Does this really look like the face of an enforcer? Well, it is! Image via nhl.com

Before we begin, another awesome video . . . this one is courtesy of the University of Alaska-Fairbanks Nanooks hockey team, and you may have caught this elsewhere, but it’s good enough to view over and over again.  Two years ago, their CGI intro video turned heads because the polar bear (Nanook, if you don’t know, is Inuit for “polar bear”) destroyed Anchorage while making a dead sprint toward Fairbanks with a hockey stick.  THAT video can be found here.  This time?  WORLD EXPLOSION!!!!! Do not mess with the University of Alaska-Fairbanks hockey team, apparently.

No fights happened on Monday with the Blue Jackets.  I don’t know who else would agree, but it seemed the Blues weren’t as physical on Monday as they had been since Davis (Earl of) Payne’s arrival.  Physicality is what this team is based on and built for, so hopefully that changes.  The Blues’ 40 fights dropped them to 5th place in the league, and lurking behind them is a massive three-way tie for sixth between Edmonton, Colorado and Vancouver – all with 39 fights on the season.

The Montreal Canadiens hold one of the lower fight totals in the league at 22, and to show for it they are an underwhelming 6-8-8 on the season, according to Fried Chicken’s Hockey Fights.  But what Les Habitants lack in number of fights is made up for in number of contestants – 13 of them to be exact.  At the top of the list is Montreal native and bruising forward Georges Laraque (6’4″, 245lbs, 2-1-1).  Laraque has taken some heat this year for not carrying out his tough-guy image as well as he has done in the past, but don’t let anyone fool you: he’s still this hockey team’s enforcer, and he is a large human being on skates.  That combination is always spooky.  Other fighters to look forward to could be former Duck and Shark winger Travis Moen (6’2″, 215lbs, 1-1-2) and defenseman Paul Mara (6’2″, 207lbs, 2-0-0).  Among the 10 other Habs to have fought this year, only six of them are on the current roster.  Of the other four, two of them are currently in the minors (Gregory Stewart and Ryan White), one was traded away (Kyle Chipchura, to Anaheim and previously covered in this report) and one was claimed off waivers (Jay Leach, by San Jose).

After having the winning streak snapped in Columbus and after a surprising lack of the same jump found during the winning streak, it may be a perfect time for Cam Janssen to be reinserted into the lineup.  If that’s the case, your dream fight matchup of the evening is Janssen and Laraque, for many obvious reasons.  If there’s no Cam, there probably will be no fights as “secondary” fighters like BJ Crombeen and Brad Winchester have seemed to shy away from fisticuffs recently.  And while you’d think a team named the Canadiens would have at least one Team Canada hockey player on the Olympic squad for David Backes to challenge, in this case there is no such luck.

Remember last season when the Blues did so awesome against the Eastern Conference?  It was one of many keys to the late-season playoff push, and yeah, that’d be nice to rekindle again . . . so let’s start with a win in Montreal tonight!

LET’S GO BLUES!!!!!

Information obtained via the incomparable Fried Chicken’s Hockey Fights.

Wade Belak feels the sting of Derek Boogard's monster fist . . . image via si.com

Before we start . . . if you haven’t seen it already, from Puck Daddy via The Riverfront Times, this may be the funniest thing you’ll see all day.  I wouldn’t put this past some of my brethren at St. Louis Game Time.  Absolutely incredibly funny.

On to the report . . . as anticipated, the Blues and Blue Jackets dialed up the truculent behavior Tuesday night, leading to FOUR fights.  Admittedly, one of them wasn’t really a fight, and both guys got kicked out for doing it, but still . . . FOUR fights!  It was enthralling to say the least.  BJ Crombeen worked a draw with Alexandre Picard to bring him to 6-4-2, Fried Chicken’s Hockey Fights voters say Rick Nash defeated David Backes (which I do not agree with . . . the linesman stepped in and basically let Nash have a free run at Backes when they should have let them both go) to drop him to 2-2-0, Erik Johnson’s first-ever NHL fight earned him a game misconduct and a draw with Mike Commodore to start his record at 0-0-1, and Cam Janssen earned a victory over Jared Boll in the one PREDICTED fight of the evening sending Cam up to 7-1-2.  Additionally, the Blues have shot up to a tie for 3rd in team fight leaders with 40, with only the Calgary Flames (49) and the Philadelphia Flyers (42) ahead of them and the Anaheim Ducks even with them.  The attitude adjustment is in full effect, and when you’re fighting for every inch, gloves are sure to be dropped.  It’s a welcome change!

The Minnesota Wild are on the lower end of the NHL list of fighting teams, shedding the gloves a total of 22 times on the season thus far.  However, three of those fights came last night against a division rival and one of the “punchiest” teams in the league, the Vancouver Canucks.  Minnesota went 1-1-1 in those fights.  Also, the Wild’s overall 10-7-5 record in fights on the season suggests a team that is wise in picking its targets, and one of the eight fighters the Wild have had this year has four of those seven losses.  However, they may not get to use their smarts to their advantage against a Blues team that has cranked up the physicality in the last two weeks.  It will be interesting to see what plays out.

The Blues and Wild have fought once this season – Crombeen was able to subdue Nathan Smith at a home contest on October 23rd.  This was one of only two fights for Smith on the season, the other being a draw.  Since then, Smith has been sent down to Minnesota’s AHL affiliate, the Houston Aeros.  Mind you, Smith is a former 1st round pick.  Bust?  Yeah, you could say that.

If the Wild want a fight, they want it to come from either winger Derek Boogaard (6’8″, 257lbs) or defenseman John Scott (6’8″, 258lbs), both absolutely massive human beings.  Boogaard is a noted NHL brawler, and his 4-0-2 record on the season is hard not to be impressed with.  However, Scott has done just about as well at 4-0-1.  The only other Minnesota player with more than two fights is defenseman Shane Hnidy (6’2″, 204lbs), who is an ugly 0-4-0 on the season.  Young defenseman Clayton Stoner (6’4″, 212lbs) would be another fighter to look out for as he’s 1-0-1 in only eight games played, but he’s listed as day-to-day and probably won’t play tonight.

Unfortunately, the Wild do not have any members of Team Canada on their squad, so don’t look for a scrap from Backes.  So the dream matchup of the evening would be either Janssen or Crombeen taking on Hnidy.  If so, let’s hope the “due factor” doesn’t come into play.  If the Blues MUST fight Boogaard or Scott, hopefully it’ll either be Janssen – not afraid of anyone – or someone who at least comes close to matching up size-wise, such as Brad Winchester (who even then STILL gives three inches and nearly 30 pounds to both of them).

Can the Blues win two games in a row?  If they play the same physical style that helped them to a win Tuesday night, then there’s no doubt it CAN happen.  Let’s get it done!

LET’S GO BLUES!!!!!

Information obtained via the incomparable Fried Chicken’s Hockey Fights.