Throwdown Lowdown – Blues @ Canucks 10-26-11

Aaron Volpatti is an emerging NHL enforcer, but he’s not THAT young. Image via Zimbio

Might the boys be turning things around? Might there be a goaltender controversy? It’s still way too early to tell on either of those questions, but a great 60-minute effort from the St. Louis Blues resulted in a 4-2 victory over a hot Philadelphia Flyers squad that has taken the Eastern Conference by storm to start the season, with solid goaltending from backup backstop Brian Elliott included in that performance. And we even saw fisticuffs in the contest! New daddy Barret “SIR JAXX” Jackman had it out with noted brawler Wayne Simmonds in a fight where you could give an edge to Simmonds but at best call it a draw (video here). This brings the Blues up to three fighting majors on the season, good for a massive tie for 14th in the National Hockey League in that category. The team’s fight record moves to 1-0-2 on the very young season.

And now, back to the Western Conference, and at that, the defending conference champions. The Vancouver Canucks – behind some wonky goaltending from All-World netminder Roberto Luongo – have not particularly come out on fire in this 2011-2012 season. In fact, the Canucks have pretty much directly channeled  and followed the Blues’ start to this season – poor goaltending from the starter, effort issues, offensive woes, yet somehow still in the mix early on. For both teams, the fact that they’ve hung in there thus far is a testament to their will as a club. And in the Canucks’ case, they’re punching their way through their schedule as well. Despite losing their top two brawlers this offseason in Tanner Glass (Free Agency – Winnipeg) and Rick Rypien (Free Agency – Winnipeg . . . then death – RIP Rick Rypien), the Canucks are currently tied for first in the NHL with the New York Rangers and Ottawa Senators with seven fighting majors apiece, a departure from last season when they were 23rd in the NHL with 29 fights. The Canucks’ fight record last year was a pretty meaningless 5-12-12, while this year that record is a better 2-3-2.

Canucks that have fought this year include super-pest Maxim Lapierre (6’2”, 207lbs, 1-1-0), emerging enforcer Aaron Volpatti (6’0”, 215lbs, 0-1-1) and former Ranger Dale Weise (6’2”, 210lbs, 0-1-1) with two fights each and 2011 Playoff darling Kevin Bieksa (6’1”, 198lbs, Win) with one. Of those currently on the Canucks roster, the pickings are relatively slim, mostly due to Glass’s departure. Bieksa (2-1-0), Weise (1-2-0), former goalie-killer Keith Ballard (5’11”, 208lbs, 0-1-2, and I will never tire of posting that video to show how woefully stupid Ballard is) and Lapierre (0-3-0) each fought three times last season. Volpatti (0-1-1) fought twice in limited NHL action. Andrew Alberts (6’5”, 218lbs, Loss) and Aaron Rome (6’1”, 218lbs, Loss, on IR with a broken hand) each fought once.

So the possibility of a fight between the two teams is relatively high, especially if – again – Ryan Reaves is in the lineup. That being said, Jackman has been known to mix it up with the Canucks in the past. Look for Volpatti and Reaves to go at each other, and if that doesn’t happen, look for a scrape between Jackman and, say, Weise.

Western Canada hasn’t always been kind to the Blues in the past. Are they up to the task this time around? Three big games upcoming.

LET’S GO BLUES!!!!!

Information obtained via the incomparable Fried Chicken’s Hockey Fights