Throwdown Lowdown – Blues @ Flames 10-28-11

Tim Jackman is more violent than Barret Jackman, if that’s even possible. Image via Zimbio

Yours truly spent a while battling both a severe case of “Game 6 Hangover” and wonky internet connections at the office, therefore this post is decidedly late. My apologies for that, but the report moves on.

Speaking of “Game 6 Hangover” . . . sure, the St. Louis Blues are second-fiddle right now to the St. Louis Cardinals, but they were front and center on Wednesday and they took advantage of a mess of a goaltender situation in Vancouver by defeating the Canucks 3-0. Being that there was no need for a fight in the game, there wasn’t one. So the Blues stand at three fighting majors on the season, currently good for a tie for 15th in the National Hockey League in that category. The fight record remains at 1-0-2.

We’ve discussed tonight’s opponent, the Calgary Flames, once before in this segment (October 10th, to be exact), and while they didn’t fight the Blues in that game, the likelihood of a fight in THIS game is increased as the team has been struggling for much of the season and they are looking for a spark. The Flames have a few guys who are willing to throw punches with just about anyone, but thus far on the young season – like the Blues – they have only picked up three fighting majors on the season. As you see above, that’s good for a tie for 15th position in the NHL in that category, much like our Blues. The difference is that the Flames’ fight record stands currently at 1-1-1.

Flames players that have fought this season include Cory Sarich (6’4”, 207lbs, Win), the ever-truculent Tim Jackman (6’4”, 220lbs, Draw) and “The Greek God of Hockey Violence”, Tom Kostopoulos (6’0”, 200lbs, Loss). Among players currently on the Flames roster, the fighters from last year go like this: Jackman (3-6-3) led the way with 12 fights, followed by Kostopoulos (1-4-1) with six fights. Following him are Mark Giordano (6’0”, 203lbs, 1-1-1) and Sarich (0-2-1) with three fights each.  My favorite NHL player to watch that has never been a Blue, Jarome Iginla (6’1”, 207lbs, 1-0-1), checks in with two fights.  Solo fighters include Pierre-Luc Letourneau-Leblond (6’2”, 215lbs, Win), former Blue Lee Stempniak (6’0”, 201lbs, Draw), Olli Jokinen (6’3”, 215lbs, Loss) and Curtis Glencross (6’1”, 200lbs, Loss). Raitis Ivanans and Brendan Mikkelson fell off the list as they were sent to their AHL affiliate in Abbotsford.

Tim Jackman contested his first fight of the season last Thursday, so with him fully in the swing of things as it appears, it’s probably a great time for him to show more aggression. If Ryan Reaves plays tonight – and I suspect that he might – look for him to challenge the bruising Calgary forward. Otherwise, look for something strange such as, say, a scrap between the team’s two captains – Iginla and David Backes, which would be an excellent fight, if I don’t say so myself.

Is there more Western Canada goodness on tap? Let’s hope so. Also, a Game 7 win by the Redbirds would be nice. Let’s be greedy and ask for both, shall we?

LET’S GO BLUES!!!!!

Information obtained via the incomparable Fried Chicken’s Hockey Fights