Throwdown Lowdown – Canucks @ Blues 01-12-12
Here is a picture of Dale Weise not fighting. Shawn Thornton is used to this picture, and he hates it. Image via Dinur/Flickr
Remember when the St. Louis Blues sucked at hockey back in the middle to late ‘00’s? I’m starting to forget those days, thanks to performances like we saw in Le Centre Bell on Tuesday. A dominating 3-0 win over the Montreal Canadiens on their court was a thing of beauty, as was the standing ovation former Habs goaltender Jaroslav Halak received after a very underrated 19-save shutout. As anticipated, there were no fights in this contest, so the Blues stick at 15 fighting majors on the season, good for a tie for 18th in the National Hockey League with the Washington Capitals in that category. In case you were wondering, the fight record still stands at 6-2-7.
Coming into town now are the current Western Conference leaders and current Western Conference Champions, the Vancouver Canucks. I don’t know if you were aware of this, but the Canucks recently played a game against the Boston Bruins, and some things happened in said game. We’ve covered the Canucks twice this season (October 26th and November 4th), once at home and once on the road. Both games happened before the Blues brought in Ken Hitchcock to run the show. The Blues won both those games. Am I to expect different? Gee, I hope not . . . anyway, the Canucks are seventh all by themselves overall with 23 fights on the season. Their record in those fights is a less-than-satisfactory 4-12-7.
The Canucks are led in fights by a guy who, after this past weekend, will be known more for ducking fights than engaging (whether or not that fact is unfortunate is not my decision) in Dale Weise (6’2”, 210lbs, 0-4-2) with six fights on the season. Recent scratch Aaron Volpatti (6’0”, 215lbs, 0-3-2, on IR after shoulder surgery) has contributed five fights. SuperPest Maxime Lapierre (6’2”, 207lbs, 1-2-1) has fought four times this season. Kevin Bieksa (2-0-1) has fought thrice in this NHL season. Keith Ballard (5’11”, 208lbs, Win) has not helicopter-chopped either of his own goaltenders this year AND has fought once this season, as have Andrew Alberts (6’5”, 218lbs), David Booth (6’0”, 212lbs, Loss to Scott Nichol, on IR with a knee sprain), Victor Oreskovich (6’3”, 215lbs, Loss, currently with Chicago of the AHL) and Aaron Rome (6’1”, 218lbs, Loss, on IR with a thumb injury).
For a weird reason, I do anticipate there being a fight in this contest, even if the rivalry between these two teams is not as spirited as it once was, but basically because these two are fighting for the same playoff positions at the top of the West. Look for Ryan Reaves to square off with Weise or Lapierre. I’d think he’d destroy either one of them.
Continuing the hot stretch would be fun. Hey, go do that.
LET’S GO BLUES!!!!!
Information obtained via the incomparable Fried Chicken’s Hockey Fights
