I just made Jeff throw up a little bit. Image via an incredible Maple Leafs blog, Down Goes Brown

So it is time.  Yes, it’s THAT time.  IT’S TIME FOR REAL LIVE HOCKEY!  This means the return of the Throwdown Lowdown report which, admittedly, was running in slack-off mode at the tail end of last season after getting a late start.  But the batteries are recharged and the river flows forth.  Not only that, the St. Louis Blues’ first opponent is a team not-at-all shy about throwing down the gloves.  So let’s hop right into this!

The Blues finished 5th in total fights in the NHL with 73 last year and went 29-20-23 in those fights.  They were led by Cam Janssen, who led The Note with 19 fights (11-3-5) despite a five-game suspension and a lot of DNP-Coach’s Decision nights.  Janssen was followed by BJ Crombeen with 18 fights (8-6-4), Brad Winchester with 10 (3-2-5), “Captain America” David Backes (2-2-1) and new Capital DJ King (2-2-1) with 5 each, Carlo Colaiacovo with 4 (0-1-3), Erik Johnson (0-1-2) and Barret “SIR JAXX” Jackman (1-0-2) each with 3 and “Captain Roboto” Eric Brewer (1-1-0) and new Panther Mike Weaver (0-1-1) each with 2.  Finishing with one fight each were “The Non-Italian, Non-Polish Czech” Roman Polak (Win) and the recently-retired Darryl Sydor (Loss).

The Eastern Conference Champion Philadelphia Flyers participated in a whopping 77 fights last season, second (by one) to the Anaheim Ducks.  Their W-L-D totals in those 77 fights?  26-22-29 – a fairly even record.  They were led by a familiar face – former Blues tough-guy Ian Laperriere and his 25 fights (8-4-13), despite spending parts of last season on the shelf.  Unfortunately, Laperriere will start the season on IR because of the last of those injuries, which caused Post-Concussion Syndrome.  Following Laperriere was well-known pest Daniel Carcillo with 17 fights (7-5-5), new Penguin Arron Asham with 14 (5-5-4), Scott Hartnell with 7 (3-2-2) and the recently-retired Riley Cote (0-4-0) and captain Mike Richards (0-2-2) each with 4.  Daniel Briere (Draw), Simon Gagne (Win), Claude Giroux (Win), Darroll Powe (Draw), former Blues captain Chris Pronger (Draw) and new SEL entrant Ole-Kristian Tollefsen (Win) each finished with one fight.

In the only fight between the Blues and Flyers last season – on November 7th in Philly – Cam Janssen edged out Arron Asham in a very even bout.  The video of that fight, courtesy of Fried Chicken’s Hockey Fights, can be seen here.  It should be noted that Asham and Janssen were teammates at one time in New Jersey – this reporter bets the sparring sessions were simply epic at those practices.

It would depend on whether or not both guys suit up (and the chances aren’t great that it would happen that way), but my dream matchup is between Asham and Janssen.  While there may not be roundhouses, it would be a very technical bout and would probably take a while to complete.  Another possibility?  Carcillo and Crombeen, who seem to match up almost perfectly size-wise as mid-heavyweights.  It would also be hilarious if Backes and Pronger went at it to continue Backes’ run through Gold Medalists.

You don’t need any more pumping up, do you?  It’s OPENING NIGHT!  GET JACKED!  GET SERIOUS!  GET READY FOR HOCKEY!

LET’S GO BLUES!!!!!

Information obtained via the incomparable Fried Chicken’s Hockey Fights

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