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The Flames’ best fights of 2024-25: Ryan Lomberg sticks up for Kevin Bahl
Calgary Flames left wing Ryan Lomberg (70) fights with Minnesota Wild center Jakub Lauko (94) in the second period at Xcel Energy Center.
Photo credit: Matt Blewett-Imagn Images
Ryley Delaney
Jul 24, 2025, 10:00 EDTUpdated: Jul 20, 2025, 17:49 EDT
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One thing the 2024-25 Calgary Flames never lacked was heart.
It’s not uncommon to see other teams allow a dirty hit to go unchecked, but not the Flames. In a game against the Minnesota Wild on Jan. 25, defenceman Kevin Bahl was hit hard into the boards by Jakub Lauko, which was somehow only called a two-minute minor.
While you can give Lauko the benefit of the doubt on intention – he’s not a dirty player – this was a textbook board/hit from behind. What’s worse is that Bahl missed eight games, a stretch where the Flames went 2-5-1 without their top four defenceman. This is one of many reasons you can point to as to why the Flames just missed out on the post-season.
About six and a half minutes of game-time later, Lauko answered the bell, fighting Ryan Lomberg. This fight can be described in two words: A grappling match. A few punches thrown, Lomberg started it with a superman punch, and got two big uppercuts in, the biggest punches thrown in the fight. Lauko did get a solid punch in towards the end of the fight, but there was a whole lot of jockeying for position in this fight.
And in that regard, Lomberg was doing the man-handling, almost pulling the jersey over Lauko’s head twice. In the end, it was just a good old hockey fight, where the player committing the dirty hit answered the bell.
On Hockeyfights.com, this fight received a 6.38 rating, the second-highest Flames’ fight last season. Moreover, 62% of 65 voters gave this fight to Lomberg, and I’m inclined to agree with the voting. It wasn’t as one-sided as Lomberg’s fight against Nate Bastian though, as Lauko landed some shots in this one.
As for the rest of the game, the Flames eventually went up 5-2 with just over five and a half minutes left, but the Wild scored two goals in the final 75 seconds, bringing them to within one. Thankfully, the Flames held on.
Although there was still a little less than half the season remaining, this was Lomberg’s final fight of the year. In total, he fought seven times out of the 23 times the Flames fought.
Ryley Delaney is a Nation Network writer for FlamesNation, Oilersnation, and Blue Jays Nation. She can be followed on Twitter @Ryley__Delaney.

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