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By Tyler Atwood on March 6, 2010
"Hey dude, wanna have a beer after the game?" Image via UPI (but you probably won't be seeing David Koci tonight)
The Blues aren’t just beating people on the scoreboard, they’re punching people too. There were two fights on Thursday between the Blues and Dallas Stars – one featuring expected contestants and one featuring not-so-expected contestants. First, we had the long-awaited rematch between DJ King and Krys Barch. King broke his hand on Barch’s helmet in their last fight back in November (a fight that King won). King won the rematch handily. Next, it was the second fight of Erik Johnson’s career. He squared off against Jamie Benn, who was in the first fight in a regular season NHL game in his career. Johnson controlled Benn early but Benn charged late and won the battle. Despite the two fights, the Blues sunk back into 5th place in the league with 56 fights on the season and now sport a fight record of 23-18-15 in ‘09-’10.
Now the Blues are in Denver to face the Colorado Avalanche. Four weeks ago, the Blues squared off in Denver, and the Throwdown Lowdown was on the case. Since then, not including the two fights in their previous matchup with the Blues, the Avs have only fought twice. They have no problems throwing down the gloves when they feel the need to, as evidenced by their 9th place standing with 47 fights. Their fight record on the season is an underwhelming 9-14-24; however, two of those wins were against the Blues. Both came in Denver on February 28th; David Koci edged King (and in a bit of irony, Koci injured his hand in the process) and Chris Stewart took down BJ Crombeen.
The only changes from the previous meeting are in the records of multiple fighters for the Avs: Koci is now 2-4-5, Stewart is now 3-0-2, Cody McLeod is now 2-3-9 and Matt Hendricks is now 1-3-3. Otherwise, the information from the previous report is still accurate, except that Koci is on injured reserve
Despite Koci’s absence, I anticipate multiple fights in this game. The Avs have played in three games since the Olympic Break (including one with mutual bitter rival, the Detroit Red Wings), but their only fight was on Wednesday with the Anaheim Ducks. The Blues bring physicality, which seems to bring out the best in the big, tough Avs. Assuming King suits up, look for him to fight someone like Stewart amidst the absence of Koci. Also don’t be surprised if McLeod goes at it with someone like Crombeen or Brad Winchester.
The Blues haven’t lost since losing to Colorado, in Denver, back on February 8th. Can the Blues avenge that loss, take down this almost-certain playoff club and continue this hot streak? I SAY YES!
LET’S GO BLUES!!!!!
Information obtained via the incomparable Fried Chicken’s Hockey Fights
Posted in Articles | Tagged BJ Crombeen, Brad Winchester, Chris Stewart, Cody McLeod, Colorado Avalanche, Dallas Stars, David Koci, DJ King, Erik Johnson, Jamie Benn, Krys Barch, Matt Hendricks, St. Louis Blues
By Tyler Atwood on March 4, 2010
Krys Barch likes to punch people. Image via hockeyfights.50webs.com
A glorious two points earned by the Blues in the desert brings our squad back toward the pack fighting for the 8th spot in the playoffs. Unfortunately, no official fights occurred (the scrum at the end of the 2nd period notwithstanding), so the Blues drop to 5th place while remaining at 54 fights on the season. The season fight record stands at 22-17-15.
The Dallas Stars – former Norris Divison rivals, don’tchaknow – sometimes have problems dropping the gloves. But I won’t hold it against them . . . they’re mediocre at best when it comes to WINNING fights. The Stars have registered 35 fights on the season – good for a tie for 16th in the league with the Florida Panthers. Their fight record on the season is 11-12-12. The Blues have fought with the Stars four times thus far this season, and the Note is 4-0-0, according to the good folks at Fried Chicken’s Hockey Fights. On October 24th in St. Louis, DJ King defeated Krys Barch in a battle that cost King some time with a broken finger . . . also, Brad Winchester defeated Brian Sutherby and BJ Crombeen dispatched of Steve Ott after a questionable hit. In the November 25th game in Dallas, our own Captain Roboto, Eric Brewer, beat the living crap out of Ott in a performance that may have solidified Brewer’s captaincy for the rest of this season.
Winger Barch (6′2″, 220lbs, 3-8-4) is the lead goon on this Dallas squad – and with his size and fighting ability, it’s not hard to see WHY he’s their enforcer. Other multiple fighters for the Stars include center and general league pest Ott (6′0″, 193lbs, 4-2-2, day-to-day with an appendectomy and yes, both losses to the Blues), winger Sutherby (6′3″, 209lbs, 2-1-1, day-to-day with a shoulder issue) and defenseman Mark Fistric (6′2″, 232lbs, 1-0-2). On the season, nine Stars have fought this season, including old friend and defenseman Jeff Woywitka (6′2″, 217lbs, 0-1-0).
It’s Cam Janssen’s 2nd suspension game of five, but with the addition of Matt D’Agostini and the subsequent send-out of Derek Armstrong, it’s still no guarantee that King will get playing time on this squad. If King suits up, look for him and Barch to set a rematch. Otherwise, Crombeen or Winchester may be your best bet to fight Barch . . . but I don’t like their chances against him.
Can the Blues continue their Olympic-extended hot streak? Lord I hope so.
LET’S GO BLUES!!!!!
Information obtained via the incomparable Fried Chicken’s Hockey Fights
Posted in Articles | Tagged BJ Crombeen, Brad Winchester, Brian Sutherby, Cam Janssen, Dallas Stars, Derek Armstrong, DJ King, Eric Brewer, Florida Panthers, Jeff Woywitka, Krys Barch, Mark Fistric, Phoenix Coyotes, St. Louis Blues, Steve Ott
By Tyler Atwood on March 2, 2010
Obviously Matt Greene whizzed in Paul Bissonnette's Cheerios that morning. Image via mlive.com
Well . . . welcome back. It was a long, exhausting Winter Olympic break, but we’ve all finally made it through the horror that is the NHL break. Congratulations to David Backes and Erik Johnson in doing your mightiest to help the United States defend Her honor in Vancouver and for helping give us a hell of a show on Sunday. Sure, silver is disappointing to you guys, but thrilling to most of us. Also, big props to Roman Polak, who played well despite his Czech Republic team falling short of the medal round.
The end of the Olympic break means two things: 1) St. Louis Blues hockey is back, and 2) THE THROWDOWN LOWDOWN IS BACK! YYYYYYYYYES! So let’s get to it.
The final game before the break was an upset of shocking proportions over the Washington Capitals that included suspension-actionable activity followed by a tail-whipping of a fight. Cam Janssen – brainiac he is never known to be – pummeled Matt Bradley to the ice a full three seconds after Bradley released a pass toward the net. To Janssen’s credit, Bradley DID stand there and admire it for a while. That doesn’t excuse what he did; however, five games may have been a bit much for a suspension. Anyway, the questionable hit was followed by an absolute hammering by Janssen over Quintin Laing, who was in trying to defend his teammate. Admirable, but futile. Janssen is now 9-3-3 in fights this season and gets to sit next to Larry Pleau and Company for a short while. The Blues move into a tie with the Philadelphia Flyers for 4th in the league with 54 fights and a record of 22-17-15.
The Phoenix Coyotes have been quite the story in the 2009-10 season. Mired in bankruptcy hell in the offseason and nearly sold (and moved to Hamilton) to the Blackberry Blabbermouth, the club let go of Wayne Gretzky after his ownership responsibilities were properly relieved and picked up a solid coach in Dave Tippett. They’ve been on an absolute steamroll since. The only problem is that they’re not much of a fighting team – only posting 27 fights this season (spread amongst seven fighters), which is good for a tie for 23rd in the league with the lowly Carolina Hurricanes. Not good to be in the same position as THEM this year. In two games against each other, there has not been any fighting.
The conversation about the team’s enforcer role starts and ends with winger Paul Bissonnette (6′2″, 211lbs, 7-4-7). Count ‘em up . . . he’s been involved in 18 of the Coyotes’ 27 fights this season. That is a staggering percentage (for those of you scoring at home – it’s 67%). The other six fighters for the ‘Yotes this year are centers Martin Hanzal (6′5″, 218lbs, 0-1-2) and Vernon Fiddler (5′11″, 201lbs, 1-0-1), defensemen James Vandermeer (6′1″, 211lbs, 1-0-0) and Keith Yandle (6′2″, 195lbs, 0-1-0), winger Petr Prucha (6′0″, 175lbs, 0-1-0, day-to-day because of this obscenely illegal hit by James Neal) and winger/captain/face-of-the-franchise Shane Doan (6′2″, 224lbs, 0-0-1).
Since Janssen can’t be part of the dream matchup for the next five games, we’ll have to pick another. Well, why not DJ King and Bissonnette? Sure, let’s dream that one. If team stars going toe-to-toe is more your thing, why not Backes and Doan? Doan was eligible for Team Canada, after all. Fact is, though, that Backes may be a bit banged up from playing his cojones off in Vancouver. An even size matchup may be Hanzal against Brad Winchester. The possibilities are endless, but to predict a fight against a team that doesn’t fight is sometimes futile.
It’s Game 1 back from the Winter Olympics bizarro world, and it’s time for the playoff push. GET IT DONE, BOYS!
LET’S GO BLUES!!!!!
Information obtained via the incomparable Fried Chicken’s Hockey Fights
Posted in Articles | Tagged Brad Winchester, Cam Janssen, Carolina Hurricanes, Dave Tippett, David Backes, DJ King, Erik Johnson, James Vandermeer, Keith Yandle, Larry Pleau, Martin Hanzal, Matt Bradley, Paul Bissonnette, Petr Prucha, Philadelphia FLyers, Phoenix Coyotes, Quintin Laing, Roman Polak, Shane Doan, St. Louis Blues, Vernon Fiddler, Washington Capitals, Wayne Gretzky
By Tyler Atwood on February 13, 2010
This honestly scares the crap out of me. Image via Japer's Rink on SB Nation
Colton Orr and Cam Janssen got into one non-fight and one fight last night in the Blues’ tilt with the Toronto Maple Leafs. The non-fight was a draw and won’t even count toward the totals and the main event was not graded as of “press time”. So I’ll grade it myself – Orr won, hands down. This brings Janssen’s season record to 8-3-3 (after starting 6-0-1, Cam has slipped up a bit!). Since I’m not counting the non-fight, that brings the Blues’ fight total to 52 on the season, still good for 5th place in the NHL. Their fight record slips to 21-17-14.
Within the last week, I’ve picked on divisional opponents and their lack of fighting acumen. I did this only because they are fellow division opponents, and I should be allowed to bust their chops. Plus, when they play us, their physicality tends to trend upward. But with inter-conference opponents, I tend to let things slide. The fact is, anyway, that the Washington Capitals do not HAVE to fight much, because they have several big boys that seem to be able to take care of themselves, plus a few “goonish” players that play well enough away from the scrums to get away with getting important ice time. This leads to a season fight total of only 19, which is “good” for 28th in the league. Their record is less impressive than their fight totals – 5-10-4. This spread is among eight contestants . . . one of which was recently traded to the Columbus Blue Jackets (winger Chris Clark: 6′0″, 196lbs, 0-2-1 with the Caps and overall), another that was acquired in the same trade (winger Jason Chimera: 6′2″, 216lbs, 1-1-0 with the Caps and 1-2-0 overall, day-to-day with a groin issue) and yet one more sent back down to the AHL’s Hershey Bears (winger Alexandre Giroux: 6′3″, 202lbs, 0-1-0).
This leaves us with five Caps who have fought this season, and among them there are two that stick out like sore thumbs: big winger Matt Bradley (6′3″, 201lbs, 2-3-1) and big defenseman John Erskine (6′4″, 220lbs, 2-1-1). Bradley, of course, is the guy who “saved” Alexander Ovechkin from having to fight Steve Downie a few weeks back (I believe Ovechkin would’ve destroyed Downie, but I seem to be in the minority in that assessment – understandable since Downie is a brawler). Neither Bradley nor Erskine are afraid to drop the gloves . . . it just doesn’t happen too often. The other three Caps fighters for the season are center Dave Steckel (6′5″, 217lbs, 0-1-0), defenseman and mispronunciation nightmare Shaone Morrisonn (6′4″, 217lbs, 0-1-0, sat out last game due to illness) and veteran winger Mike Knuble (6′3″, 230lbs, 0-0-1).
If I had my druthers, I’d like to see Bradley square off with Brad Winchester. Winchester has the reach and size advantage, but there’s something (and it may be the above picture) that scares me about Bradley. Honestly, there shouldn’t be a fight in this game, but if there is one, that would be a fun fight to be sure. David Backes could square off against Bradley and I wouldn’t mind it either, except the 5-for-5 trade-off hurts the Blues more than it hurts the Caps if that happens. Since Janssen played last night, it’s likely DJ King’s turn to play, and he would match up well with either Bradley or Erskine, but again . . . fisticuffs aren’t likely in this one.
The Throwdown Lowdown takes a two-week hiatus for the Olympic break, because unfortunately they don’t allow fighting at that level of play. It would be cool to pull off a shocker to begin the break, wouldn’t it?
LET’S GO BLUES!!!!!
Information obtained via the incomparable Fried Chicken’s Hockey Fights
P.S.: I DO intend to find something to write about during the Olympics, but as of yet it is unknown what that will be. – TCA
Posted in Articles | Tagged Alexander Ovechkin, Alexandre Giroux, Brad Winchester, Chris Clark, Columbus Blue Jackets, Dave Steckel, David Backes, Jason Chimera, John Erskine, Matt Bradley, Mike Knuble, Olympics, Shaone Morrisonn, St. Louis Blues, Steve Downie, Toronto Maple Leafs, Washington Capitals
By Tyler Atwood on February 12, 2010
Colton Orr is often seen doing this. Image via thetelegram.com
The Detroit Red Wings DID relent and fight in their game against the Blues on Tuesday. Yes, it was the shards of Brad May’s career that fought our own Brad Winchester. It was scored a draw, and rightfully so as no one really landed anything solid. The fight pushes Winchester Cathedral up to 3-1-4 on the season. That is now 51 total fights by Blues players this season, still 5th in the league. Their fight record is now 21-16-14 on the season.
The Toronto Maple Leafs are one of the most violent teams in the Eastern Conference. GM Brian Burke has worked to assemble his squad with players that largely assume his own persona – grit, toughness and strength, namely. He had success with this in Anaheim and he may well gain success with this type of maneuvering in Toronto, but as of yet it has not resulted in a lot of victories. No less, you can pretty much peg the Leafs for at least one, if not several, fights per game. They are 9th in the NHL with 44 fights on the season and they sport a solid-if-not-spectacular 16-16-12 fight record according to the good folks at Fried Chicken’s Hockey Fights. 13 Leafs have fought this season, but only eight of those players are currently with the club.
You see the visage of winger Colton Orr (6′3″, 222lbs, 4-4-7) and you see what I’m talking about with Burke and the type of player he likes. Orr was signed basically to fill the same role as Dave Semenko did for many years with the Edmonton Oilers dynasty of the mid to late 1980’s – keep opponents away from his team’s stars (Gretzky, Messier, Kurri, Fuhr, Coffey, etc.) by blasting the other team’s goons out of the way. In that, Orr leads the team in fights. The man who was second, winger and my former Favorite Current Blue Jamal Mayers (6′1″, 214lbs, 5-1-2 with the Leafs and 6-2-3 overall), was recently traded to the Calgary Flames as part of a monster trade you may have heard about. Defenseman Jay Rosehill (6′3″, 195lbs, 3-2-0) is third, but he is currently with the Toronto Marlies of the AHL. Other Leafs with multiple fights include injured Team USA defenseman Mike Komisarek (6′4″, 243lbs, 0-1-1, done for the season with a shoulder issue) and defensemen Garnet Exelby (6′1″, 215lbs, 1-2-0), Leafs blog favorite Luke Schenn (6′2″, 216lbs, 0-3-0) and Leafs blog least-favorite Jeff Finger (6′1″, 205lbs, 0-2-0). Also, recently-acquired defenseman Dion Phaneuf (6′3″, 214lbs, 1-0-0) fought twice while still with Calgary. He is 1-0-2 overall.
Orr will go with just about anyone. The trend lately has been for coach Davis (Earl of) Payne to only play one of either DJ King or Cam Janssen. Expect Orr to fight with whichever one of those two Payne decides to suit up. I would also not be opposed to Winchester getting involved with Orr or any secondary Leafs fighters that may play. I say this only because other than Phaneuf, the other secondary fighters have been consistently shuffled in-and-out of the Leafs lineup as of late.
Two more games until the Olympic break, and this one appears to be the more winnable of the two. Go get two tonight, boys.
LET’S GO BLUES!!!!!
Information obtained via the incomparable Fried Chicken’s Hockey Fights
Posted in Articles | Tagged Brad May, Brad Winchester, Brian Burke, Calgary Flames, Cam Janssen, Colton Orr, Dave Semenko, Detroit Red Wings, Dion Phaneuf, DJ King, Edmonton Oilers, Garnet Exelby, Jamal Mayers, Jay Rosehill, Jeff Finger, Luke Schenn, Mike Komisarek, odd nicknames, Olympics, St. Louis Blues, Toronto Maple Leafs
By Tyler Atwood on February 6, 2010
Eager: "BUT HE PUNCHED ME!" Ref: "Yeah, he was supposed to." Image via Red Light District, a Blackhawks blog on ChicagoNow.com
As most Sharks-Blues games are, Thursday’s match was a violent affair. However, apart from rabbit-punches and other general pugilistic activities, there were no fights to report. So the Blues stand at 5th in the NHL with 46 fights and that 21-13-12 fight record they’ve held on to since last Saturday.
This will be an abbreviated report, as we previewed the Chicago Blackhawks’ lack of fighting tendencies this past Wednesday. Nothing has changed, so instead of rehashing everything I said then, we’ll just link to it here. It contains all the possible fighters, all the stats, and everything else. This is not to say that the Blackhawks lack physicality . . . I’m just saying that they don’t like to fight. Sure, it makes my job easier . . . but this isn’t SUPPOSED to be this easy!
DJ King got his first action of the season on Thursday night and was well enough involved that he may get a repeat performance Saturday. If that’s the case, expect him to point out a certain gentleman named Ben Eager and try to scrap with him. If King isn’t in, Cam Janssen may be slotted back into the lineup and would do pretty much the same thing. However, Eager doesn’t like to go with primary fighters . . . he usually battles with secondary fighters such as Brad Winchester or BJ Crombeen. And this is irritating. STEP ON UP, BEN! Just as long as no one goes after Dustin Byfuglien, all is well. That dude scares me. And is it sad that I didn’t have to look up his name to spell it correctly? That’s HOW MUCH he scares me.
The Note have a tendency to lose whenever I show up to watch them at the home barn. For the sake of the team’s playoff push, let’s hope this “tradition” does not continue.
LET’S GO BLUES!!!!!
Information obtained via the incomparable Fried Chicken’s Hockey Fights
Posted in Articles | Tagged Ben Eager, BJ Crombeen, Brad Winchester, Cam Janssen, Chicago Blackhawks, DJ King, Dustin Byfuglien, I hate reruns, San Jose Sharks, St. Louis Blues
By Tyler Atwood on February 3, 2010
Here, David Backes shows how to make Jonathan Toews vomit in the penalty box. Twice. Image via stlouisgametime.com on SB Nation
There was only one scrap on Saturday night with the Blue Jackets, and maybe there should have been more. Jared Boll took on Brad Winchester after Boll made a questionable hit on Jay McClement. You’d think he’d be smart enough not to pick on the grinder line’s center, especially when said center-on-the-grinder-line is an alternate captain, but Jared seems to be – as noted before – “Strong like Boll, smart like tractor”. The match was considered a draw since no one really won the fight but both contestants got some good shots in. Winchester’s season fight record moves to 3-1-3. The Note hangs on to 5th spot in the league with 46 fights. Their season fight record is a robust 21-13-12.
Leave it to people like me to make fun of the Chicago Blackhawks. While many Blues fans have turned most of their hatred to another old Norris Division rival – the Detroit Red Wings – I have stuck with my extreme disdain for the Blackhawks. Most of it has to do with proximity, but a lot of it has to do with Mike Keenan, among other factors. So the Blackhawks can have their precious “2nd place in the conference” record, while I point and laugh at their puny 22 fights on the season. That’s good for a 24th place tie with the New York Islanders, who have maybe a half a fighter on their team. This from a former Norris Division rival. PATHETIC, I say! Amazing even yet, 5 of the 22 fights were in one game – their January 2nd matchup with the Blues in St. Louis. The Blackhawks somehow were 2-2-1 in those fights – Ben Eager defeated BJ Crombeen, Cam Barker defeated Mike Weaver (after Weaver destroyed Patrick Sharp at the red line), David Backes not only defeated Jonathan Toews but later made him vomit in the penalty box (this fight was the start of the “Inglorious Backes” movement that led to the t-shirt referenced in Jeff’s most recent Monday Musings filing), Carlo Colaiacovo worked a draw with Colin Fraser and Barret Jackman (whom I’ve taken to calling “SIR JAXX” lately, apropos of nothing) took down Eager. The Blackhawks’ season fight record is a very even 7-8-7.
What’s equally strange about the Blackhawks is the fact that 12 different players have contested their 22 fights on the season. This type of spread usually happens when a team has no true enforcer. Only three Blackhawks have thrown the gloves down more than once – center Fraser (6′1″, 190lbs, 0-2-4), winger Eager (6′2″, 230lbs, 3-2-0) and winger Troy Brouwer (6′2″, 214lbs, 1-1-0). The Blackhawks do possess one able-bodied enforcer in winger Dustin Byfuglien (6′4″, 257lbs, 1-0-0), but no one wants to mess with him . . . and at that size, do you BLAME them? Yeesh! Of the 12 fighers, one has been waived and two are currently with Chicago’s AHL affiliate in Rockford (Home of Cheap Trick, the greatest rock band ever to come out of Rockford!).
For whatever reason (probably because he’s a pest with no will to fight real fighters), Eager has rubbed me the wrong way throughout his career. Therefore, it would be nice (not to mention poetic justice) if either Cam Janssen or the recently-recalled DJ King not only were to play tonight, but were to throw fists into his face. (If you believe Dan O’Neill’s report from yesterday, they may both be on the same line with McClement) And if ANY Blue were to challenge Byfuglien (which I don’t suggest), let it be Winchester . . . yes, he gives about 30 pounds to him, but at least the reach advantage is equalized.
I need nothing to get me jacked up for this game. I may have friends that root for the Blackhawks, but I don’t like their team one bit.
LET’S GO BLUES!!!!!
Information obtained via the incomparable Fried Chicken’s Hockey Fights
Posted in Articles | Tagged Barret Jackman, Ben Eager, BJ Crombeen, Brad Winchester, Cam Barker, Cam Janssen, Carlo Colaiacovo, Chicago Blackhawks, Colin Fraser, Columbus Blue Jackets, David Backes, Detroit Red Wings, DJ King, Dustin Byfuglien, extreme lack of fighting, Jared Boll, Jay McClement, Jonathan Toews, Mike Keenan, Mike Weaver, music references, New York Islanders, Norris Division, Patrick Sharp, silly nicknames, St. Louis Blues, Troy Brouwer
By Tyler Atwood on January 30, 2010
Just had to. Just HAD to. Image via Red Wings blog (ugh), fightnightatthejoe.blogspot.com
The Blues have gone two straight games without playing Cam Janssen . . . and thus, two straight games without a good ol’ scrap. While this is great for Gary Bettman and his friends in New York, it tends to put people like me in a sedated trance without the proper innoculation. In layman’s terms . . . DO NOT WANT! The Blues remain strong at the 5th position with 45 fights and a 21-13-11 season fight record.
The good thing about divisional opponents is that we play them a lot. Thus, they get written about a lot and bloggers like me don’t have to repeat ourselves too much. The Columbus Blue Jackets have been reported about twice already: here and here. In both, it was well marked that the Jackets are not very good at fighting this season for whatever reason. They come into this contest tied with the New York Rangers for 11th in the NHL with 35 fights on the season and 7-15-13 on the season. All four fights between the Blues and Jackets came in the Blues home win back on January 12th. The Jackets are 1-1-2 since January 18th, the last matchup between the Blues and Jackets. The win came from the fists of . . . Rick Nash. AGAIN! He’s obviously taking his captaincy to heart. Or he’s training for his next fight with David Backes.
We’ve mentioned violent winger Jared Boll (6′2″, 210lbs, 4-6-6) on several occasions for these reports. It’s not that he’s an easy target . . . it’s just that he really likes to fight. And there’s nothing wrong with that. Others to look forward to are multi-talented captain winger Nash (6′4″, 218lbs, 2-0-0) and veteran defenseman Mike Commodore (6′5″, 228lbs, 0-0-2, should REALLY wear #64). Those are the only multiple fighters who have not been traded away, waived, sent to the IR or sent to Syracuse. Ken Hitchcock must have missed that memo about the Western Conference being a bit more rugged.
The dream matchup of the evening will likely be Boll against someone like Brad Winchester or BJ Crombeen, as with Janssen out the last two games, there’s no expectation that he would play. I will jinx it by saying this . . . I do not anticipate a fight in this game.
The home team has held serve in the Blues-Blue Jackets season series thus far. Let’s hope that continues tonight, and maybe the Blues will play like January 12th (violent) instead of like January 18th (largely passive).
LET’S GO BLUES!!!!!
Information obtained via the incomparable Fried Chicken’s Hockey Fights
Posted in Articles | Tagged BJ Crombeen, Brad Winchester, Cam Janssen, Columbus Blue Jackets, Jared Boll, Ken Hitchcock, Mike Commodore, New York Rangers, Rick Nash, St. Louis Blues
By Tyler Atwood on January 28, 2010
Zack Stortini shows little fear. Image via the now-defunct copperbluedreams.blogspot.com
There were no fights last night between the Canucks and Blues (at least nothing worth grading, anyway), although I nearly jumped through the television screen to have a few words with the officiating crew after that supposed slashing call in the 3rd period that led to the power play goal that ended up deciding the game. Sometimes we, as fans, exaggerate the role of officiating in whether our teams win and lose games, but for crying out loud, the backside official HAS to choke on the whistle there . . . right? Moving along . . . the Blues hang onto 5th spot in the league with 45 fights and hang tight to their 21-13-11 season fight record.
The Edmonton Oilers are currently duking it out with the Carolina Hurricanes for the right to draft Taylor Hall. You would expect a team this bad to be in the top 10 as far as fight totals . . . and you would be correct! They’re 12-12-16 in 40 bouts this season, good for 8th in the National Hockey League. Four of their bouts have come against the Blues, and they’re 2-1-1 against us on the season. On December 11th at the Kiel (Never gonna call it anything else) Center, Jean-Francois Jacques worked a draw with BJ Crombeen. On December 21st at Rexall Place, Zack Stortini defeated Crombeen, Brad Winchester took down Jacques and Ethan Moreau defeated Darryl Sydor.
The leading fighter for the Oilers is winger Stortini (6′3″, 228lbs, 4-2-6). The best description for him is David Backes without the skill . . . he’s about the same size, anyway. Other multiple fighters for the Oilers are winger Jacques (6′4″, 217lbs, 1-2-4), winger Ryan Stone (6′2″, 207, 1-1-2, out with a knee injury), defenseman Jason Strudwick (6′3″, 225lbs, 2-2-0), defenseman and former Blues prospect Steve Staios (6′1″, 200lbs, 0-1-2), defenseman Ladislav Smid (6′3″, 226lbs, 1-0-1, out with a concussion), winger Moreau (6′2″, 220lbs, 1-1-0) and defenseman Sheldon Souray (6′4″, 227lbs, 1-0-1). As you can see, there are a lot of contestants to choose from here . . . a total of 12 Oilers have fought this year; however, one of them (Steve MacIntyre) is now with the AHL affiliate of the Florida Panthers after being waived.
Personally, I would love to see Crombeen have another go at either Stortini or Jacques. One wonders if Backes will play again tonight given that he returned from injury last night (although he looked just fine to me), but if he’s absent, Cam Janssen may play, and he would not back down from any of these guys. Olympic watch? No one for Team Canada, but Denis Grebeshkov is on Team Russia and Lubomir Visnovsky is on Team Slovakia. Alas, neither has fought this season. So if Backes plays and fights, it probably will not be against an Olympian . . . this Western Canada swing wasn’t exactly great for his chances to take down Olympic opponents apart from game one.
This is not a must-win, but it would be hard to stomach the end of a Western Canada swing without a victory over the worst team in the Western Conference. Go out and get it, boys.
LET’S GO BLUES!!!!!
Information obtained via the incomparable Fried Chicken’s Hockey Fights
Posted in Articles | Tagged BJ Crombeen, Brad Winchester, Cam Janssen, Carolina Hurricanes, Darryl Sydor, David Backes, Denis Grebeshkov, Edmonton Oilers, Ethan Moreau, Florida Panthers, Jason Strudwick, Jean-Francois Jacques, Ladislav Smid, Lubomir Visnovsky, Ryan Stone, Sheldon Souray, St. Louis Blues, Steve MacIntyre, Steve Staios, Taylor Hall, Vancouver Canucks, Zack Stortini
By Tyler Atwood on January 27, 2010
Chris Thorburn is all like, "STAY HERE, TANNER!" Image via treehugger.com (of ALL places!)
As expected, the fists flew in Stampede City on Monday night. As anticipated, one of the fights was between Cam Janssen and Brandon Prust. And as we all know he can, Janssen took down Prust, with an impressive finish to boot. Unfortunately, Janssen got involved with Brian McGrattan earlier in a matchup that proved to be a bit much for Cam. So with the 1-1-0 record on the evening, Janssen moves to 8-3-2 on the season. The Blues as a team are now 21-13-11 and hold tight at the 5th spot for number of fights on the season with 45 – only one behind the Tampa Bay Lightning.
So now it’s our “good pals” from Canada’s beautiful Pacific Southwest, the Vancouver Canucks. There have been three games between the two already this season – two at home, one at their place – and all 5 fights that took place were in St. Louis. There were four fights on November 10th – Kevin Bieksa and BJ Crombeen traded victories and Janssen worked a draw with Darcy Hordichuk before defeating Tanner Glass later. In the New Year’s Eve game, Rick Rypien defeated Janssen amid controversy over tape on his hand, which he received a game misconduct for. So Vancouver is 2-2-1 against the Blues this season in fights and they’re 14-9-18 in 41 scraps this season – the 41 fights represents 7th place in the NHL in ‘09-’10.
As most of us know, Vancouver has several players willing to drop the gloves. I count 9 different Canucks with fights – 6 of which have shed the gloves multiple times on the season. The leader of the pack is center Rypien (5′11″, 170lbs, 4-2-5). We are not guaranteed that Rypien will fight in this game, as he just returned on Monday from a bout with food poisoning. We’re also not likely to see defenseman and “old friend”, Bieksa (6′0″, 205lbs, 3-1-1). He is on injured reserve with a leg laceration. Another defenseman who may be out is Willie Mitchell (6′3″, 210lbs, 0-0-2) – he’s day-to-day with a concussion. This leaves us with three other Canucks players involved in multiple fights – wingers Glass (6′0″, 200lbs, 4-2-4) and Hordichuk (6′1″, 215lbs, 3-2-4) and center Ryan Kesler (6′2″, 205lbs, 0-2-0 and fresh off getting destroyed by Andrew Ladd of the Chicago Blackhawks).
There’s still bad blood between these two teams stemming from last year’s playoff series, so you can expect pretty much anything as far as pugilistic activities in this game. But your best bets begin and end with any combination of Janssen, Crombeen or Brad Winchester (who has a lot to prove after his fight on Saturday) against Glass, Hordichuk or Rypien. Maybe we’ll get lucky and David Backes will return to take on a member of someone’s Olympic squad. Since we can eliminate Team Canada goaltender Roberto Luongo, we’ll go to other participating nations: Kesler is a Team USA teammate, Henrik and Daniel Sedin are on Team Sweden, old friend Pavol Demitra is on Team Slovakia and Sami Salo is on Team Finland but is currently day-to-day with a groin issue. The options for Backes are admittedly light here, so if he’s looking for a fight, he may want to sit out one more game. Oh, who am I kidding?! BRING HIM BACK!!!!!
Two in a row in Western Canada? Why, that sure would be swell, wouldn’t it?
LET’S GO BLUES!!!!!
Information obtained via the incomparable Fried Chicken’s Hockey Fights
Posted in Articles | Tagged Andrew Ladd, BJ Crombeen, Brad Winchester, Brandon Prust, Brian McGrattan, Calgary Flames, Cam Janssen, Chicago Blackhawks, Daniel Sedin, Darcy Hordichuk, David Backes, Henrik Sedin, Kevin Bieksa, Pavol Demitra, Rick Rypien, Roberto Luongo, Ryan Kesler, Sami Salo, St. Louis Blues, Tampa Bay Lightning, Tanner Glass, Vancouver Canucks, Willie Mitchell