Throwdown Lowdown – Blues @ Blue Jackets – 11-10-10

Maybe someone can do this to Derek Dorsett tonight. Again. Image via the Orange County Register

The Blues don’t choose to make it exciting, but they DO choose to keep the good times rolling in beating the New York Rangers 2-0 on Sunday.  In that game, big Saskatchewan native Tyson Strachan – in a rare opportunity to play as opposed to watch from the owner’s box – decided to instigate a fight with well-noted brawler Brandon Prust.  That didn’t end well for Strachan, as he missed on a roundhouse right which left him open for several jabs and a takedown from Prust.  So we’ll call it a clean loss for Tyson.  The Blues now stand at 14 fights, tied for fourth in the NHL with the Toronto Maple Leafs and Calgary Flames.  The Note has a 6-4-4 record in those fights.

The Columbus Blue Jackets are not a fighting team.  It’s a shame, because with the personnel they possess, they SHOULD fight more often.  They have SOME young skill, but they certainly have some third- and fourth-line grinder types that apparently feel the need to stay on the ice.  At the Throwdown Lowdown, I take note and turn my nose at this!  The Jackets are tied for 18th in the NHL with the Minnesota Wild, Detroit Red Wings and Chicago Blackhawks with six (yes, SIX!) fights on the season.  They are 1-4-1 in those fights, so evidently not only are the Jackets not picking many fights, but they’re picking the wrong ones.

Three of the Jackets’ six fights have been contested by a familiar source – Derek Dorsett (6’0”, 190lbs, 0-3-0 . . . ouch).  Another familiar source, Jared Boll (6’2”, 214lbs, 1-1-0), has two of the other three fights, the other from yet another familiar name in heavyweight Mike Commodore (6’4”, 233lbs, Draw).

I can be as much of a downer as possible about how little the Jackets fight, but it seems things change for them when the Blues come to town.  So I certainly expect a fight.  Cam Janssen has a past history with Boll but sizes up well with Dorsett.  Brad Winchester matches up size-wise with Commodore, but Winchester has been a scratch the last two games.  David Backes has a past history with Rick Nash.  TJ Oshie absolutely owns Nash, but Oshie doesn’t fight.  BJ Crombeen is always a factor, and matches up alright size-wise with someone like RJ Umberger.  Guys like Andrew Murray have fought in the past but not yet this season.  There are so many wild cards in this one fight-wise that I can’t handicap it properly.  But I’m almost certain there will be at least one scrap in this contest.

The Blues have gotten a lot of press clippings lately.  Hopefully the players haven’t read those clippings and started to feel good about themselves.  Get a win tonight, boys.

LET’S GO BLUES!!!!!

Information obtained via the incomparable Fried Chicken’s Hockey Fights