Throwdown Lowdown – Wild @ Blues 1-14-10
Wade Belak feels the sting of Derek Boogard's monster fist . . . image via si.com
Before we start . . . if you haven’t seen it already, from Puck Daddy via The Riverfront Times, this may be the funniest thing you’ll see all day. I wouldn’t put this past some of my brethren at St. Louis Game Time. Absolutely incredibly funny.
On to the report . . . as anticipated, the Blues and Blue Jackets dialed up the truculent behavior Tuesday night, leading to FOUR fights. Admittedly, one of them wasn’t really a fight, and both guys got kicked out for doing it, but still . . . FOUR fights! It was enthralling to say the least. BJ Crombeen worked a draw with Alexandre Picard to bring him to 6-4-2, Fried Chicken’s Hockey Fights voters say Rick Nash defeated David Backes (which I do not agree with . . . the linesman stepped in and basically let Nash have a free run at Backes when they should have let them both go) to drop him to 2-2-0, Erik Johnson’s first-ever NHL fight earned him a game misconduct and a draw with Mike Commodore to start his record at 0-0-1, and Cam Janssen earned a victory over Jared Boll in the one PREDICTED fight of the evening sending Cam up to 7-1-2. Additionally, the Blues have shot up to a tie for 3rd in team fight leaders with 40, with only the Calgary Flames (49) and the Philadelphia Flyers (42) ahead of them and the Anaheim Ducks even with them. The attitude adjustment is in full effect, and when you’re fighting for every inch, gloves are sure to be dropped. It’s a welcome change!
The Minnesota Wild are on the lower end of the NHL list of fighting teams, shedding the gloves a total of 22 times on the season thus far. However, three of those fights came last night against a division rival and one of the “punchiest” teams in the league, the Vancouver Canucks. Minnesota went 1-1-1 in those fights. Also, the Wild’s overall 10-7-5 record in fights on the season suggests a team that is wise in picking its targets, and one of the eight fighters the Wild have had this year has four of those seven losses. However, they may not get to use their smarts to their advantage against a Blues team that has cranked up the physicality in the last two weeks. It will be interesting to see what plays out.
The Blues and Wild have fought once this season – Crombeen was able to subdue Nathan Smith at a home contest on October 23rd. This was one of only two fights for Smith on the season, the other being a draw. Since then, Smith has been sent down to Minnesota’s AHL affiliate, the Houston Aeros. Mind you, Smith is a former 1st round pick. Bust? Yeah, you could say that.
If the Wild want a fight, they want it to come from either winger Derek Boogaard (6’8″, 257lbs) or defenseman John Scott (6’8″, 258lbs), both absolutely massive human beings. Boogaard is a noted NHL brawler, and his 4-0-2 record on the season is hard not to be impressed with. However, Scott has done just about as well at 4-0-1. The only other Minnesota player with more than two fights is defenseman Shane Hnidy (6’2″, 204lbs), who is an ugly 0-4-0 on the season. Young defenseman Clayton Stoner (6’4″, 212lbs) would be another fighter to look out for as he’s 1-0-1 in only eight games played, but he’s listed as day-to-day and probably won’t play tonight.
Unfortunately, the Wild do not have any members of Team Canada on their squad, so don’t look for a scrap from Backes. So the dream matchup of the evening would be either Janssen or Crombeen taking on Hnidy. If so, let’s hope the “due factor” doesn’t come into play. If the Blues MUST fight Boogaard or Scott, hopefully it’ll either be Janssen – not afraid of anyone – or someone who at least comes close to matching up size-wise, such as Brad Winchester (who even then STILL gives three inches and nearly 30 pounds to both of them).
Can the Blues win two games in a row? If they play the same physical style that helped them to a win Tuesday night, then there’s no doubt it CAN happen. Let’s get it done!
LET’S GO BLUES!!!!!
Information obtained via the incomparable Fried Chicken’s Hockey Fights.
