Jason Strudwick

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