Throwdown Lowdown – Stars @ Blues, 12-26-11
, a former Blackhawk brawler that isn’t hot garbage! Image via clydeorama/Flickr
A win is always fun to get, even when it’s earned. The St. Louis Blues took the battle to the Phoenix Coyotes Friday night on a night when the Yotes honored one of the best to ever play for BOTH franchises – one Keith “Walt” Tkachuk – and came out with a 3-2 victory. Being that neither team is overly ambitious when it comes to fisticuffs and being that neither Paul Bissonnette nor Ryan Reaves played in this game, the fact that no fighting majors were issued nor even close to happening should not come as much of a shock. So the Blues stay at 13 fights on the season, still good for a tie for 16th with the Nashville Predators, Winnipeg Jets and tonight’s opponent in that category. The fight record stays at 5-1-7.
After a short two-game Mountain Time Zone swing, the Blues come back to the friendly confines of the Scottrade Savvis DrinkScotch Kiel Center (yes, I still call it that) to square off against a team that has turned out to be quite a nemesis to The Note recently, the Dallas Stars. These matchups with the Stars are soon to become a bit more important due to the new four-conference realignment plan including them in the same conference as the Blues, so it might be imperative for the two teams to get their pleasantries (or lack thereof) out of the way soon. We have covered the Stars previously this season (October 13th, to be exact), and there was a scrap in that game, so we’ll have some video for you later. But for now, it should be noted that the Stars have fought 13 times this season and are pulled even with the Blues, Predators and Jets in the same tie for 16th that I noted earlier. However, their record in fights this season is a bit more mediocre than the Blues, currently standing at 4-4-5.
The Stars are led in fights by former Blackhawk Jake Dowell (6’0”, 198lbs, 1-2-1) with four fights. Following him is the recently-traded Krys Barch (6’1”, 237lbs, 1-1-1 as a Star and 2-2-3 overall, traded to the Panthers on December 7th) with three fights as a Star. Well-known pest Steve Ott (6’0”, 190lbs, 0-0-2) has fought twice. Among solo fighters for the Stars are Captain Brenden Morrow (6’0”, 205lbs, Win), future superstar Jamie Benn (6’2”, 205lbs, Win), veteran defenseman Sheldon Souray (6’4”, 237lbs, Draw with Chris Stewart) and Eric Nystrom (6’1”, 193lbs, Loss).
I won’t anticipate a fight in this game, but if Reaves is playing and he would kinda go ahead and destroy Ott, I would not be totally opposed to it. We’ll see what happens, but anticipating a fight in this game might be a touch ambitious.
As we flip the calendar page to January soon, it’s nice to have a hockey team that is playing well to root for. I’d love it if this squad kept up the good work.
LET’S GO BLUES!!!!!
Information obtained via the incomparable Fried Chicken’s Hockey Fights
