More players my girlfriend likes . . . this time, we have former Fighting Sioux, Matt Greene. Image via Dinur/Flickr

It started with a bang for the San Jose Sharks, but thankfully for our St. Louis Blues, their effort ended with a loud thud. The boys in blue are through to the Western Conference Semifinals after five tooth-and-nail games, losing 3-2 in double overtime in Game 1, winning 3-0 in a violent Game 2, winning 4-3 in Game 3, winning 2-1 in Game 4 and clinching with a 3-1 Game 5 decision. Were there fights? Damn right there were fights . . . five, in fact . . . four in Game 2 alone and three of those after the final horn had sounded. The Blues went 4-0-1 in those five fights. The matchups were . . . Joe Pavelski against Kris Russell, Dominic Moore against Vladimir Sobotka, Justin Braun against Roman Polak (which was perhaps the most infamous fight of the series), Douglas Murray against Barret Jackman and Tommy Wingels against Chris Stewart. The fights were broken down thusly in Fight Card pieces. If we add the 4-0-1 record in these five fights to the regular season record, the Blues would now sport a 20-8-19 fight record overall in games that have counted this season, which is fantastic. But for now, I am only counting the 4-0-1 playoff record, which is even more impressive, actually.

Again, just a series preview . . . this time, for the Western Conference Semifinals and the eighth seed in the Western Conference, the Los Angeles Kings. This team is the current toast of the league, having dispatched the President’s Trophy winning Vancouver Canucks in quick fashion, behind strong goaltending play, great defense, timely goal-scoring and an aggressive forecheck. We covered the Kings four times in the regular season in this space (October 18th, November 22nd, February 3rd and March 22nd). The Blues went 1-2-1 in those four games, which raises concern about how this series will go. But this is a fight report, so for the time being, we’ll move on from that . . . the Kings finished the regular National Hockey League season with 33 fighting majors, good for 18th by themselves in that category. They were a measly 6-16-11 in those fights. They fought once in their series with Vancouver, earning a draw in that fracas.

In the regular season, the Kings were led in fights by Kyle Clifford (6’2”, 208lbs, 1-5-4 including a Loss to Stewart) with 10 fights. Following him was former Blackhawk Colin Fraser (6’1”, 191lbs, 1-5-1 including a draw with Scott Nichol that shouldn’t have even counted as a fight) with seven fights. Veteran brawler Kevin Westgarth (6’4”, 234lbs, 1-0-2, has been a lineup scratch every game since February 16th) and former Flyers Captain Mike Richards (5’11”, 199lbs, 1-0-2) each fought three times, and Jordan Nolan (6’3”, 227lbs, 2-0-0), Willie Mitchell (6’3”, 208lbs, 0-1-1) and Matt Greene (6’3”, 232lbs, 0-2-0) each fought twice. The Kings had four solo fighters, namely pancake-eating extraordinaire Dustin Penner (6’4”, 242lbs, Draw), team Captain Dustin Brown (6’0”, 204lbs, Loss), young Trevor Lewis (6’1”, 194lbs, Loss) and the well-paid Drew Doughty (6’0”, 212lbs, Loss). In the Vancouver series, superstar Anze Kopitar (6’3”, 225lbs, Draw) participated in the only Kings fight.

Again, I’m not even going to predict who will fight who because as we saw in the first round series with San Jose, a fight can come from the most meager and odd circumstances in the playoffs. But do expect some fisticuffs to happen in this series, much like there was in the first round.

Are you ready for Round Two? Well, you’d better be. I sure as hell am.

LET’S GO BLUES!!!!!

Information obtained via the incomparable Fried Chicken’s Hockey Fights

So yeah, that was quite the Game 2 between the St. Louis Blues and San Jose Sharks, wasn’t it? And to add to it, there were four fights, including three after the final horn had sounded.

So we have two video clips for you, starting with an after-the-whistle scrum that turned into a fight between Kris Russell and Joe Pavelski (who, mind you, I believe SHOULD be the Sharks’ Captain). As an added twist, I found video clips that included the voices of CSN California (Sharks local) play-by-play man Randy Hahn and color commentator Drew Remenda, who I find to be the finest local broadcast crew in the National Hockey League . . . yes, even surpassing our guys, and this is NOT a stab at John Kelly and Darren Pang. Take it away, gang:

It was a long build-up to a short fight, one that only a frustrated Pavelski would take and one that Russell came out ahead on. He was always in control of this bout, though he did let Pavelski into his grill with a couple shots. The clincher was a quick right jab, followed by a couple lefts and an attempted right cross that knocked both men to the ice.

And now, the triage that everyone was talking about after the game . . . three fights, all after time had expired and all with different beginnings and ends. All on one video clip, too! First, it was Vladimir Sobotka and Dominic Moore, followed by Roman Polak and Justin Braun, then bookended by Barret Jackman and Douglas Murray. Take ‘er away, Randy and Drew:

There’s little discussion about who won the Sobotka/Moore tilt. Sobotka broke Moore’s nose, and Moore had pretty much no chance in that bout. The biggest discussion about THAT tilt is a supposed “sucker punch” by Sobotka, as Sharks coach Todd McLellan has accused. Granted, the camera angle was late, but I was at the game and did not see what he was talking about on that. The Polak/Braun bout was pretty much no contest as well. Blues coach Ken Hitchcock even spoke of doors you don’t open following the game regarding what Polak did to Braun in that one. As for the Jackman/Murray bout, there was no clear winner to that one, so the draw that will be voted for that one will be well-deserved. Of note, Murray suffered a cut on his nose from that bout, which seems to have come from his visor hitting the bridge of his nose. He’s okay, but it would be funny if that’s the reason Jackman was pointing at Murray afterward . . . “HEY, WHAT’S WITH THAT STUPID VISOR? YOU’RE AN IDIOT.” *smirk*

Game 3 oughta be a real doozy, I’d say. Getcha popcorn ready.

A Newfoundland native who loves to fight? Naturally, my girlfriend loves Ryane Clowe, but now we both may have to hate him for 4 to 7 games. Image via The Bay Area Bias/Flickr

I guess that will count as a strong finish. The St. Louis Blues took advantage of the mistakes given to them by the Dallas Stars after licking their wounds from Friday night’s beating, taking the battle to the Stars and taking home a 3-2 victory to bring the team into some kind of a momentum swing leading into the playoffs (even if it’s not very negligible). There was a fight in this contest as well, featuring tough veteran Barret Jackman and scrappy youngster Ryan Garbutt, in a fight that was a rare victory for “SIR JAXX”. I recapped this fight as well as the two fights from Friday’s game in this Fight Card piece. As noted in that Fight Card write-up, the Blues finish with 42 fights in the regular season, good for a tie for seventh place in the National Hockey League with the Minnesota Wild, and the Blues’ fight record ends up at a very stellar 17-7-18.

And now, the playoffs begin. As most of you know, the gloves generally stay on during the playoffs, yielding to tight checking, sheer will and determination and low-scoring affairs that feature few – if any – fights. If there ARE fisticuffs, usually they arrive late in games after they are decided as a team tries to turn momentum a different direction from game to game. With this in mind, I will only be doing one Throwdown Lowdown report per series (and hopefully, there will be a total of four series to report on), starting with the Western Conference Quarterfinal series that will start Thursday.

And the lucky opponent for this first round series is none other than our old nemesis from Northern California, the San Jose Sharks. A perennial powerhouse in years past, the Sharks staggered at times this season, getting caught up in a mess at the bottom of the playoff standings. As it turns out, they received a 7 seed, earning this draw with the Blues, a team they lost four out of four to in the regular season. This is not to say that this series will be easy . . . this Sharks team can get hot at a moment’s notice and can reach out and grab anyone, the Blues included. We’ll see how this goes. We covered the Sharks four times this season (October 15th, December 10th, February 12th and March 3rd). The Sharks were a middle-of-the-pack fighting team this season as they generally end up being every year, finishing in a four-way tie for 14th in the NHL with three teams that did not make the postseason – the Calgary Flames, Toronto Maple Leafs and Winnipeg Jets. Their fight record was relatively average at 11-12-12.

The Sharks are led in fights by Newfoundland native and bench puck player Ryane Clowe (6’2”, 225lbs, 3-1-5) with nine fights on the season. An old friend of ours, Brad Winchester (6’5”, 230lbs, 2-1-3), follows him with six fights, while veteran defenseman Jim Vandermeer (6’1”, 210lbs, 0-3-2) fought five times this season. Andrew Desjardins (6’1”, 210lbs, 1-2-0) fought three times this season. Fighting twice each as Sharks are now-Avalanche forward Jamie McGinn (6’1”, 210lbs, 1-0-1 as a Shark and 1-0-2 overall, sent to Colorado as part of a six-piece trade) and Tommy Wingels (6’0”, 190lbs, 1-0-1). Eight Sharks have fought once each, and they include Dan Boyle (5’11”, 190lbs, Win), Colin White (6’4”, 215lbs, Win), team Captain Joe Thornton (6’4”, 230lbs, Win), Douglas Murray (6’3”, 240lbs, Loss, currently day-to-day with an undisclosed injury), Frazer McLaren (6’5”, 250lbs, Loss, currently with AHL Worcester), Joe Pavelski (5’11”, 195lbs, Loss), Justin Braun (6’2”, 200lbs, Loss) and Torrey Mitchell (5’11”, 190lbs, Loss). Also of note are newcomers from the Avalanche from the aforementioned trade, Daniel Winnik (6’2”, 210lbs, 0-2-0 including, ironically, a loss to Clowe) and TJ Galiardi (6’2”, 190lbs, Draw).

Again, with the playoffs, it’s a crapshoot to predict who will fight who, and you really can’t predict such activity anyway, as usually such activity comes in late-game activity from late hits, net scrums and the like. As such, I will not be able to give even reasonable guesses as to who will fight who, but I will predict that there will be some fisticuffs in this series at some point.

It’s playoff time. I’ve been waiting for this moment for a long while now. Get it done, gang. Hopefully, a fresh report will be yours before the Western Conference Semifinals. Until then . . .

LET’S GO BLUES!!!!!

Information obtained via the incomparable Fried Chicken’s Hockey Fights

We’ll start with the first of two fights Friday night, featuring noted agitator Raffi Torres and pesky third-line winger Matt D’Agostini. It did not end well for D’Ags:

I don’t know about either the boarding call that D’Ags received or the Instigator Torres received (then again, I hate just about every Instigator call because that should not be a rule that’s still on the books . . . but I digress). What I DO know, though, is that D’Ags – while showing he was a willing participant – got his ass kicked in the brief time this fight lasted, not really getting one punch away while Torres landed several rights. This fight kinda sucked, actually, as it lasted about 10 seconds and didn’t really show much.

Next, a scrap between former Jacket Rostislav Klesla and a guy who has been a bit of an enigma all season for the Blues, Chris Stewart. This was interesting and kinda stupid:

This had been brewing for a time, because of how testy the game had gotten, and after a couple hits on a few Coyotes players by Stewart, Klesla decided he’d seen enough. As for the fight itself, it was basically a grab, a couple punches, a pull and a takedown. It was a clear draw, and really not worth my time.

Finally on Saturday, grizzled veteran Barret Jackman showed his mean side with youngster Ryan Garbutt in an affair that did not end well for the young Stars forward:

This started out as a gropefest, which is the fault of both players, but once Jackman – a natural southpaw – got his left arm free, this one was over for Garbutt, who tried getting his right arm loose for a few shots but basically flailed at air. A few lefts from Jackman, and we’ll call this an easy victory for the veteran, who gets props for letting up after Garbutt was kneeling on the ice.

The weekend’s win, loss and draw put the Blues at 42 fights on the regular season, good for a tie for seventh overall with the Minnesota Wild, holding a fight record of 17-7-18. Generally, a team that finishes third overall in the NHL standings doesn’t do that well in fights, but this Blues team has been defying expectations at all levels this year, so it’s not a shock to me.

On Wednesday, look for my Unscientific 2012 First Round Predictions. On Thursday, look for my Throwdown Lowdown preview of the Blues’ Western Conference Quarterfinals series with the San Jose Sharks (yes, one post for the whole series). And at some point after the playoffs are over for the Blues (hopefully after the Stanley Cup Finals, eh?), I will post videos of every fight the Blues were involved in during the 2011-2012 regular season and postseason. But for right now . . . to borrow a phrase from broadcaster Joe Buck used to describe the 2011 St. Louis Cardinals . . . “What a team. What a ride.”

It's playoff time, expect a scrum after almost every whistle.

After the Canucks and the Sharks had both won their respective games, the western conference was finally pegged down. The Canucks claimed the West and the President’s trophy. The Blues finished second, set to face off against the San Jose Sharks in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs.

Looking at the rosters of each club, you can judge who’d better for yourself.

Jaroslav Halak/Brian Elliott vs Antti Niemi/Thomas Griess

There should be no question whatsoever in this case. You have the best statistical goaltender in the NHL in Brian Elliott and while Niemi has a cup, most would prefer Jaroslav Halak in net over the Finnish Niemi.

Halak and Elliott will share the William Jennings trophy for fewest goals allowed in the NHL. San Jose finished eighth in goals against, letting in fifty more goals overall than the Blues.

Offense Isn’t Lacking On Defense

When looking on the defensive side of the puck, both teams aren’t lacking offensively.

Dan Boyle lead the San Jose Sharks offense from the defense this year, scoring nine goals, 39 assists for 48 points on the year. He’s followed by Brent Burns’ 37 points (11 goals, 26 assists). Burns, however, adds a solid defensive game and grit on the blueline as well.

The Blues counter offensively with Alex Pietrangelo’s 51 points (12 goals, 39 assists) and Kevin Shattenkirk’s 43 points (9 goals, 34 assists). Pietrangelo, however, has been playing at a Norris caliber level all season long for the Blues, something the Sharks haven’t had.

Then you have the supporting cast behind the “big two” for each club.

For San Jose, it’s the likes of Marc-Edouard Vlasic, Douglas Murray, Justin Braun, Colin White, Jason Demers, and Jim Vandermeer.

While the Blues have guys like Barret Jackman, Roman Polak, Kent Huskins, Carlo Colaiacovo, Kris Russell, and Ian Cole.

Obviously, you have to give the experience to the Sharks group, but overall, it’s fairly close and hard to really pick one side. We’ll call it a wash as I honestly can’t make a decision.

Depth The Story Offensively

While the Sharks probably have more well known names in Joe Thornton, Patrick Marleau, and Joe Pavelski, they cannot say they have the depth like the St. Louis Blues do. The Sharks bottom six guys compared to the Blues bottom six just don’t add up.

When you have guys like Alex Steen, Jason Arnott, and even the struggling Chris Stewart playing third line minutes compared to Michal Handzus, Dominic Moore, and Andrew Desjardins, you’re going to have an edge offensively.

After the top nine, the Blues hold depth over the Sharks with the fourth line along with their scratches as well. The Sharks have Dan Winnik’s 23 points as top among their fourth liners, while the Blues have a guy who notched 20 goals last season in Matt D’Agostini and Jamie Langenbrunner’s 24 points as well.

The Blues are also holding a top prospect ready to play in Jaden Schwartz as well, very much like the Sharks did a few seasons ago with Logan Couture.

In terms of toughness, Ryan Reaves is by far the toughest player on either club’s roster, and given his ability to play a effective checking line role, he’s a valuable asset to the Blues here.

Heated History

We must also remember that these two organizations aren’t the biggest fans of one another. From the most recent Joe Thornton incident of Joe Thonrton concussing David Perron with a blindside hit, to the upset in 2000, games between these two are usually up tempo, hard hitting, grinding games, which favors the Blues more defensive system than the Sharks more offensive system.

Fighting usually isn’t common in the post season. The big, hard hits, the board battles usually tell the stories in playoff hockey, and that should give the Blues the advantage, like it has in the season series against these clubs, in which the Blues went 4-0 against them this season.

Leading The Ship

Another advantage the Blues have over the Sharks is leadership where it matters, the coaches. While Todd McLellan is a very good coach, he doesn’t have the pedigree that Ken Hitchcok has, which includes a Stanley Cup. Hitchock knows what it takes to get his team wins. Leading a team that many have stated was ‘built for the playoffs’ will again, give the Blues an advantage over San Jose.

The Sharks only have two players who have won a Stanley Cup on their roster in Dan Boyle who won it with Tampa, and Colin White, who won it with New Jersey.

The Blues have four guys in Jason Arnott (NJD), Jamie Langenbrunner (NJD, DAL), Andy McDonald (ANA), and Kent Huskins (ANA) who’ve won Hockey’s Holy Grail. So though as a team the Blues don’t have a lot of experience, they have more guys who’ve been there and know what it takes to win it all.

Home Sweet Home

The biggest factor in this series likely wont be the players, or the coaches, or the history of these two teams, it will be the Blues having home ice advantage. The Sharks will go into a hostile territory in which the Blues have lost six, yes only six games on home ice all season long. It will easily give a boost to the Blues all series long.

If the Sharks can take a game in St. Louis, it could help them gain momentum, but that will be no easy feat. Expect the crowd’s energy to carry over into the players and it could end up giving the Sharks fits if they cannot find a way to put the puck in the net.

Overall, the advantage has to be in St. Louis’ favor in this series from goaltending to forward depth, coaching and style of play. This projects to be a very hard fought series and the winner will have to earn their victory. This is where it all matters, where players will disappoint and players will prove their worth. Who will shine? We’ll have to watch to find out!

Series Schedule

Game One – San Jose vs St. Louis -Thursday, April 12th, 6:30 pm

Game Two – San Jose vs St. Louis -Saturday, April 14th, 6:30 pm

Game Three – St. Louis vs San Jose-Monday, April 16th, 9:00 pm

Game Four – St. Louis vs San Jose- Thursday, April 19th, 9:00 pm

Game Five (if necessary) – San Jose vs St. Louis – Saturday, April 21st, 6:30

Game Six (if necessary) – St. Louis vs San Jose – Monday, April 23rd, TBD

Game Seven (if necessary) – San Jose vs St. Louis – Wednesday, April 25th, TBD

I’m not a fan of this guy. Image via PNLT_BX/Flickr

Not good. In a possible playoff preview, the Phoenix Coyotes took the fight to the St. Louis Blues, winning a 4-1 decision. There were two fights in the game . . . one between Rostislav Klesla and Chris Stewart that appeared to be a draw, another between Raffi Torres and Matt D’Agostini that Torres appeared to win. I’ll report on these in a Fight Card piece next week, but this brings the Blues to 41 fights on the season, good for a tie for eighth in the National Hockey League with the Chicago Blackhawks. With the draw and loss, the Blues’ fight record moves to 16-7-18.

And now, the final regular season game for the Blues, facing the Dallas Stars. The Stars were officially eliminated from playoff contention on Thursday, so this is their last hurrah. We’ve covered them three times this season (October 13th, December 26th and January 16th). The Stars are currently tied for 22nd in the NHL with the Edmonton Oilers and last night’s opponent in that category. Their fight record is an average 7-7-13.

The Stars are led in fights by former Blackhawk Jake Dowell (6’0”, 198lbs, 2-3-4 including a Draw with Scott Nichol) with nine fights. Following him is well-known pest and one of my least-favorite players ever, Steve Ott (6’0”, 190lbs, 1-0-5, including a “victory” over Barret Jackman), who has fought six times this season. Then, there’s Captain Brenden Morrow (6’0”, 205lbs, 1-1-1) and Krys Barch (6’1”, 237lbs, 1-1-1 as a Star and 4-4-4 overall, traded to the Panthers in December) with three fights each as a Star. Son of former Islanders royalty, Eric Nystrom (6’1”, 193lbs, 0-2-0) has fought twice. Among solo fighters for the Stars are future superstar Jamie Benn (6’2”, 205lbs, Win), youngster Ryan Garbutt (6’0”, 190lbs, Win), veteran defenseman Sheldon Souray (6’4”, 237lbs, Draw with Stewart) and hulking defenseman Mark Fistric (6’2”, 233lbs, Draw).

With this being the final game of the season for the Stars, expect there to be some fisticuffs. In what manner, though? I’m not sure, but a rematch between Dowell and Nichol seems possible, if Nichol plays.

Finish strong.

LET’S GO BLUES!!!!!

Information obtained via the incomparable Fried Chicken’s Hockey Fights

Jordin Tootoo pictured in front of a Lemonheads sign is about the most Jordin Tootoo thing ever. Image via BridgetDS/Flickr

The St. Louis Blues didn’t need that 4-0 win over the Phoenix Coyotes as much as the Yotes needed the win, but they sure played like it. It may have had something to do with the end of a long road trip. It was brilliant to watch. While there were a couple near-skirmishes, there were no fighting majors handed out in this contest, though. So the Blues stay at 38 fights on the National Hockey League season, good for a tie with the Chicago Blackhawks and New Jersey Devils for eighth position on that ladder, and the team’s fight record sticks at 16-5-17.

Wait, the Blues are allowed to play home games? WOW! Anyway, now comes an important home date with the Nashville Predators, a team the Blues have struggled to defeat all season. How badly? Well, the Preds are 4-0-1 against the Blues and, summarily, the Blues are 1-2-2 against this team. But this is a different Predators team than the Blues have played all season, one that’s retooled for a postseason run but is measurably slower in many areas than this current Blues squad, which is something the Blues should take advantage of. We have covered the Preds on five occasions already this season (October 8th, December 17th, December 30th, February 4th and February 23rd). Yes, this does mean that this is the last matchup between the two squads in the regular season, which – considering these two squads could be on a collision course for a Western Conference Semifinals or Western Conference Finals matchup, makes this game VERY important. What doesn’t help matters as far as this report is concerned is the fact that the Preds don’t fight much . . . they are 28th in the NHL with 19 fights on the season, sporting a pretty good record at 8-5-5.

Preds players who have fought this year begin with journeyman enforcer Brian McGrattan (6’4”, 235lbs, 5-1-0 including a Win over Ryan Reaves, Day-To-Day with the dreaded “Upper Body Injury”) with six fighting majors on the season, Jordin Tootoo (5’9”, 199lbs, 2-1-2), with five and Brandon Yip (6’1”, 195lbs, 1-0-1, claimed off waivers from Colorado) with two. Solo fighters as Preds include Blake Geoffrion (6’1”, 190lbs, Draw, traded to the Canadiens as part of the Gill deal), Matt Halischuk (6’0”, 185lbs, Draw), Mike Fisher (6’1”, 208lbs, Draw), Colin Wilson (6’1”, 210lbs, Loss, Day-To-Day with a groin injury), Francis Bouillon (5’8”, 198lbs, Loss) and Zack Stortini (6’4”, 215lbs, Loss to Reaves, currently with Milwaukee of the AHL). Other players to look out for are Paul Gaustad (6’5”, 212lbs, 2-2-0 as a Sabre, traded by Buffalo at the deadline) and Hal Gill (6’7”, 241lbs, Loss as a Canadien, traded by Montreal before the deadline).

Being that McGrattan hasn’t been playing lately, the likelihood of a fight doesn’t seem very high. But something could happen, such as Tootoo going after someone like Barret Jackman. That may be unexpected as well, but anything is possible, I suppose. But don’t count on a fight tonight.

Win hockey games.

LET’S GO BLUES!!!!!

Information obtained via the incomparable Fried Chicken’s Hockey Fights

Our winner is Lonnie:

"You suck Jackman. And the guy with the mullet yelling from 324 thinks so too." ~ Lonnie (Caption the Photo Winner 2-5-12)

As this week’s winner, Lonnie will receive a pack of Promotional Blues Trading Cards (Set 1) that were given away at the February 3, 2012 game.  This is the first of 3 promotional sets of cards the Blues plan on giving away.

Congratulations to our winner, and we can’t wait to see the next round of captions starting this Sunday!

**Winning Captions Do Not Reflect the Opinions of BlueNoteZone**

What will the winner of this contest get?? Each week’s winner will get their caption put *permanently* in the photo’s description.  The winner will also receive a small Blues themed gift.  In future weeks, the prize will be listed with the photo, but we’re not quite prepared for this inaugural post.

 Contest Dates: Sunday February 5th 10:00 am (CST) through Wednesday February 8th 5:00 pm (CST)

CONTEST RULES: Comment on the contest post to enter (Facebook comments and Twitter replies will not be entered into the contest).  Give us your best caption; it can be as short or long as you would like.  You can include as many lines as you want pertaining to as many aspects of the photo that you would like.  Keep your captions clean! Major profanity (ie “the F bomb”) will not be accepted in this contest.  Any comments that do not follow our guidelines will be deleted.

Prize: TBD (~$5 value Blues item)

Photo:  Give us your best caption for this shot from the Blues vs Kings game on February 3rd!

Steve Ott has an ‘A’ on his sweater, and I always imagine it stands for “A**hole”. Image via ladybugbkt/Flickr

The St. Louis Blues can win a game in the shootout? Holy crap! And so it was done on Saturday, as the Blues played the Minnesota Wild to a 2-2 tie in regulation and a scoreless five-minute overtime period, and took the victory in a shootout, most undoubtedly the single dumbest way I can think of ending a hockey contest (JUST END IT IN A TIE). The great news, aside from the win, in this one is that there were three (!) fights in this game. For starters, David Backes earned 19 minutes of penalties in sticking up for David Perron on what turned out to be a clean hit, “fighting” Justin Falk to a draw (video here, and this situation is exactly why the Instigator Rule is a load of crap). Then, rather inexplicably, Clayton Stoner went at it with Chris Stewart, with Stewart taking the win (video here). Finally, in what has to be the Blues’ fight of the year so far, Ryan Reaves and Brad Staubitz squared off in what I thought was a pretty excellent fight, a fight that displayed all the reasons why fighting should never be taken out of the game (A BIT OF NSFW LANGUAGE IN THIS LINK). Somehow, a decision was rendered in this fight, and it was given to Reaves (video here, and if you don’t like what you see, I’m sorry . . . but you are not a fan of hockey fights).With these three fights to add to the total, the Blues ratchet up to a tie for 11th place in the National Hockey League with the Buffalo Sabres, Calgary Flames and Pittsburgh Penguins, who each have collected 20 fighting majors on the season. The fight record, with the two wins and the draw added, now goes up to 9-2-9.

We now welcome to town former Norris Division mate and possible future division or conference mate, the Dallas Stars. You might recall that the Stars did pay a visit recently. The Blues and Stars have played one in Dallas (October 13th) and one in St. Louis (December 26th) this season. As you can see by the date, the St. Louis meeting was very recent, and some foul happenings took place in that game. It was also a close contest that was won by the Blues, one of very few the Blues seem to have won over the Stars recently. Is it an indicator of what is to come tonight? Probably not, as momentum is usually only as good as your next game. The Stars have fought 18 times this season, currently good for a tie for 16th in the NHL with the Colorado Avalanche and the Florida Panthers. The Stars’ fight record is not bad – a solid 5-4-9.

The Stars are led in fights by former Blackhawk Jake Dowell (6’0”, 198lbs, 1-2-2) with five fights. Following him is well-known pest and one of my least-favorite players ever, Steve Ott (6’0”, 190lbs, 1-0-3, including a “victory” over Barret Jackman), who has fought four times this season. Then, there’s Krys Barch (6’1”, 237lbs, 1-1-1 as a Star and 2-3-3 overall, traded to the Panthers on December 7th) with three fights as a Star. Team Captain Brenden Morrow (6’0”, 205lbs, 1-0-1) has fought twice. Among solo fighters for the Stars are future superstar Jamie Benn (6’2”, 205lbs, Win), veteran defenseman Sheldon Souray (6’4”, 237lbs, Draw with Stewart), hulking defenseman Mark Fistric (6’2”, 233lbs, Draw) and a son of former Islanders royalty, Eric Nystrom (6’1”, 193lbs, Loss).

These two teams have a recent past of brawling each other, and with the kind of fight matchups that happened in the first two meetings of the two teams, I would not be shocked at anything at this point. For posturing purposes, my pick for the night will be Dowell and Reaves, but don’t bet on it . . . bet on something else (ANYTHING else).

Two home wins in a row? As long as it doesn’t go to overtime, I’m cool.

LET’S GO BLUES!!!!!

Information obtained via the incomparable Fried Chicken’s Hockey Fights