Daniel Carcillo fighting Andrew Shaw in training camp. I bet Shaw beat Carcillo’s ass. Image via HockeyBroad/Flickr

That may have been the biggest win of the season on Tuesday night. The St. Louis Blues have had all sorts of problems defeating the Nashville Predators this season, and finally they were able to vanquish them in regulation, 3-0, in a game that did more to determine postseason seeding for both teams than anything else. Despite Patric Hornqvist attempting his best Esa Tikkanen impersonation down the wire in that game, there were no fisticuffs. So the Blues stay at 38 fights on the National Hockey League season, good for a tie with the New Jersey Devils, Vancouver Canucks and tonight’s opponent for eighth position on that ladder, and the team’s fight record sticks at 16-5-17. That’s really good, if I haven’t noted that enough lately.

Now, a third meeting this month (and second in the Windy City) between the Blues and the Chicago Blackhawks is nigh, not to mention the final meeting between these two squads in the regular season. After sputtering for part of the home stretch, it seems the Hawks have things back together again, but they’ve played a Jekyll & Hyde show against the Blues this year . . . sometimes looking great, sometimes looking horrible, while the Blues have been pretty much steady throughout these five matchups, which were covered thusly (November 8th, December 3rd, February 19th, March 6th and March 13th). The Blackhawks have fought 38 times on the season, which as noted earlier is good for a tie for eighth with the Blues and Devils. Thanks to the help of three guys in particular, the Hawks sport a very solid 15-10-13 fight record.

The Blackhawks are led in fights by one of my favorite former Blues players of all time, Jamal Mayers (6’1”, 222lbs, 4-1-6 including a Draw with BJ Crombeen), who has fought 11 times this season. Following him is recent call-up and St. Louis area native Brandon Bollig (6’2”, 223lbs, 5-1-1 including a Win over Ryan Reaves and a Draw with Reaves) with seven fights in a short span with the Blackhawks. Next, a guy I despised even before the Blackhawks signed him, Daniel Carcillo (6’0”, 203lbs, 1-3-1 including a Loss to Ryan Reaves, Out for the season after having knee surgery which happened because of an illegal hit that he got suspended for), who fought five times this year before doing the “most Carcillo thing ever” and, somehow, earning a two-year contract extension in the process. Recently-traded John Scott (6’8”, 270lbs, 4-0-0 with the Hawks including a Win over Reaves and 4-0-1 overall, traded to the Rangers at the deadline) fought four times with the Hawks before being dealt. Andrew Shaw (5’10”, 180lbs, 1-2-0) and Steve Montador (6’0”, 210lbs, 0-2-1, recently removed from IR) have each fought three times. Bryan Bickell (6’4”, 233lbs, 0-0-2) has fought twice. Solo fighters include Dave Bolland (6’0”, 184lbs, Draw), Sean O’Donnell (6’2”, 238lbs, Draw) and Jimmy Hayes (6’6”, 221lbs, Loss). Also, be on the lookout for Johnny Oduya (6’0”, 190lbs, Draw as a Jet, acquired from Winnipeg at the deadline).

There were two fights in the last game between these two teams and some feistiness in Tuesday’s Nashville tilt. The presence of Bollig leaves open the possibility that Reaves would play tonight, but doesn’t guarantee it. If there’s a fight, I think it happens between secondary fighters such as Scott Nichol against Shaw. We’ll see how it shakes down, though.

See that top seed? Grab it. A win tonight gives the Blues the Central Division, which is a step toward it.

LET’S GO BLUES!!!!!

Information obtained via the incomparable Fried Chicken’s Hockey Fights

This is Tim Gleason getting “Baptized” by Jared Boll’s fists in 2007. Image via msmail/Flickr

Normally, when you play like crap against a desperate team in their building, you lose your ass. In this case, somehow the St. Louis Blues were able to garner a point in a 4-3 shootout loss to a Chicago Blackhawks squad that is desperately trying to stay ahead of the Western Conference playoff bottom-feeders. Things looked great in the first period for the Blues, and we even had a couple fracases – one involving BJ Crombeen and former Blue Jamal Mayers, another involving Ryan Reaves and Brandon Bollig after a hard hit by Reaves on Mayers. Both ended in draws, and they were recapped in this Fight Card piece. The Blues have fought 37 times now on the National Hockey League season, good for seventh overall in the category. Adding the two draws, the Blues’ fight record now stands at a solid 15-6-16.

And now, for the two-game Southeast portion of this road trip, starting with a date in Raleigh to face the Carolina Hurricanes. It’s been a season of mostly lows for this Canes squad, battling injuries, a coaching change, leadership issues and – occasionally – talent not living up to expectation. Despite all that, they’re still dangerous. We covered the Hurricanes once earlier this season (October 21st). The two teams didn’t fight in that contest and it should be noted that despite how bad the Canes have been this season, they do not like to drop the gloves more often than they have to. They have only fought 16 times on the NHL season, good for 29th (Yes, that’s “next-to-last”) in the league in that category, only ahead of the Detroit Red Wings. Not only that, they’re not great at the practice when they do drop the gloves, recording a 3-5-8 record in those 16 fights.

The Canes are led in fights by four defensemen, starting with Tim Gleason (6’0”, 217lbs, 0-2-3) with five fights, Derek Joslin (6’1”, 210lbs, 0-0-3) with three fights and Bryan Allen (6’5”, 226lbs, 1-1-0) and Jay Harrison (6’4”, 211lbs, 0-1-1) with two fights each. The rest are solo fighters: Anthony Stewart (6’3”, 230lbs, Win, Chris Stewart’s older brother), Tim Brent (6’0”, 188lbs, Win), Justin Faulk (6’0”, 205lbs, Draw) and Brett Sutter (6’0”, 200lbs, Loss, currently with Charlotte of the AHL, Brian Sutter’s nephew).

I honestly do not expect a fight to happen in this game. Carolina isn’t known to fight much, and I doubt Reaves plays in this contest. It’s entirely possible Crombeen doesn’t play either, what with the arrival of Jaden Schwartz leaving the team to find the right times to play him.

Time to transform back into “Road Warrior” mode.

LET’S GO BLUES!!!!!

Information obtained via the incomparable Fried Chicken’s Hockey Fights

First, there was this between BJ Crombeen and former Blue Jamal Mayers at the end of a shift for both:

You can tell just by watching the fight that: 1) Neither player should’ve fought, because they were both gassed from ending a shift, but 2) They were willing to participate, at least. In all, it should’ve never happened, and the fight showed that. I thought both should’ve been given double minors for Delay Of Game. Instead, it’s a draw.

Then, after Ryan Reaves lit Mayers up like a Christmas tree on a hit that looked high in live action but turned out to be hard but clean, Brandon Bollig came in and had a meeting with Reaves for the second time in as many weeks:

Unlike the fight from last week, though, this one was pretty much a hug-out. Both guys were able to get good punches in, but neither really were effective in the fight. It was a draw.

The more interesting aspect of this whole incident happened after the fight, when Mayers was jawing with Chris Stewart for some odd reason. You’d think he would’ve been bitch-slapping his defenseman (in this case, Duncan Keith) for throwing a pass toward him that left him open to such a tattooing. And remember, despite the uniform he now wears, I RARELY question Mayers or his motives.

This sets up for a really interesting final game between these two squads in Chicago on March 29th.

I think Brandon Bollig is trying to tell Daniel Carcillo that he sucks. He might be right. Image via HockeyBroad/Flickr

The St. Louis Blues needed to escape that weekend with, at the fewest, three points. They got four from the downtrodden Columbus Blue Jackets, and the second one was practically stolen by the goaltender. Sunday’s 2-1 victory was a beauty, in which Jaroslav Halak showed why he will likely be the first choice in net come postseason time by flashing the leather, padding and sticks the way he so skillfully can do, with some help from his defensemen. Not only was the goaltending brilliant and the offense timely, there was a tussle in this game between Chris Stewart and Jared Boll. Sure, the fight was horrible and ended in a draw, but at least it happened, I guess. That fight, along with the pair of scraps from Saturday’s game, are all recapped with video in the most recent edition of Fight Card. Now up to 35 fighting majors on the National Hockey League season, the Blues now find themselves in a tie for eighth in the category with the New Jersey Devils and Vancouver Canucks. Adding the draw, the Blues’ fight record now stands at a very robust 15-6-14.

Didn’t we play these guys, like, last week? Yeah, that happened. Now, the Blues travel to Chicago to face the Chicago Blackhawks. Whereas the Blues’ fortunes have been on an upward trend since mid-November, the Blackhawks – while still firmly entrenched in a playoff spot – have been slipping a bit since January. We’ve covered the Hawks four times this season (November 8th, December 3rd, February 19th and March 6th). The Blackhawks have fought 34 times on the season, good for 11th by themselves in the NHL in that category, and their fight record is not bad at 13-10-11.

The Blackhawks are led in fights by one of my favorite former Blues players of all time, Jamal Mayers (6’1”, 222lbs, 4-1-5), who has fought 10 times this season. Following him is a guy I despised even before the Blackhawks signed him, Daniel Carcillo (6’0”, 203lbs, 1-3-1 including a Loss to Ryan Reaves, Out for the season after having knee surgery which happened because of an illegal hit that he got suspended for), who fought five times this year before doing the “most Carcillo thing ever” and, somehow, earning a two-year contract extension in the process. Recently-traded John Scott (6’8”, 270lbs, 4-0-0 including a Win over Reaves, traded to the Rangers at the deadline) and recent call-up and St. Louis area native Brandon Bollig (6’2”, 223lbs, 3-1-0 including a Win over Reaves) have fought four times each as Hawks this year. Andrew Shaw (5’10”, 180lbs, 1-2-0) and Steve Montador (6’0”, 210lbs, 0-2-1, on IR with the dreaded “Upper Body Injury”) have each fought three times. Bryan Bickell (6’4”, 233lbs, 0-0-2) has fought twice. Solo fighters include Dave Bolland (6’0”, 184lbs, Draw), Sean O’Donnell (6’2”, 238lbs, Draw) and Jimmy Hayes (6’6”, 221lbs, Loss). Also, be on the lookout for new acquisition Johnny Oduya (6’0”, 190lbs, Draw, acquired from Winnipeg at the deadline).

We’ll see what happens in this game, but after Reaves was replaced in the lineup on Sunday and with the arrival of Jaden Schwartz, the feeling here is that the goons for both clubs will stay in the stable for the most part, and there will be no fights. That said, a fight between Bollig and BJ Crombeen would not be the worst thing that ever happened.

Keep winning, eh?

LET’S GO BLUES!!!!!

Information obtained via the incomparable Fried Chicken’s Hockey Fights

Now, fast-forward to the present. The Blues are in a heated battle not only for the Central Division flag, but the Western Conference’s number one seed. It is quite possible the winner of the Central will win the President’s Trophy, which – as most of you know – is given to the team that earns the most points in one regular season of National Hockey League action. The Blues have only won the trophy that one time, in 1999-2000, but what happened during that postseason leaves some fans wondering if they ever want the Blues to carry that burden again.

While that is a valid concern, there’s no reason for this Blues team to be afraid of it.  The point of the NHL regular season is to play as well as you possibly can to get the best seed you can possibly get for the postseason, even if what you end up with is a low number (such as, say, a 6 seed in 2008-09). Don’t the Blues want to do as well as possible to earn home-ice advantage in the grandest tournament in professional sports? You bet your sweet ass they want to, and (to steal a regular question from Darren Pang) “Why shouldn’t they?” While the failings of past President’s Trophy winners (not just the ’99-’00 Blues, mind you) are duly noted, the top regular season team’s fate in the playoffs is just like the fate of the other 15 teams in the dance . . . they’re in it to win it, to hell with everyone and everything else, and while a certain amount of skill is involved it’s ALWAYS better to be lucky than good.

In the 2000 playoffs, some of the members of that President’s Trophy team – instead of going with the tradition of growing playoff beards – decided to bleach their hair (or, in the case of Jamal Mayers, parts of their eyebrows) blonde. You don’t screw with tradition, and you learn from the past. It was clear that team was overconfident with their new-found success, having never been the top seed in the Stanley Cup Playoffs before, and that may have been part of the reason why that team lost to the San Jose Sharks in seven games in the first round. The 2011-2012 Blues do not seem to fall in the same category as that squad, as far as confidence is concerned. Sure, they’re confident in the way they play, but apart from the incredibly random and totally awesome “Weenie Hat” thing, there is seemingly very little in the way of overconfidence being displayed by this squad off the ice and outside the room. That would be a way to learn from the past . . . do not get overconfident when you think things are going great.

With all that being known, the Blues should not be afraid of the President’s Trophy and the so-called “Curse” that comes with teams that earn it. The only thing President’s Trophy winners should fear is the fact that the target is on their chest for the whole Stanley Cup Playoffs. However, any team that is afraid of THAT problem should not strive to be the best, plain and simple. So, just go for it. If you miss, at least you tried. Those who fear success are doomed to failure, and this Blues team doesn’t seem to fear one damn thing, which is why I love watching this team as a fan so much.

What say you, dear reader? Should the Blues gun for the President’s Trophy? If not, why not? Leave your thoughts in the comments.

St. Charles, MO native Brandon Bollig is a large man with a mean streak on the ice. Image via HockeyBroad/Flickr

A day of rest can do many great things . . . such as turn a solid-yet-zombie-like hockey team into a team that can beat just about anyone. The St. Louis Blues showed just that to the San Jose Sharks for most of their 3-1 win beside the bay on Saturday to complete a very successful road trip. Blues fans can chuckle at that first goal and call it great luck, but it still counts. Anyway, there were no fighting majors issued in this contest, so the Blues stick and stay at 31 fights collected on the season, still valid for 11th but now tied with the Calgary Flames and tonight’s opponent in that category. The Blues’ fight record still stands at an impressive 13-5-13.

It’s like they’re rivals or something. Yeah, the Chicago Blackhawks are in town to pay one final regular season visit to The Note in St. Louis. Most Blues fans don’t care much for the team with the Indian Head on their sweaters, myself included. But they appear primed toward a gigantic push down the stretch, cutting some dead weight while adding a couple depth pieces that they can use for the stretch drive. We’ve covered The Note’s Illinois rivals on three occasions this season (November 8th, December 3rd and February 19th). As insinuated in the previous paragraph, the Blackhawks have fought 31 times on the season, which is even with the Flames and Blues, ironically enough. The Blackhawks’ fight record, however, is only a hare short of the Blues’ record at 11-9-11.

The Blackhawks are led in fights by one of my favorite former Blues players of all time, Jamal Mayers (6’1”, 222lbs, 4-1-5), who has fought 10 times this season. Following him is a guy I despised even before the Blackhawks signed him, Daniel Carcillo (6’0”, 203lbs, 1-3-1 including a Loss to Ryan Reaves, Out for the season after having knee surgery which happened because of an illegal hit that he got suspended for), who fought five times this year before doing the “most Carcillo thing ever”. Recently-traded John Scott (6’8”, 270lbs, 4-0-0 including a Win over Reaves, traded to the Rangers at the deadline) fought four times for the Hawks before being traded. Andrew Shaw (5’10”, 180lbs, 1-2-0) and Steve Montador (6’0”, 210lbs, 0-2-1, on IR with the dreaded “Upper Body Injury”) have each fought three times. Bryan Bickell (6’4”, 233lbs, 0-0-2) has fought twice. Solo fighters include St. Louis area native Brandon Bollig (6’2”, 223lbs, Win), Dave Bolland (6’0”, 184lbs, Draw), Sean O’Donnell (6’2”, 238lbs, Draw) and Jimmy Hayes (6’6”, 221lbs, Loss). Also, be on the lookout for new acquisition Johnny Oduya (6’0”, 190lbs, Draw, acquired from Winnipeg at the deadline).

Before the trade deadline, I simply assumed that the inevitable Reaves-Scott rematch was going to happen in this game. Then the Rangers went and screwed that up for me. So I’ll go back to the scrap that I’ve been thirsting for all season, and hope to everything holy that it finally happens tonight . . . that’s right, I want to see Mayers and Reaves square off. I might explode in delight if it happens.

A successful road trip should be followed by a successful home stand, even if it’s brief, right? Let’s get on this.

LET’S GO BLUES!!!!!

Information obtained via the incomparable Fried Chicken’s Hockey Fights

So the fight finally happened at the end of the Blues/Blackhawks game on Sunday afternoon when the game was out of reach, and the results were predictably awful for everyone involved – both players and fans alike. If you wish to blind yourself, have a look at it:

If you can pick a winner out of that dog-and-pony show, you’re better than I am. Scott landed a few punches, then fell over because, as mentioned earlier, the dude can’t skate to save his life (just ask Vladimir Sobotka, a young man almost literally half Scott’s size, how good Big John is on his skates). Reaves landed maybe one punch while the two were still standing, but then punched Scott in the back of the head at least once (perhaps twice?) while Scott was down. That is an INCREDIBLY big no-no in my book. This is either a draw or a “non-fight fight”, your choice. And given what transpired, I fully expect a rematch, unless Scott is, y’know, waived before then. Which hell, who knows, he might be. He’s not good at that thing called “playing hockey competently”, even compared to Reaves. Which, again, is amazingly horrendous.

To put it even more bluntly . . . the spirited shoving between Jamal Mayers and BJ Crombeen was worth more of the price of admission than this incident between Scott and Reaves was. And that, again, is predictable.

Nope, STILL not used to this. Image via BridgetDS/Flickr

That seemed easy, yet difficult. The St. Louis Blues easily handled a team in full free-fall mode, dominating the Minnesota Wild 4-0 in a game where a frustrated Wild team decided to resort to cheap tactics against a team they will not play again this year. Being that it appears the Wild will fall outside of the playoff picture despite a strong start, they will not see the Blues again until next year, and they sure acted like it. Despite the antics (which I will not get into here), there were no fighting majors issued in the contest. So the Blues stay at 27 fighting majors collected on the season, good for a tie for 11th in the National Hockey League in the category with the Buffalo Sabres and today’s opponent in that category. The Blues’ fight record holds steady at a very solid 13-3-11.

Forward to Chicago for a “Hockey Day In America” matchup with the despised Chicago Blackhawks. After losing nine straight games and appearing that they were dead in the water, the Hawks have taken two straight – one over the New York Rangers, the East’s top team, at their building . . . and one over the Columbus Blue Jackets, who despite their effort on Tuesday in beating the Blues, are a friggin’ disaster. We’ve covered the Blackhawks for two home games previously (November 8th and December 3rd). The Blackhawks, as alluded to earlier, are tied with the Blues and Sabres for 11th in the NHL with 27 fighting majors collected on the season (two of which came yesterday afternoon in Columbus). Their fight record stands near perfectly average at 8-7-12.

14 of the Hawks’ 27 fights are shared between two players, one of which is done for the season. They are Jamal Mayers (6’1”, 222lbs, 3-1-5) with nine and Daniel Carcillo (6’0”, 203lbs, 1-3-1 including a Loss to Ryan Reaves, out for the season after blowing out his knee in hilariously illegal fashion) with five fights. Following them are John Scott (6’8”, 270lbs, 3-0-0) and Steve Montador (6’0”, 210lbs, 0-2-1, on IR with the dreaded “Upper Body Injury” with three fights and Andrew Shaw (5’10”, 180lbs, 1-1-0, recently reassigned to Rockford of the AHL) and Bryan Bickell (6’4”, 233lbs, 0-0-2) with two fights each. The Hawks have three solo fighters, and they are Dave Bolland (6’0”, 184lbs, Draw), Sean O’Donnell (6’2”, 238lbs, Draw) and recent call-up Jimmy Hayes (6’6”, 221lbs,Draw).

I have been saying all season that I want to see Mayers and Reaves fight, and why not? They’re both tough guys, they match up very well size-wise and one’s a wily vet while the other’s a youngster just making it on his own in this league. I say it finally happens today.

Beat Chicago.

LET’S GO BLUES!!!!!

Information obtained via the incomparable Fried Chicken’s Hockey Fights

Yes, it’s STILL strange seeing Jamal Mayers playing for the Blackhawks. Image via clydeorama/Flickr

So . . . overtime? I hate the National Hockey League’s idea of overtime, but we had to endure it once again in a 3-2 shootout loss by the St. Louis Blues to the Colorado Avalanche. Furthermore, there were no fights in the contest, so the Blues hold steady with 11 fights this season, currently good for a tie for ninth in the NHL with the Calgary Flames, Dallas Stars and Pittsburgh Penguins. The team’s fight record stands at 5-1-5 on the season.

Remember the 90’s? Well, the Blues and the Chicago Blackhawks seem to have turned back the clock to a time when both divisional opponents were really good . . . y’know, like they were back in the 90’s. This time around, both teams seem to be doing it in different ways – the Blackhawks with more of a scoring touch, and the Blues with more of a defensive approach. Either way, the two teams are very close in both the Central Division and Western Conference standings, and hopefully it stays this way throughout the season. Not only that, it will be hard to imagine the crowd being any more charged than tonight, what with the return of David Perron to live action after a long concussion recovery. Fight-wise, the Blackhawks are also not too far away from the Blues, having squared off in only (two) fewer fights than the Blues. Yet the Hawks are currently tied for 19th in the NHL with the Edmonton Oilers, New Jersey Devils, Toronto Maple Leafs and Winnipeg Jets with nine fighting majors on the season. The Blackhawks are 1-3-5 in those nine fights. And yes, we have covered the Blackhawks once before this season on Throwdown Lowdown (November 8th, to be exact).

Blackhawks players that have fought this year include former Blue Jamal Mayers (6’1”, 222lbs, 1-1-3) with five fights on the season, Daniel Carcillo (6’0”, 203lbs, 0-2-1 including this loss to Ryan Reaves) with three fights and former Sabre Steve Montador (6’0”, 210lbs, Draw) with one. If you’d like to see a more complete detail on Blackhawks fighters and their fight records from 2010-2011, you can find that in the link above to the November 8th report. It’s starting to get to the point in the season where last year’s fight records are becoming irrelevant compared to this year’s fight records, and while they will not be cut off immediately, I’ll stop posting them for previous opponents and probably stop posting them altogether VERY soon.

What would be hilarious, considering his mouthing-off to Reaves about “ducking” him recently, it would be awesome if, say, Reaves got into it with, say, Mayers . . . WHILE John Scott was on the ice. And let me make this perfectly clear regarding Scott . . . I have a hell of a lot of respect for you as a fighter, but dude, you are not even close to a competent National Hockey League performer, and Reaves has a six-inch height and 30-pound weight disadvantage on you. He is NOT in your weight class, and he is NOT ducking you. So please proceed to shut your tall, wide trap and LEARN HOW TO PLAY RESPONSIBLE HOCKEY IN THE NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE. /END RANT

What a charged atmosphere this is going to be tonight. Boy, am I glad I will be there. I cannot wait.

LET’S GO BLUES!!!!!

Information obtained via the incomparable Fried Chicken’s Hockey Fights

It’s strange seeing Jamal Mayers playing for this team. Image via clydeorama/Flickr

As promised, here is video of the fight that Scott Nichol won over David Booth on Friday night. There’s more where that came from.

Talk about your whirlwind weekend. Following a win at home on Friday, the St. Louis Blues were largely lackluster in a 2-1 loss to the Minnesota Wild in “The State of Hockey” on Saturday night, followed by Davis Payne being fired and replaced by Ken Hitchcock on Sunday night, then news that the full staff of assistant coaches were being retained. Weird, wild, wacky and kind of fun . . . that would be the best description of the approximately 48 hours from Friday’s home win to Sunday’s website announcement of the coaching change. Back to Saturday’s game . . . there was another fight, and lo and behold, it was Scott Nichol doing the punching, this time against former Flyer Darroll Powe. A handful of folks scored this as a victory for Nichol, but the vote ended with a draw prevailing, and looking at the video, I think that’s the right call (you be the judge). The Blues now have collected five fighting majors on the 2011-2012 National Hockey League season, now good for a tie for 17th place with several teams, holding a fight record of 2-0-3.

And just like on January 2, 2010, the Chicago Blackhawks come to town to welcome the new Blues head coach to the team and the Central Division. But while this Hawks team leads the division, they are not favored to win the division like THAT Hawks team did (along with some greater accomplishments that this reporter will not speak of). This is the first of six contests between the Blackhawks and the Blues in the 2011-2012 season, and these two teams have a history of shedding the gloves and pounding each other in the face. That said, last year’s Blackhawks were 24th in the NHL with 28 fights on the season, going a solid 13-8-7 in those fights. This year, the Hawks are tied for 11th with several teams, earning six fighting majors on the season and going 1-0-5 in those fights.

Blackhawks players that have fought this year include former Blue Jamal Mayers (6’1”, 222lbs, 1-0-4), who is in a tie for first with several players with five fights in 2011-2012, and former Flyer Daniel Carcillo (6’0”, 203lbs, Draw) with one. Current Blackhawks who fought last year include Carcillo (4-6-3) with 13 fights and Mayers, then with the Sharks (4-1-7) with 12 fights. Following them were John Scott (6’8”, 270lbs, 8-0-0) with eight fights, former Flyer Sean O’Donnell (6’2”, 238lbs, 2-1-4) with seven fights, former Sabre Steve Montador (6’0”, 210lbs, 0-2-1) with three fights and Bryan Bickell (6’4”, 233lbs, 1-0-1) with two fights. Solo fighters from last season included Brent Seabrook (6’3”, 221lbs, Win), former Coyote Sami Lepisto (6’1”, 193lbs, Draw) and Viktor Stalberg (6’3”, 209lbs, Loss).

While I know Nichol will play, I seriously doubt he throws the gloves down a third night in a row. With the new coach in town, it is unknown what Ryan Reaves’ role on this team will be going forward. If Reaves plays, I would TOTALLY kill for a Reaves-Mayers fight and would PAY to see it happen.

A message is sent. Whether or not it was the correct message is irrelevant. Will that message be heard? Go get ‘em, team.

LET’S GO BLUES!!!!!

Information obtained via the incomparable Fried Chicken’s Hockey Fights