Canada backed winger Tom Wilson after he started a fight to protect a teammate in their comfortable win over France at the Winter Olympics. Canada's 10-2 victory had already produced plenty of entertainment for the crowd when Wilson took issue with an opponent.

While fighting is a regular fixture and an accepted part of ice hockey, it is generally frowned upon in the Winter Olympics. But with Canada's win already assured, Washington Capitals veteran Wilson decided to challenge France's Pierre Crinon.

Canada had been riled up by Crinon smashing into Nathan MacKinnon in the third period, hitting him in the face with his forearm. The Frenchman was given a two-minute penalty and Canada scored in the following powerplay, but that wasn't retribution enough for Wilson.

The 31-year-old chucked his gloves onto the ice to take on Crinon, despite knowing it would mean his ejection from the match. The International Ice Hockey Federation counts fighting as misconduct, meaning both Wilson and Crinon were ejected for the final seven minutes of the match.

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That was clearly a punishment worth taking for Canada, who already had the match in the bag and are set for the elimination stage of the men's ice hockey competition in Italy. His intervention went down well in the Canada dressing room, too.

“We didn’t like the hit: felt like it was late and high,” Canada star Connor McDavid said. “Willy just finishes a check and the guy jumps him, and Willy’s just protecting himself. That’s all he can do. That’s the type of guy he is, type of teammate he is. Nothing but respect for him.”

“That guy obviously didn’t want to fight Tom,” MacKinnon said of his teammate, who is 6ft 4in. “He just wanted to wrestle. I wouldn’t want to fight Tom either.”

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“Obviously fighting isn’t a big thing in this tournament, but when a guy takes a run at one of our big guys, that’s what Willy does,” Drew Doughty said. “I mean, he does a lot more than that, but it was great to see him step up.”

“We know Willy’s got our backs,” Sam Bennett said. “He’s going to protect all our guys and bring the energy. We love that from Willy. He’s going to do anything for our team.”

Meanwhile, Canada's head coach Jon Cooper didn't have any problem with the ruckus. “We’re used to a lot more than that happening, so it was pretty harmless in the grand scheme of things," he added. “Sticking up for his teammates, that’s an easy one for him.”

And the words of Canada goaltender Jordan Binnington summed up the feeling amongst the team. “I definitely wasn’t surprised,” he said. “That’s hockey, right? That’s hockey.”