Throwdown Lowdown – Avalanche @ Blues, 02-22-11
Even I jump ahead sometimes. This is a photo rerun courtesy of the Washington Post
Two things were disappointing about the 5-3 Blues loss to the Chicago Blackhawks last night: 1) the Blues wasted a great first period effort and lost the game, and 2) there were no fights in the game. Go figure – it’s the first time the Blues and Blackhawks did not contest a fight in a game against each other this season out of (now) five games. The good news is that the Blues are not yet out of the playoff race despite yesterday’s loss (insert “Wild Wild West” joke here) AND they remained in second by themselves in fighting majors with 57. And yes, their fight record stands at 23-17-17.
We have covered the Colorado Avalanche twice before in games that were played in Denver (November 15th and January 24th). This Avs team, as we could tell from the trade that was made over the weekend, is slipping REALLY hard in the standings. While a total of 27 fighting majors is nothing to scoff at, it is not a huge total compared to the rest of the league. The good news here is that the Avs do seem to enjoy throwing fists at the Blues – four of their 27 fights have come against The Note. Those 27 fights, by the way, gives the Avs 18th place by themselves in the NHL in fighting majors. Their fight record is a somewhat-respectable 9-6-12, which isn’t bad for one of the middle-of-the-pack teams fighting wise in the NHL.
Cody McLeod (6’2”, 210lbs, 4-2-4 including a draw with Brad Winchester) leads the team with 10 fights. Following him is Ryan Wilson (6’1”, 207lbs, 2-0-1) and former Blue David Koci (6’6”, 238lbs, 0-1-2, including a draw with Cam Janssen) with three fights each. Also included in this list are new Blue Chris Stewart (6’2”, 228lbs, 1-0-1) and Brandon Yip (6’1”, 195lbs, 1-0-1) with two fights each. The rest of the Avs fighters have fought once each, and they are David Liffiton (6’2”, 210lbs, Win, currently with Lake Erie of the AHL), veteran Adam Foote (6’2”, 220lbs, Draw, out with a quad injury), Daniel Winnik (6’2”, 210lbs, Draw), John-Michael Liles (5’10”, 185lbs, Loss), Phillipe Dupuis (6’0”, 196lbs, Loss), Matt Duchene (5’11”, 200lbs, Loss . . . to Vladimir Sobotka, out with a hand injury) and Ryan O’Byrne (6’5”, 234lbs, Loss . . . to BJ Crombeen).
After yesterday’s game, it would be fair to assume the Blues would try to introduce fisticuffs to tonight’s action, and for the Avalanche to oblige in such fisticuffs considering their current standing. Could we see a Janssen-McLeod bout? It is possible, if both play. What about Erik Johnson or Jay McClement trying to get back at their old team with some fist action? It’s not probable, but anything is possible.
I hate losing streaks. Maybe we won’t see one start tonight, but God, who knows.
LET’S GO BLUES!!!!!
Information obtained via the incomparable Fried Chicken’s Hockey Fights
