Newfoundland native Ryane Clowe is not afraid of a fist battle. Image via Zimbio

Well, that was not exactly what I liked to see. An uplifting win at home is followed by a lackluster start against the Dallas Stars, partially to blame for the 3-2 loss the St. Louis Blues took in Dallas. The one good note, though I am not sure it really IS that good, was that Chris Stewart squared off with Sheldon Souray in the contest (video evidence here). While I immediately declared Souray the winner in this bout after seeing it live, Fried Chicken’s Hockey Fights voters gave a slight edge to a draw in the vote count. Being a man of democracy order, I will go with that decision. This pushes the Blues to an early third place slotting in the National Hockey League with two fighting majors on the young 2011-2012 season. The Blues’ fight record for the season now stands at 1-0-1.

Let’s go to California, shall we? The San Jose Sharks – for a club that was considered an elite force in the NHL last season – sure fought a lot in 2010-2011. This is more a credit to their physical style of play and their position as one of the top dogs in the Western Conference more than anything else. This pugilistic bunch fought 48 times last season, good for 12^th place in the NHL. And they were incredibly good at fighting last season – 20-5-23, to be exact. Thus far in 2011-2012, the Sharks have not fought. Expect that to change tonight as the Blues roll into town.

Among players on the current Sharks top-level roster, Sharks top-six forward Ryane Clowe (6’2”, 225lbs, 7-0-5) leads the team having fought 12 times last year. Old friend Brad Winchester (6’5”, 230lbs, 2-3-5) finished last season with 10 fighting majors. Those who fought four times each included Swedish pugilist Doug Murray (6’3”, 240lbs, 3-0-1), Frazer McLaren (6’5”, 250lbs, 1-1-2) and former Oiler Jim Vandermeer (6’1”, 210lbs, 1-1-2). Newcomer Brent Burns (6’5”, 230lbs, 0-0-2) only fought twice last year. Those who fought once each last season were Jamie McGinn (6’1”, 210lbs, Win), Colin White (6’4”, 215lbs, Win), Dan Boyle (5’11”, 190lbs, Draw) and Logan Couture (6’1”, 195lbs, Loss . . . to Petro).

Again, I doubt the Sharks leave this game still having not fought once on the season. Winchester, if he plays, will likely be ready to square off against anyone on his former team. McLaren, if he plays, would be a dangerous matchup for any Blues fighter. And Scott Nichol, who played for the Sharks recently, may want to square off with his former teammates. The book is wide open.

Stop the skid at one? That would be awesome if it happened.

LET’S GO BLUES!!!!!

Information obtained via the incomparable Fried Chicken’s Hockey Fights

Anyone with the stones to wear #72 on a hockey sweater kicks ass. Image via Wikipedia

Talk about your epic turn-arounds from one day to the next.  I missed most of the Blues’ 4-0 win over the Los Angeles Kings, but learning the shot differential was +18 in favor of the Blues usually tells the story, and I’ve heard it was about that dominant.  Not only that, there were two fights in the game – one which led to a Blue knocking a King silly.  First, it was Cam Janssen against Kevin Westgarth, a fight that Westgarth won relatively easily (video here).  Then, Ryan Reaves knocked Kyle Clifford into next season with two punches (video here, and I really DO hope Clifford turns out to be OK because that looked SCARY).  So the Blues, with those two fights, move to 67 fighting majors on the season, moving into second place in the NHL.  With the win and the loss, their fight record shifts to 28-20-19.

The Blues have a history with the San Jose Sharks this season.  We’ve covered them on three occasions this season (November 4th, December 18th and January 15th).  And there was some incident involving Joe Thornton and David Perron.  The bad blood has resulted in seven fights between the two teams this season.  And it’s not like the Sharks don’t know how to fight . . . they do so a LOT.  Right now, the Sharks are tied for 12th in the NHL with the Washington Capitals and Philadelphia Flyers, each with 41 fights on the season.  And their fight record?  Well, let’s just say it’s one of the best in the league . . . 18-4-19.  Quite impressive.

Your old friend and mine, Jamal Mayers (6’1”, 214lbs 3-2-6 including a draw with Brad Winchester and an overwhelming win over Winchester) leads the team with 11 fights on the season.  A close second?  Ryane Clowe (6’2”, 225lbs, 6-0-4 including a draw with BJ Crombeen) with 10 fights.  Frazer McLaren (6’5”, 250lbs, 1-1-2, currently with Worcester of the AHL) and Scott Nichol (5’9”, 180lbs, 1-0-3 including a draw with Chris Porter, on IR with an upper body injury) each have fought four times.  Ben Eager (6’2”, 235lbs, 2-0-1 as a Shark and 3-0-3 overall, acquired from the Thrashers near the deadline) has three fights as a Shark.  Douglas Murray (6’3”, 240lbs, 2-0-0) and Brandon Mashinter (6’4”, 235lbs, 1-0-1 including a win over Reaves) each have fought twice.  The rest have fought once each: Jamie McGinn (6’1”, 200lbs, Win, currently with Worcester of the AHL), Mike Moore (6’1”, 200lbs, Win, currently with Worcester of the AHL), Devin Setoguchi (6’0”, 200lbs, Draw), Benn Ferriero (5’11”, 195lbs, Draw . . . with Ian Cole, currently with Worcester of the AHL) and Logan Couture (6’1”, 195lbs, Loss . . . to Alex Pietrangelo) each have fought once.

Odds are that there WILL be a fight, but whom?  Most of the regular participants seem to have left the building.  I would think Reaves would be good for a rematch with Mashinter.  Otherwise, Janssen is ALWAYS a good bet to throw down.  Maybe against Clowe?  We’ll see.

Two good games in a row?  That’d be nice.

LET’S GO BLUES!!!!!

Information obtained via the incomparable Fried Chicken’s Hockey Fights

I AM IRRITATED BY YOUR FACE! Image via NBC Sports

First, you get updates from the Anaheim game on Wednesday.  As mentioned, there were four fights in that game – George Parros overwhelmingly defeated Barret “SIR JAXX” Jackman, BJ Crombeen soundly defeated Maxim Lapierre, Eric Brewer and Luca Sbisa worked a draw and Matt Beleskey got a sound win over Vladimir Sobotka.  An updated fight record comes later in the report.

A very fun 3-1 Blues win over the Los Angeles Kings – mind you, the first Blues win in 2011 – was not made more fun by the fists as there were no fights in that game (although as in most Blues games, there were several near-fights that never came to fruition).  So the Blues stay at 42 fighting majors on the season, good for second in the NHL behind those Anaheim Ducks.  Their fight record – despite that less-than-stellar 1-2-1 fight performance in Anaheim – is still solid at 18-14-10.  That downward slide really concerns me . . . .  But I digress.

Who said the West Coast was all about finesse?  This may be the most rugged road trip – in sheer volume – that the Blues will face all season.  And it ends with a San Jose Sharks team that is not only ill-tempered from a bad losing streak, but has no problem shedding the gloves and throwing punches.  We’ve reported on the Sharks twice before this season (November 4th and December 18th).  There’s still some lingering bitterness from Joe Thornton’s hit on David Perron, even if the players on either side try to play it off.  And there were fights in each previous game (mostly in the second contest), so you can be sure the contestants will think about another go at it.  The Sharks have collected 31 fighting majors on the season, good for seventh in the NHL, holding a very impressive fight record of 13-3-15 in those bouts.  So it’s not all wine and cheese just north of Napa Valley.  I don’t mind this, as you should know by now.

Two-way stud and possible All-Star snub Ryane Clowe (6’2”, 225lbs, 4-0-5 including a draw with Crombeen) leads the team with nine fights on the season.  Former Blue and former hero of this reporter, Jamal Mayers (6’1”, 214lbs, 3-1-4 including a draw with Brad Winchester and a win over Winchester), has fought eight times.  Frazer McLaren (6’5”, 250lbs, 1-1-2, currently with Worcester of the AHL) and Scott Nichol (5’9”, 180lbs, 1-0-3 including a draw with Chris Porter) are drawn at four fights apiece.  All other Sharks fighters have only gone at it once each this season – Douglas Murray (6’3”, 240lbs, Win), Jamie McGinn (6’0”, 185lbs, Win), Mike Moore (6’1”, 200lbs, Win, currently with Worcester of the AHL), Devin Setoguchi (6’0”, 200lbs, Draw), youngster Brandon Mashinster (6’4”, 235lbs, Draw) and Calder candidate Logan Couture (6’1”, 195lbs, Loss – to Alex Pietrangelo, questionable with a knee injury).

I think Ryan Reaves – following his barrage of goals since his recent call-up – will throw down the gloves tonight with someone.  Clowe would be a good matchup for him, as would Mayers.  Crombeen could fight either of them.  And Winchester could fight Mayers like he did in both previous meeting.  Or, like last game, both Crombeen and Reaves could score goals.  Or Winchester could continue his recent hot scoring stretch.  You never know what might happen with this team these days.  And yes, I really do like this Reaves kid – he’s big, he’s strong, he plays hard and he fights.  And he wears an offensive lineman’s number.  KUDOS!

A two-game winning streak would be nice to come home to on Tuesday.  Let’s say you get it done, boys.

LET’S GO BLUES!!!!!

Information obtained via the incomparable Fried Chicken’s Hockey Fights

Yes, it’s true. I still love Jammer. Image via Zimbio

It appears the Blues scored a week’s worth of goals in a 6-4 win over the Los Angeles Kings on Thursday, but at least there was a fight to help calm the nerves.  Kyle Clifford – a noted young bruiser – took on Tyson Strachan – a Noted seventh defenseman (see what I did there?) – in a quick bout.  Clifford was more active and thereby was able to win the fight handily.  Video evidence of the fight is here.  The Blues are still in third place but now with 31 fighting majors on the season, possessing a record of 16-8-7.

So, the last time the San Jose Sharks were in town, this happened.  Somehow, David Perron finished that game (even scoring a goal), but he hasn’t played since.  Joe Thornton, for his part, was ejected from that game and given a two-game suspension.  It would stand to reason that the Blues haven’t forgotten about the incident, even if it really wasn’t NEARLY as dirty as it looks (but, for all intents and purposes, was not a clean hit).  The issue I’m having with the Sharks right now is this: they haven’t fought since November 24th.  At that time, the Sharks were one of the top fighting teams in the league (as in, “Top Five” top teams).  In fact, I gave them some slight praise in the lead-up report (find it here).  Now, they’re in a tie for ninth with the Calgary Flames and Dallas Stars with 23 fights.  They hold a 9-3-11 record in these fights, which isn’t terrible.

Ryane Clowe (6’2”, 225lbs, 3-0-3) and former Blue Jamal Mayers (6’1”, 214lbs, 1-1-4 including a draw with Brad Winchester) are co-leaders of this team with six fights each.  They are followed by Frazer McLaren (6’4”, 225lbs, 1-1-2, currently with Worcester of the AHL) with four and Scott Nichol (5’9”, 180lbs, 1-0-1) with two.  Solo fights have been contested by Douglas Murray (6’3”, 240lbs, Win, day-to-day with a lower body issue), Jamie McGinn (6’0”, 185lbs, Win), Mike Moore (6’1”, 200lbs, Win, currently with Worcester of the AHL), Devin Setoguchi (6’0”, 200lbs, Draw) and Calder candidate Logan Couture (6’1”, 195lbs, Loss – to Alex Pietrangelo).

This would be the perfect time for the Sharks to bust out of their dry fighting spell, and I think the perfect contestants would be Winchester and Clowe.  But hey, another fight involving Jammer would not wreck my feelings.

A home winning streak would be beautiful.  So let’s do this thing.

LET’S GO BLUES!!!!!

Information obtained via the incomparable Fried Chicken’s Hockey Fights

Ryane Clowe, International Badass. Image via Yahoo! Sports

Surprisingly with the number of former Blackhawks playing against the Blues in Saturday’s dramatic 4-3 shootout win over the Atlanta Thrashers, not to mention the seeming one-sidedness of the calls going against the Blues in that game (not that we’re biased or anything here at The Bluenote Zone), there were no fights.  Too bad, so sad . . . but such is life.  The Blues remain at nine fights on the young season (5-2-2).  Despite the sparse October schedule that leaves The Note as one of two teams AT THIS MOMENT to have played less than ten games, the team is in a tie for ninth in the NHL with the New Jersey Devils and the Washington Capitals (teams that have played five and three more games, respectively, than the Blues).  So not only is this team succeeding at winning, they’re succeeding at throwing punches.  And trust me, this is a good combination!

The San Jose Sharks are one of those special “Total Pain In The Ass” teams – they score goals, they have agitators, they have role players, they have grinders and they have fighters.  They even have some guys that can play a combo of two or three items from that menu.  In 2009-10, the Sharks went 20-15-22 in 57 fights (tied for ninth with the Toronto Maple Leafs) en route to a 2-seed in the Western Conference side of the Stanley Cup Playoffs and a subsequent Western Conference Finals appearance.  These guys were good at many things last year, and this year – despite a slight unexpected dip in the standings – they’re still good at fighting as they hold third place in the NHL with 13 fights (4-3-6).  Last season, Cam Janssen destroyed Brad Staubitz November 14th in St. Louis, Ryane Clowe defeated BJ Crombeen December 3rd in San Jose and Janssen and Jody Shelley worked a marathon draw January 6th in St. Louis.  Links to the YouTube clips of each fight are on each opponent name.

The Sharks’ leading fighter last year was Staubitz (6’1”, 210lbs, 3-3-6, signed with Minnesota) with 12.  The Sharks’ leading RETURNING fighter is Clowe (6’2”, 225lbs, 8-1-2) with 11 last season.  Following them were Shelley (6’3”, 230, 3-3-4, signed with Philadelphia) with 10, youngster Frazer McLaren (6’4”, 225lbs, 2-3-3) with eight, Scott Nichol (5’9”, 180lbs, 1-1-2) with four and Douglas Murray (6’3”, 240lbs, 1-1-0) and Jay Leach (6’4”, 220lbs, 0-1-1 as a Shark and 0-2-1 overall, now in the AHL) each with two.  Single-fighters included Jed Ortmeyer (6’0”, 200lbs, Loss, now in the AHL), Manny Malhotra (6’2”, 220lbs, Win, signed with Vancouver), Kent Huskins (6’3”, 210lbs, Loss), Marc-Edouard Vlasic (6’1”, 200lbs, Draw), Torrey Mitchell (5’11”, 190lbs, Draw), Jason Demers (6’1”, 185lbs, Draw), Niclas Wallin (6’3”, 220lbs, Draw) and Devin Setoguchi (6’0”, 200lbs, Win).  They made one key fight addition, adding the 15 fights of my favorite former Blue (and my former favorite Blue, too) Jamal Mayers (6’1”, 214lbs, 7-3-5 with Toronto and Calgary last season).

Contesting in this year’s 13 fights for the Sharks have been Clowe (1-1-2) with four, McLaren (1-1-1) and Mayers (0-2-1) each with three, Nichol (1-0-1) with two and Murray (Win) with one.

If I had my druthers, I would bet on a rematch between Crombeen and Clowe, but if Janssen plays, do not be shocked if he goes after either Clowe or Staubitz . . . or vice-versa.  And I’d really like to see what Nichol has, as I really haven’t seen much of him as a fighter but it appears he’s trying to get in the mix.  Other than someone like Vladimir Sobotka, who doesn’t fight, there doesn’t seem to be the right matchup for him here, though.

Keep the home winning streak alive, you say?  Don’t mind if you do, gang.

LET’S GO BLUES!!!!!

Information obtained via the incomparable Fried Chicken’s Hockey Fights

Boulton won’t sing, but he takes no Boll. Image via, of all places, the Wall Street Journal (A very minor prize to the one who gets one of the references in this caption)

There were no fights in Thursday’s 3-0 Blues win over the Nashville Predators, but there was an incident involving quite possibly my least-favorite NHL player in the history of ever – yes, Jordin Tootoo was at it again, this time blasting Carlo “Splodeybones” Colaiacovo with a hit that should get him suspended (which obviously means I do not agree with Jeff or, for that matter, Darren Dreger, on this – to a degree) for at least a couple games.  Seriously, Tootoo brings close to no value offensively and very little value defensively, save for cheap moments like this.  Nearest and dearest to my heart . . . he doesn’t fight when challenged, especially after he does any of his stupid stunts (Hey, Tyson Strachan tried).  WHY IS HE STILL IN THE NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE?!  Get him out, now.  The Blues remain at 9 fights on the season, and while that was good for sole possession of 4th in the NHL on Thursday morning, things change fast early in the season.  That total of 9 fights is now tied for SIXTH with several NHL clubs, but with a fight record of 5-2-2, everyone’s looking at the Blue Note for inspiration at this point.

The Atlanta Thrashers are a solid young up-and-coming team and, thanks to some salary cap problems with the Stanley Cup Champion Chicago Blackhawks (I STILL hate saying that), were the beneficiary of a few more young players – one who should have been a Conn Smythe Trophy winner in this reporter’s opinion and all whom fought last season.  The Thrashers fought 40 times last season, good for 19th in the NHL, and they amassed a more-than-modest 16-13-11 record in these fights.  This year has been a different story, as they’ve only fought twice this season.  Both fights were judged draws, and one of the fights involved a current Thrasher that is a familiar foe to the Blue Note.  The last time the Blues and Thrashers fought was in a game on November 30, 2008 in Atlanta (which some might remember as the game Keith Tkachuk picked up his 500th career goal), and the fight involved BJ Crombeen and Eric Boulton – both of whom happen to still play for their respective teams.  The problem?  The game was not televised, so there is no video evidence of the fight happening.  Can we blame this on Gary Bettman?  I’ll go ahead and do that.

Leading the Thrashers in fights last season was Boulton (6’1”, 225lbs, 4-3-6) with 13 and Chris Thorburn (6’3”, 230lbs, 2-4-3) with nine.  That would be 22 out of the team’s 40 fights from just two players, so it is quite clear who the enforcers are.  Other Thrashers fighters from ’09-’10 include Jim Slater (6’0”, 200lbs, 2-2-0) and Boris Valabik (6’7”, 245lbs, 1-1-2, assigned to the AHL’s Chicago Wolves) each with four, young up-and-comer Zach Bogosian (6’3”, 215lbs, 3-0-0) with three and über-young superstar Evander Kane (6’2”, 195lbs, 1-1-0) and Colby Armstrong (6’2”, 195lbs, 0-2-0, signed with Toronto) each with two.  Single-fight players were not-their-problem-anymore Ilya Kovalchuk (6’3”, 230lbs, Win, obviously with the Devils now – via trade), Ron Hainsey (6’3”, 210lbs, Win) and Evgeny Artyukhin (6’5”, 254lbs, Win, Free Agent, also 1-0-0 with Anaheim).  Added from the Blackhawks were eight fights from Ben Eager (6’2”, 235lbs, 3-3-2), two from Andrew Ladd (6’3”, 205lbs, 2-0-0) and one from my Conn Smythe Trophy choice from the 2010 Cup Finals, Dustin Byfuglien (6’5”, 265lbs, 1-0-0).

This year, the Thrashers’ two fights were contested by Thorburn – who worked a draw with Anaheim beast-tank George Parros – and familiar foe Eager – who went even with San Jose’s Frazer McLaren.

I could certainly see Crombeen going at it with Boulton or Thorburn.  He gives a few pounds to each but loses no reach advantage with either.  And is “Cam Watch” in full effect?  Cam Janssen was removed from Injured Reserve on Thursday but did not play.  This would not seem to be the type of game he would play in as he does not match up fight-wise with anyone.  And, really, who would you remove from the lineup right now, other than Brad Winchester?  (Then again, I would like that.)

Keeping the home winning streak alive is a must.  Get it done!

LET’S GO BLUES!!!!!

Information obtained via the incomparable Fried Chicken’s Hockey Fights

Brad Staubitz is not afraid to punch people. Image via sharkspage.com

There was plenty of testiness between the Blues and Blackhawks on Wednesday, but no fights since the Blackhawks have some sort of allergy that causes them not to drop the gloves.  So the Blues remain in 5th with 46 fights and a 21-13-12 fight record.

We have covered the San Jose Sharks once on the Throwdown Lowdown – in fact, it was my very first Throwdown Lowdown report.  Since then, the Blues have shot up the ranks in fights while the Sharks have pretty much stayed steady.  The Sharks are currently 10th in the league with 39 bouts on the season, sporting a solid season fight record of 16-9-14.  They are an even 1-1-1 against the Blues in fights this season: Cam Janssen defeated Brad Staubitz on November 14th in St. Louis, Ryane Clowe defeated BJ Crombeen on December 3rd in San Jose and Janssen and Jody Shelley worked a draw on January 6th in San Jose.  It’s obvious that this club believes in violent behavior to settle a point, unlike pretty much all of our Central Division rivals.

First thing’s first: should this be classified as skill or fluke?  Winger Clowe (6’2″, 225lbs) is 7-0-0 on the season.  He hasn’t lost and hasn’t ended a fight in a draw.  That’s crazy, right?  I’d call it a fluke but I saw his bout with Crombeen, and he’s good.  Clowe is not the only fighter on this team – in fact, 12 different Sharks have fought this season.  You’re likely familiar with winger Shelley (6’3″, 225lbs, 2-2-3) from his days in Columbus as well as his scrap with Janssen last month.  Winger Staubitz (6’1″, 215lbs, 2-2-3) is also not afraid of fisticuffs.  Winger Frazer McLaren (6’5″, 235lbs, 2-3-3) registers the most fights on the team with 8, but he was sent back to the minors last month when Shelley was taken off IR.  Other Sharks with multiple fights include center Scott Nichol (5’9″, 178lbs, 1-0-2) and defenseman Jay Leach (6’4″, 220lbs, 0-0-1 in SJ and 0-1-1 overall).  Another fighter to look out for, just for pure size reasons, is Team Sweden Olympic defenseman Douglas Murray (6’3″, 240lbs, 1-0-0).

Might David Backes battle Murray in honor of Team USA?  Backes gives 15 pounds to Murray, but they both are Olympians and it sure would be exciting.  Excepting that, Shelley and Janssen are familiar with each other as are Shelley and DJ King.  There are many possibilities in this matchup for fisticuffs as the Sharks are trying to hold off the Blackhawks for top spot in the West, while the Blues are trying to ratchet up the NHL standings and get INTO the postseason.  And they may want to break the tie of the season fight record, too.  1-1-1 is WAY too even.

#2 in the West last night.  #1 in the West TONIGHT.  Let’s get it done.

LET’S GO BLUES!!!!!

Information obtained via the incomparable Fried Chicken’s Hockey Fights

Don't let Cam's smile fool you . . . he's out for blood! Via blues.nhl.com

When trying to figure out how to contribute, a light flashed in my head.  What’s one of the most overlooked aspects of elite hockey since the 1980′s?  Why, fighting, of course!

Gary Bettman has seemingly done everything in his power and “ultimate wisdom” to try to ouster this segment of the game in his reign as commissioner, which is a shame for so many reasons that I won’t even detail them here.  “BUT WHAT ABOUT THE KIDS?!?!”, Bettman says.  The kids will be fine, Gary.  Pipe down, will you?

The fact is, if you look at the scores from the open-ice era of the 1980′s – when fighting was prevalent and bench-clearing brawls were not only within the rules, but virtually par for the course – you’ll notice that goal-scoring was much higher THEN than it is NOW.  Why?  To me, the answer is simple: there were fewer cheap shots taken at skill players back then, because if you so much as looked at the Wayne Gretzky’s or Mario Lemieux’s or Bernie Federko’s the wrong way back then, you were sure to get a fist embedded in your temple later by the team goon.  (Something could be said about the lack of a neutral-zone trap back then, but I can’t buy it completely.)  This opened the ice for the skill players to do their thing and make plays.  Hockey was such a simple team sport back then, and it was fun to watch!

Today, as most of you are aware and more-or-less because of the silly strange rules in place meant to curb hockey violence, the fisticuffs serve more as a momentum-changer than punishment.  Quite often, coaches send their best fighter(s) out when the team needs a spark.  Sometimes, the opponent obliges and sends their fightmaster(s) out there, and they exchange swords (and fists) to the delight of the crowd.  Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t.  But that’s the nature of the beast.

I did a bit of research today at Fried Chicken’s Hockey Fights to get a bit of a tale-of-the-tape to tonight’s Blues-Sharks tilt.  These guys know their stuff about fights, and they’re based in the St. Louis area.  I’m sure they’re great people.  So what did I learn from them?

As far as number of fights contested, the Blues and Sharks are pretty even this season – the Sharks have fought 33 times to the Blues 32, which sounds about right considering the mentality of both clubs.

Unless absolutely unavoidable, the Blues do NOT want to fight Ryane Clowe.  He’s been in six scrapes this season (including one on December 3rd with BJ Crombeen in San Jose), and according to the registered voters at hockey-fights.com, he’s won all six of them.  The only Sharks player to get into more fights has been Frazer McLaren, who sports a W-L-D of 2-3-3.  However, he was sent to Worcester on Saturday to help make room for the Sharks’ next two most prevalent fighters – Jody Shelley (soreness, flu) and Brad Staubitz (face) – as they returned from IR.  Shelley, whom many Blues fans are familiar with, is 3-2-1 this year, with Staubitz at 1-2-1.  With both coming off injury, don’t anticipate a scrap from either of those two.  Then again, as most of us know, Shelley REALLY likes to throw down, so expect anything, I guess.

Without looking at the stats, you’d probably assume that the Blues’ leader in fights is Cam Janssen, right?  Well, you’d be close, but wrong.  BJ Crombeen is 5-4-1 this year in 10 fights, while Janssen is a robust 6-1-1 in 8 fights.  So Janssen has the most wins, but Crombeen has shed the gloves more often.  Then again, Janssen HAS been in the owner’s box a lot more than Crombeen this season.  Carlo Colaiacovo (1-0-2) and Brad Winchester (2-1-0) round out the top four fighters (Didn’t expect to see Carlo’s name in there, did you?  Neither did I.).

The Blues and Sharks have gotten into two tussles this year – one the aforementioned Clowe-Crombeen tilt, the other a victory by Janssen over Staubitz in St. Louis.  Contrary to popular belief, Janssen did NOT break Staubitz’s face in that fight . . . that came a few days later via a wayward puck.

My dream fight matchup in this game would be Douglas Murray (6’3″, 240, Swedish National Team defenseman, 1-0-0) against Winchester (6’5″, 230).  The size and reach is about even, but alas, Winchester will probably be in the press box tonight where he probably NEEDS to be until he figures out how to contribute positively to the Blues.  Maybe Murray will scrap with Janssen or Crombeen.  I’m sure they’d both be more than willing.

Honestly, I don’t expect there to be fisticuffs in this game, but I’ve been shocked before, so we’ll see where it goes.  In any matter, most Sharks-Blues games in the last decade have been physical affairs, and I don’t see this one being any different, so be ready.

LET’S GO BLUES!!!!!