© Brian Fluharty-Imagn Images
Oliver Bonk stands to have a promising future in the NHL, where throwing hands is an accepted part of the game, and he just got a lesson from some of the best in the world.
Bonk is a prospect with the Philadelphia Flyers organization. He is currently playing with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms in the AHL after being drafted 22nd overall in the 2023 NHL Draft and this could be the season he makes the jump to the big show.
At 6’2″, 195 pounds, Oliver Bonk is athletic but lacks the heft of the NHL’s top enforcers so he turned to Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship brawlers Andre Petroski and Johnny Garbarino for advice on defending himself on the ice. They went through some lessons on transfer of momentum, defensive tactics, and more.
Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship Brawlers Teach Flyers Prospect To Defend Himself
In a video on Instagram, the BKFC showed the work Andre Petroski and Johnny Garbarino did with Oliver Bonk. It has racked up over dozens of comments in 24 hours, with an odd percentage of those comments simply being the ‘fire’ emoji.
That is neither here nor there because Philadelphia Flyers fans should be hyped about this. Their top prospect and others are being trained to fight by the best from the Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship:
Among the advice he received was Garbarino saying they were “giving Bonk a lesson he’s never going to forget, his first one-on-one.” Adding that it “was extremely beneficial to him.”
After the lesson, Johnny said that Oliver Bonk now has a great understanding “of basic control and self-protection skills so that when he goes on the ice against these other enforcers he’s going to do really well.”
Is Bonk The Future In Philly?
Oliver Bonk is the son of former Ottawa Senators center Radek Bonk who played in the NHL for 14 seasons. You would think if he needed advice on throwing the gloves off he could go to dad, but who would turn down advice from BKFC pros?
The bare knuckle fighters, Andre Petroski and Johnny Garbarino, are two of the best. Johnny ‘Cannoli’ Garbarino is undefeated (3-0) during his BKFC stint.
He is also a hometown Phily boy. So there is an underlying reason he would love to see this Flyers prospect succeed in the NHL if/when someone wants to come to fisticuffs on the ice.
As an enforcer, he will go up against the toughest in the league. He does have that dawg in him but can he hold his own against a guy like Victor Hedman? We’ll see.