I know a guy who played hockey with some NHL players, in the Summer, fr a few years
You can imagine the stories among them
This story goes; When Troy Crowder came into the league playing for New Jersey, he fought all the tough guys in the Eastern Division
He was relatively unknown in the Western Conference
So, New Jersey Devils, do a Western road swing
Los Angeles, Vancouver, Calgary and Edmonton, with a night off in between
One of the toughest guys at the time, was Marty McSorley, he was feared throughout the league
Jersey played LA, and were then flying to Vancouver to play the Canucks
The tough guy on the Canucks was Craig Coxe
Troy Crowder beat Marty McSorley on game night , cutting him quite badly, and next day Marty gets a call from Craig Coxe who was in the lineup the following night and figured he'd have to go with Crowder
All the tough guys have a bond and talk among their peers etc
Apparently, the conversation went something like this
"Hey Marty, it's Coxey, what can you tell me about this kid Troy Crowder ?"
Mary McSorley said "Bring a gun !!!"
They did go the next night, and Crowder won the fight handily
There's a code in the game and a lot of respect among the players