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 February 9, 2010
HEY, A RED WINGS FIGHT! WOW! Image via dailyvsvids.com
Things got a bit hairy at work today, so this is late in being posted. Oh well, it happens from time to time. Not only that, I put the wrong date down when I originally posted this. That has now been fixed.
So not only did the Blues lose the game to the Avs yesterday, but they lost both fights – one by an edge, the other pretty much by a tail-kicking. First, the matchup of heavyweights – DJ King, playing in his third game of the year, got into it with David Koci. Both threw bombs, but Koci won by a nose, bringing King’s fight record to 1-1-0 this season. The second one wasn’t really a fight . . . Chris Stewart pretty much manhandled BJ Crombeen, who was playing his first game back from a lower body injury. Individually, Crombeen is now tied for 9th in the NHL with 14 fights, and with the loss his season record falls to 6-6-2. The two fights bring the Blues to 50 fights on the year, still in 5th place and now just one behind the Tampa Bay Lightning for 4th. The two losses bring their season record to 21-16-13. Yes, they’re slippin’!
Remember how I essentially berated the Chicago Blackhawks last week for being weak as far as fighters are concerned? Well, they have ABSOLUTELY nothing on the Detroit Red Wings. It’s an embarrassment to the league that the franchise that gave us Gordie Howe is so weak on the fighting front. How weak, you ask? They are DEAD LAST in the league in number of fights this season . . . with 16. SIXTEEN! That’s less than a third of the Blues’ total for the season. PATHETIC! Even worse – when they DO go, they don’t even do it well – 4-6-6 on the season. Any opportunity to laugh at the Red Wings is a great feeling. Oh, and if you haven’t figured it out . . . the Blues and Red Wings have not fought each other this year. OF COURSE NOT! They fear us!
So how do I preview the fighters of a team that doesn’t fight? Well, I’ll list all of them as they only sport seven fighters – only four of which are expected to possibly suit up tonight. One player has scrapped in nine of the 16 fights, and he’s a familiar name to the fighting circuit – winger Brad May (6′1″, 213lbs, 4-3-2). You’ll notice that he has all 4 fight victories for the Wings this year as well. The only other Red Wing with multiple fights is defenseman Doug Janik (6′2″, 209lbs, 0-1-1), and he is currently with Grand Rapids of the AHL along with center Justin Abdelkader (6′1″, 215lbs, 0-0-1). Winger Patrick Eaves (6′0″, 191lbs, 0-0-1) is day-to-day with an ankle issue and is currently listed as “doubtful”. Others with fights this year include defensemen Derek Meech (5′11″, 200lbs, 0-1-0) and Jonathan Ericsson (6′4″, 220lbs, 0-0-1) as well as veteran winger and general pain-in-the-rear Dan Cleary (6′0″, 205lbs, 0-1-0, should be given an extra loss as he fell to Sharks’ non-fighter Devin Setoguchi . . . yikes!).
With King having played last night and the way they’ve used him since being brought back from Peoria, and with the fact that the Blues played less-than-spectacularly last night, the guess is that Cam Janssen will be reinserted into the lineup tonight. If that’s the case, Janssen and May would be an intriguing matchup. Honestly, anything involving a fight would be intriguing against this team.
The Red Wings bring rage to my eyes.
LET’S GO BLUES!!!!!
Information obtained via the incomparable Fried Chicken’s Hockey Fights
Posted in Articles | Tagged BJ Crombeen, Brad May, Chicago Blackhawks, Chris Stewart, Colorado Avalanche, Contempt Breeding Insolence, Dan Cleary, David Koci, Derek Meech, Detroit Red Wings, DJ King, Doug Janik, Gordie Howe, Jonathan Ericsson, Justin Abdelkader, Patrick Eaves, St. Louis Blues, Tampa Bay Lightning
By Tyler Atwood on February 8, 2010
For those of you that care about football (remember, I’m a football guy first) . . . hopefully you enjoyed the Super Bowl and the commercials that came along with it. Congratulations to the New Orleans Saints for a well-played Super Bowl and a victory that was earned and not handed. What a game! And as a lifelong Denver Broncos fans, all I have to say is . . . I guess the San Diego Chargers never really had a good use for Drew Brees, did they? But enough about football analysis . . . this is a hockey blog.
I had the great honor of being in attendance for Saturday’s tilt between the Blues and the Blackhawks. Despite the result, it was a great time – especially since there were TWO fights in the contest. The first one – pretty much a hug-out between SIR JAXX (Barret Jackman) and Cam Barker (I blame it on Barker . . . he seemed not ready to throw fists, but . . . oh well) – was scored a draw at Fried Chicken’s Hockey Fights, whereas the second fight between Eric Brewer and Andrew Ladd was called in favor of Ladd. The second fight, I thought, was even, but I also am biased (obviously). Jackman is now 1-0-2 on the season and Brewer is now 1-1-0. With the two fights, the Blues did not move up or down in the season standings, holding steady at 5th place with 48 fights on the season and a 21-14-13 season fight record.
The Colorado Avalanche are one of those teams with a mixture of a bit of everything – youth, locker room vets, skill players, tough guys, grinders and big boys. Much like the rest of the Northwest Division, the Avs are not allergic to fighting – they have fought a collective 43 times on the season, good for 7th place in the National Hockey League. However, they do not have a propensity to win fights – they’re 7-14-22 on the season, this despite starting the season 0-8-10. The Blues and Avs did not fight in the previous meeting between the two teams back on December 7th at home.
10 Avs have fought this season, and the leading fighters on the team are wingers Cody McLeod (6′2″, 210lbs, 2-3-8) and David Koci (6′6″, 238lbs, 1-4-5). As you can see, McLeod is big but Koci (who last season was a Blue for, like, five minutes) is much bigger. Center Matt Hendricks (6′0″, 215lbs, 1-3-2) is next on the list, but he is on IR with an ankle issue. Others with multiple fights are winger Chris Stewart (6′2″, 228lbs, 2-0-2), defenseman Ryan Wilson (6′1″, 207lbs, 0-1-2), veteran winger Darcy Tucker (5′10″, 178lbs, 0-1-1) and winger Chris Durno (6′4″, 205lbs, 0-0-2). Among these fighters are 6 of the 7 fight victories the Avs have recorded this season. They LIKE to fight, they just don’t WIN fights.
The dream matchup of the evening involves whichever between Cam Janssen and DJ King plays and either Koci or McLeod. If it’s King, I’d like to see him go at Koci. If it’s Janssen, he and McLeod match up well size-wise. I would also not be against a fight between someone like Jackman and a wily veteran like Tucker, although that’s a bit of a size mismatch.
One road game, then back home. The Blues need to make this one count against a very formidable foe on in Denver.
LET’S GO BLUES!!!!!
Information obtained via the incomparable Fried Chicken’s Hockey Fights
Posted in Articles | Tagged Andrew Ladd, Barret Jackman, Cam Barker, Cam Janssen, Chicago Blackhawks, Chris Durno, Chris Stewart, Cody McLeod, Colorado Avalanche, Darcy Tucker, David Koci, DJ King, Eric Brewer, Matt Hendricks, New Orleans Saints, Ryan Wilson, St. Louis Blues, Super Bowl