Despite the San Jose Sharks’ 8-1 win over the Los Angeles Kings at the 2026 Rookie Faceoff, the highlight of the night was Alexander Karmanov’s fight.
“Just the game, how it went,” Karmanov said on Sunday about why he got into a fight. “All the boys were together, and yeah, just the hockey, how it is.”
Karmanov has a major advantage over every player on the ice against him given his 7-foot-1 stature. It came as a bit of a shock that someone would even be willing to fight the big d-man. Regardless, Kings prospect Liam Lefebvre was brave enough. Similar to Karmanov’s reason, the Sharks defenseman said Lefebvre was trying to stand up for his injured teammate.
“I was just with the puck, and I was seeing the guy; he was trying to hit me, and I just did a reverse hit. He went down, [and I saw he was down so I thought] something gonna happen,” Karmanov said. “One guy went to me, like I kind of pushed him away, then I thought I probably wouldn’t fight. But then I was like, okay, let’s go. I asked the guy if he wanted to go. Yeah, we went.”
Once the fight ended, the San Jose Sharks’ 2026 NHL Draft seventh-round pick hyped up the crowd, which was rightfully going bananas.
“It was really fun. The fans are so loud; the fans are great,” Karmanov said. “Every time we score, every time we’re playing the right game and winning the battles, the fans are always with us. It’s very cool, and [I’m] really grateful to the fans.”
Karmanov told reporters his phone blew up. The Sharks d-man said he was getting texts from former teammates, coaches, and, of course, his current teammates with the North Bay Battalion in the OHL. He also said some San Jose Sharks coaches gave him some fighting tips on Sunday morning.
He’ll play once again on Sunday as the San Jose Sharks take on the Utah Mammoth, but Karmanov doesn’t think he’ll fight. He didn’t shut the door entirely, but mentioned his hand was a little sore after the bout.