four goals to which the biggest smile is drawn.

"Yeah, it's looking like a career year," he beamed.

One would have to go all the way back to his first full season in Dallas (2013-14) to find the kind of offence he is creating this year. That season he found the twine six times.

On the topic of smiles, Dillon was quick to offer his suggestions to fellow hockey players whose parents spent big bucks on their teeth.

"The mouth guard is always in," he laughed. "Fighting or not... my parents will tell you too, I've had braces three times. So, it was an expensive teenage life."

Some don't like the limitations, but for Dillon, it's been as much a staple of his outfit as his shin pads. 

"As soon as I left for Junior, my mom was, like 'please, please wear a mouth guard'. So, I've religiously worn it ever since. 

"Practices, games, you name it. It just kind of becomes routine. Some guys don't like to wear them because they kind of got in the way, I just feel like the pros outweigh the cons when it comes to that stuff. 

"Knock on wood I can keep these things, I’ve had a couple little repairs along the way. But overall, I've been wearing it and for the most part they’ve been really good."