In lieu of an actual fighting picture, there’s this. Image via Chris Breikss/Flickr

Backing into the division title? Yeah, that happened, but that shouldn’t diminish what the St. Louis Blues have accomplished all season. What SHOULD diminish things a bit is what exactly happened in their home game with the Columbus Blue Jackets on Saturday, looking a bit out-of-sorts in a 5-2 loss to the worst team in the league. Sure, the Jackets wanted it more, but that loss shouldn’t happen in your own building. There was a fight in the game, as after a clean yet harsh hit from Jared Boll, Scott Nichol decided to take matters into his own hands in a fight that was recapped in this Fight Card piece. After this was written, the fight was ruled a victory for Boll, which I can’t exactly argue with as even though the fight didn’t last long, Boll did throw and land a few more punches than Nichol even if Nichol got a bit of a takedown. So the Blues now boast 39 fighting majors on the National Hockey League season, good for a tie for ninth place overall with the New Jersey Devils. With the loss, the team’s fight record moves to a still-spectacular 16-6-17.

And now, the final Central Division game of the season, and who better to stage it with than long-time nemesis, the Detroit Red Wings? We’ve covered the team five times in this space this season (November 15th, December 6th, December 27th, December 31st and January 23rd). It’s long-known that they seem to have their gloves glued to their hands and don’t fight much, and when I pointed out this fact in the most recent edition of this report against the Wings, it didn’t settle well with some of their brethren. I embrace the hatred. Anyway, what still holds true is that the Wings are dead last in the NHL with 15 fighting majors on the season. To put it this way, there are six individuals with more fights than the whole Wings team, and one player – Brad Staubitz – has been waived once this year and still has as many fights as the Wings. Yikes. The Wings fight record? Predictably not good, at 5-9-1.

Of those 15 Wings fights, Justin Abdelkader (6’1”, 219lbs, 2-4-0) has taken part in six of them. Three of them were battled by veteran Mike Commodore (6’4”, 227lbs, 0-2-1 including a Loss to BJ Crombeen and 0-3-1 overall, traded to Tampa at the deadline) and two of the fights involved Todd Bertuzzi (6’3”, 229lbs, 1-1-0). The solo fighters have been Jonathan Ericsson (6’4”, 221lbs, Win), Brendan Smith (6’1”, 199lbs, Win, currently with Grand Rapids of the AHL), youngster Jakub Kindl (6’3”, 216lbs, Loss) and Brad Stuart (6’2”, 213lbs, Loss to Chris Stewart).

And while I expect this to be a tightly-checked and physical contest, I do not expect any fighting. It’s just not the Wings’ Modus Operandi, and the Blues probably don’t want to go down that path tonight.

I would love that top seed in the West.

LET’S GO BLUES!!!!!

Information obtained via the incomparable Fried Chicken’s Hockey Fights

You just got Kronwall’d because I don’t know why I even bother covering Red Wings fights. Image via jpowers65/Flickr

In a game I felt the St. Louis Blues HAD to win to keep their reputation as a league-wide menace, the team held their end of the deal by downing the Buffalo Sabres 4-2, despite an extremely sluggish first period and a few late calls that left a lot to the imagination. While the two teams always seemed to be on the precipice of getting into a brawl (the incident between TJ Oshie and Patrick Kaleta comes to mind), only one fight occurred, and it was a good one between Ryan Reaves and young Joe Finley. Finley held his own, but Reaves delivered a knockout blow in taking the victory (video here). So the Blues now have collected 23 fighting majors on the National Hockey League season, which remains good for 10th by themselves in that category. With yet another fight victory, the Blues’ fight record stays impressive, now at 11-2-10.

I really don’t know why I even bother to waste energy on this report for tonight’s opponent, the Detroit Red Wings. Nothing ever changes with these guys . . . they don’t fight, even when they really should, and while you can sugarcoat it with as hard a candy shell as you can find, it reeks of a team that chooses not only to not be physical, but not to stand up for themselves either. This may explain why the Wings tend to have dropped out of the playoffs in embarrassing fashion the last few years, but that’s neither here nor there. Despite seemingly not needing to cover this team, we HAVE covered this team a few times in the past (November 15th, December 6th, December 27th and December 31st). The Wings remain in dead last in the NHL with six fighting majors collected on the season. Their fight record is a bit less than robust, obviously, at 2-4-0.

Of those six Wings fights, Justin Abdelkader (6’1”, 219lbs, 1-1-0) has taken part in two of them. The other four have been split among Jonathan Ericsson (6’4”, 221lbs, Win), Todd Bertuzzi (6’3”, 229lbs, Draw), youngster Jakub Kindl (6’3”, 216lbs, Loss) and veteran Mike Commodore (6’4”, 227lbs, Loss to BJ Crombeen).

I’ll go ahead and predict no fighting for this one. I think I stand a great chance of being right. It should be a pretty good game, though.

One-game roadie? This team can do it. Let’s see it happen THIS time.

LET’S GO BLUES!!!!!

Information obtained via the incomparable Fried Chicken’s Hockey Fights

Fellow blueliners Kris Russell (groin) and Kent Huskins (ankle) are still on IR which brings the Blues down to only five healthy defenders (Jackman, Colaiacovo, Pietrangelo, Polak, and Shattenkirk) who can play on Tuesday night.

Cade Fairchild (image TSNphotography)

So it’s pretty obvious that the Blues are going to have to recall a player from the Peoria Rivermen. Considering their play as of this season, the top two options for a recall, in my mind are Cade Fairchild or Danny Syvret.

Fairchild, a rookie out of the University of Minnesota has made a big impact  for the Rivermen this season already. His 17 points (4 goals, 13 assists) have helped the Rivermen to a 17-15-2-1 record this season.

He’s already had one call up this season, and he didn’t look out of place in his only game played. He finished the night with a clean score sheet, an even +/- and no penalty minutes. He’s my number one option of getting a recall in fill in for Cole.

Danny Syvret (image TSNphotography)

Syvret is not to be looked over also, as a potential call up. His 20 points (3 goals, 17 assists) leads all defensemen on the Rivermen squad and tied for fifth among AHL defensemen this season.

What Syvret brings, however, which could give him the heads up on Fairchild is his experience.  His 59 NHL games and 10 playoff games rank much higher than Fairchild’s one game, and that alone could give Syvret an edge  in his chances of being called up. He has 3 goals, 4 assists in those 59 regular season games while recording zero points in his ten playoff games.

If I was in Doug Armstrong‘s shoes, I’d go with Syvret. He gives you the experience, he plays an offensive game but isn’t inadequate defensively either. While the call up is likely only going to be for the three games, it doesn’t force the Blues to put to much pressure on the call up either.

While I could see positives for Fairchild, I’d like to see him develop a little more in the AHL this season and get his call ups next season when he’s a little bigger, stronger, and more experienced.

Yet again, however, I’m not Doug Armstrong, so the call up could eventually be between two entirely different defenders. Watch me debate Fairchild and Syvret, then Mark Cundari gets the call up.

We should find out later today on who gets the call up.

From NHL.com:

Under the terms of the Collective Bargaining Agreement, and based on his average annual salary, Cole will forfeit $21,081.09. The money goes to the Players’ Emergency Assistance Fund.

Cole will miss games on Jan. 3 (Phoenix), Jan. 5 (Edmonton) and Jan.7 (Colorado). He will be eligible to return Jan. 10 at Montreal.

For those who wish to see he explanation, here is the video.

What I honestly, do not understand is how Brenden Shanahan can say that the league agrees with Cole in that he did not intentionally target the head then goes on to say that this is a “quintessential example of targeting a players head and making it the principal point of contact”. Earth to Shanny. It CAN’T be both. You cannot agree with Cole that he didn’t intend to hit Abdelkader’s head and then say he targeted it.

This suspension just goes to prove that it’s good to be the king. You get what you want, when you want it. Detroit got what it wanted.

I wonder if Shanahan reviewed any of the numerous hits Cole has delivered in his other 38 NHL games. It’s obvious to those of us who watch him play regularly that this was a hit like any other he’s attempted to go through the body. He missed because Abdelkdaer slowed down. That doesn’t mean you hit the kid with a three game suspension. The $2,5000 fine or 1 game would have sufficed to send a message.

Can anyone say, honestly, that this was more malicious than Drew Doughty’s last second message sender (clearly intentionally) boarding of TJ Oshie? I guess the Red Wings family can. – No, I do not want to hear about the Smith on Smith hit and suspension. –

Be mindful, you St. Louis Blues players. If the league keeps this up, it’s open season you. The ability to defend yourself is slowly being taken away. Teams will be vastly more inclined to take liberties with the Blues from now on knowing that the Blues will be less inclined to respond knowing suspensions are handed out like ecstasy at a Shanny Rave. Just look at how the Pavel Datsyuk hit to Barret Jackman’s head earlier in the week went entirely with out mention let alone punishment.

Come on DJ Shanny, spin that wheel!

-

What say you Blues fans? If you can’t tell, I’m not happy. Can’t imagine you all are either…

Look at Ian Cole. Is that the face of a headhunter? Nope. (Iamge via TSN Photography)

Well, I think we all knew this was coming…

#Blues D-man Ian Cole has a hearing today with the #NHL for his hit on Detroit winger Justin Abdelkader #Redwings

— Andy Strickland (@andystrickland) January 1, 2012

For those who missed the game last night, at the 9:11 mark of the first period Blues defenseman Ian Cole stepped up on Red Wings forward Justin Abdelkader. The resulting collision landed Cole in the box for two minutes. The charge was an illegal hit to the head. While the outcome was spectacular (no, I am not advocating the potential injury of players, the word has more than one use…) it didnt appear “to be that bad”. Apparently former Detroit forward and NHL safety Czar Brenden Shanahan disagrees. Cole will get a talking to and probably a game or two off knowing how the current wheel of justice spins. Of course the NHL doesn;t have that hit available on NHL Videocenter to review. Here are the quotes from Cole and Wings head coach Mike Babcock per St. Louis Post Dispatch beat writer Jeremy Rutherford.

Cole on hit: “I had him lined up. I wasn’t going to go for head. He tried to cut back & avoid it & he put his head right into my shoulder.”

— Jeremy Rutherford (@jprutherford) January 1, 2012

Babcock: “I don’t like the hit. The hit should be a suspension, for sure.” #stlblues #redwings

— Jeremy Rutherford (@jprutherford) January 1, 2012

Cole explains, Babcock vilifies. Par for the course. Former Blues forward and current KMOX 1120 AM analyst Kelly Chase had the best response of the night.

@jprutherford which hit is Babcock talking about the hit by Datsyuk on Jackman last on the hit by Cole tonight. #redorwhiteBabs

— Kelly Chase (@Chasenpucks39) January 1, 2012

So are the Detroit folks still claiming there is no rivalry? Seems like a ludicrous statement at this point.

-

What say you blue bleeders? How many games will Cole be suspended by the Shanaban?

These are two of the better fighters the Red Wings have. Hilarious. Image via Anna Enriquez/Flickr

Have I ever mentioned how much I despise the National Hockey League’s inclusion of a shootout to the end of hockey games that are tied after 65 minutes? Well, if I haven’t, just rest assured that I absolutely despise the practice. And it’s not just because the St. Louis Blues are horrible at it, which they proved again last night in a 2-1 shootout loss to the Nashville Predators, who seem to be just about as bad at the practice but have a pretty good goaltender on their side of things. There were no fights in the game, so the Blues stick and stay at 14 fighting majors collected on the season, good for a tie for 17th in the National Hockey League with the Dallas Stars in that category. The team’s fight record still sits at 5-2-7.

Remember these guys? Remember this building? It’s like the Blues played THIS very team . . . at THIS very building . . . not more than four days ago! Yes, it’s the rare bit where a team is scheduled to play the same opponent in the same building twice in a week. So here we are, at the Joe Louis Arena in Detroit, for a second time in a handful of days to play the hated Detroit Red Wings. We’ve covered this team three times this season now (November 15th, December 6th and December 27th). And as you already know, they do not like to shed the gloves. They are still all by themselves in DEAD LAST in the NHL with five fighting majors collected on the season, earning a not-horrible record of 2-2-1 in those fights.

I could leave the fighters section alone, being that I went over this a few days back, but I won’t, especially considering there is one man to add to the list. Of those five fights, Justin Abdelkader (6’1”, 219lbs, 1-1-0) has taken part in two of them. The other three have been split among Todd Bertuzzi (6’3”, 229lbs, Draw last night with Daniel Carcillo), Jonathan Ericsson (6’4”, 221lbs, Win) and youngster Jakub Kindl (6’3”, 216lbs, Loss).

While it would be awesome if we DID see a fight in this one, the possibility is pretty much non-existent. Which is unfortunate . . . I think the Red Wings have a few guys that COULD drop the gloves and do well at it. But it’s not my choice.

A win over the Red Wings would be a great cap to the year 2011. Call me crazy, but I like the team’s chances of doing so tonight.

LET’S GO BLUES!!!!!

Information obtained via the incomparable Fried Chicken’s Hockey Fights

“Why won’t Coach Babs let us fight, Drew?” “Because we suck at it, Justin.” Image via BridgetDS/Flickr

Obviously this 2011-2012 St. Louis Blues team did not want to keep remembering the ass-kickings they took at the hands of the Dallas Stars last season and early in this one, earning a hard-fought 5-3 victory over their former division-mate and soon-to-be conference-mate. There was a fight in this game, and as I was suspecting, Steve Ott got himself involved. He has a tendency to rile up whoever happens to be the “Whipping Boy” defenseman in St. Louis. So yes, he got into it with Barret Jackman this time. I happened to be in attendance, and watching this one develop was quite interesting, to say the least. And in this instance, it almost led to a second fight, which was pretty fun (check the video of the whole incident here). As an added bonus, it was on national television! So now, many more hockey fans than before know about how much of a jerk Ott is. The fight itself was relatively weak, as after Ott got up from Jackman taking him down a second time and after Jackman face-washed Ott, Ott punched Jackman WHILE HIS GLOVE WAS STILL ON (a douche move), then after shedding the gloves he got a couple rights in, after which the two hugged it out and fell on the ice. Somehow, this was not voted a draw – instead, Ott was declared a winner. I have a feeling that result may change, but nonetheless . . . the Blues move up to 14 fights on the season, good for a tie for 15th in the National Hockey League with the Colorado Avalanche, Winnipeg Jets and last night’s opponent in that category. With the loss, the team’s fight record “slides” to 5-2-7.

Now, the Blues take their first trip to Joe Louis Arena on the season, not to mention their first of two trips to that arena in less than a week. Yes, it’s our old “friends”, the Detroit Red Wings! I’ve spoken twice about these folks this season, both for home contests (November 15th and December 6th, to be exact). There really isn’t much to say about the Wings that you don’t already know. They don’t drop the gloves as often as any other team in the league, and they are rarely baited into a fight. You can’t go into a Red Wings game thinking there WILL be a fight, actually. The Wings are currently all by themselves, DEAD LAST in the NHL with four fighting majors collected on the no-longer-young 2011-2012 season. To put this in perspective . . . coming into tonight’s game, there are 39 NHL players who have fought four or more times – 26 of those players have fought five or more times (including our own Ryan Reaves, who has fought five times), and seven of THOSE players have fought at least eight times, or DOUBLE the amount of fights the Red Wings have been part of as a team. That’s incredibly hard to accomplish as a team, if you ask me. Anyway, in these fights, the Wings have gone 2-2-0, which I guess is not horrible.

Of those four fights, Justin Abdelkader (6’1”, 219lbs, 1-1-0) has taken part in two of them. The other two were battled by Jonathan Ericsson (6’4”, 221lbs, Win) and youngster Jakub Kindl (6’3”, 216lbs, Loss). So obviously, there is not much to sift through when talking about fights with the Red Wings.

And as you could guess, I do not anticipate there being any more fights to add to the list tonight. Sorry!

Great news on the fisticuffs front for the Blues . . . third-line grinder BJ Crombeen, who tied for the team lead in fighting majors in the 2010-2011 season, returns to the lineup tonight after missing the first 35 games of THIS season due to a broken scapula suffered in the preseason. Former Blues pugilist and current Blues radio color commentator Kelly Chase broke the news on Twitter this morning. While he’s not the most skilled player on the team, his return adds a definite grit factor to the team and adds to the surplus of forwards the Blues have been accumulating since players have been coming off Injured Reserve with their injuries. Also, I love the way this guy plays, and many partial Blues observers also have taken a liking to him as he displays a hard-nosed style to his game. A further report on BJ’s return is upcoming on The BlueNote Zone.

The Blues have won both games against the Red Wings this year. Can they make it a third? Please, let this happen.

LET’S GO BLUES!!!!!

Information obtained via the incomparable Fried Chicken’s Hockey Fights

Ericsson vs. Clowe is Swede-On-Newf violence. Image via pyle313/Flickr

What started out as awesome ended up being . . . not so much. David Perron scored a goal in his long-awaited return to the St. Louis Blues, but the Chicago Blackhawks carried the day with an impressive 5-2 win over the Blues. It was testy throughout, and there were several times that I was sure there WOULD be a fight, but never was there to be one. So the Blues stay put at 11 fights on the season and remain at a 5-1-5 record, but now that number of fights puts the team at a tie for 11th in the National Hockey League with the Dallas Stars, Florida Panthers, Minnesota Wild and Toronto Maple Leafs in that category.

When we last saw the Detroit Red Wings (November 15th, to be exact), the team had a total of four fighting majors on the season. Coming into tonight’s game, the Wings have . . . a total of four fighting majors on the season. That is good for a tie for DEAD LAST in the NHL with the Tampa Bay Lightning in that category, so this report is nice and concise since it has already been done in the previous issue. If you want to look up who has fought this season for the Wings both this season and last plus fight records for the team and all parties involved, please click on the link in the first sentence of this paragraph.

Will there be a fight in this game? I would say it is highly doubtful. But if I had to put money on someone fighting in this contest, being that Ryan Reaves is likely to be a healthy scratch in this one, it would have to be Scott Nichol fighting someone bigger than him . . . someone such as, say Justin Abdelkader. It seems like a very good match, really. Despite the big hit by Chris Stewart on Niklas Kronwall in the previous matchup, I just don’t see a big opportunity for a major bout in this one.

It’s Hated Rival Weekend, Extended. Can the Blues at least win one of the two contests at home? We’ll find out.

LET’S GO BLUES!!!!!

Information obtained via the incomparable Fried Chicken’s Hockey Fights

The #8 in this picture wearing red is loads better than the other one. Image via clydeorama/Flickr

1-3-1 Trap Scheme, eh? I don’t think it worked very well for the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday, as they left the DrinkScotch with a 3-0 shutout loss handed to them by the opportunistic St. Louis Blues. It’s a shame that a team with as many skilled players as the Lightning have to resort to silly, gimmicky defensive tactics to get them through games. Furthermore, there were no fights contested in the game. So, The Note holds still with six fighting majors, putting them in a massive tie for 16th in the National Hockey League, with a fight record holding steady at 3-0-3.

I lament having to do this report on six occasions every year. It’s basically the six times that the Detroit Red Wings are the next opponent. Not a team to drop the gloves often, the Red Wings anger me to the point that I hope someone CAUSES a fight by doing something stupid instead of getting one to naturally happen during the course of play. And that’s not good, as most of you know. Thus far this season, the Red Wings are tied for 26th in the NHL with two teams that each only have four fighting majors on the season, going a decent 2-1-1 in those fights. Last year, the Wings were DEAD LAST in the NHL with only 13 fights on the season, going a lackluster 3-4-6 in those fights.

Red Wing players that have fought this year include Justin Abdelkader (6’1”, 219lbs, 1-0-1) with two fights and Jonathan Ericsson (6’4”, 221lbs, Win) and Jakub Kindl (6’3”, 216lbs, Loss) each with one. Current Wings who fought last year include Ericsson (1-0-2) and Abdelkader (0-0-3) with three fights each and Todd Bertuzzi (6’3”, 229lbs, 2-0-0, on IR with a sinus infection), Brad Stuart (6’2”, 213lbs, 0-1-1) and former Jacket Mike Commodore (6’4”, 227lbs, 0-1-1) each with two. Solo fighters included the ultra-talented Pavel Datsyuk (5’11”, 198lbs, Draw) and some guy named Drew Miller (6’2”, 178lbs, Draw).

Will there be a fight in this game? Probably not. Should there be a fight in this game? Maybe. We’ll see how this goes, but I’d love for there to be fisticuffs a-la this melee from many, many moons ago that included a goalie fight between Curtis Joseph and Tim Cheveldae. I could watch that clip over . . . and over . . . and over again.

I only have two words . . . Beat Detroit. Alright, three more . . .

LET’S GO BLUES!!!!!

Information obtained via the incomparable Fried Chicken’s Hockey Fights

Todd Bertuzzi likes it back-door, apparently. Shea Weber? Happy to oblige. Image via Zimbio

This time, instead of nearly altogether ignoring a Blues game (like I did on Saturday, but I swear it wasn’t my fault!), this time I actually was in attendance for a solid match with the Minnesota Wild.  So yeah, the Wild DID win 3-2 in a game that ended with my least favorite hockey ending – the SKILLS COMPETITION (can we go back to the days when we had TIES in hockey, please?!).  And while there was plenty of violent checking (despite the absence of TJ “Where Is” Oshie), there were no fights in the contest.  So the Blues stay steady at 72 fighting majors and remain tops in the National Hockey League in that category.  The fight record remains at 30-21-21.

As you probably know, the chances of a fight tonight against tonight’s opponent are not very high, despite the “rivalry” between the two squads.  The Detroit Red Wings just don’t drop the gloves.  It’s one of the most infuriating aspects of watching this team play hockey – they play at a high level with no enforcer.  This flies in the face of everything I have known in my life to be true.  Kill me now!  Since it’s fruitless anyway with the Wings, I won’t link to the other five reports involving them.  The Red Wings sit dead last (DEAD LAST!) in the National Hockey League with a GRAND total of . . . get this . . . 11 fights.  I’ll spell it out for you . . . E-L-E-V-E-N.  This late in the season, every team should have at least 20, and these schmedricks have 11.  My goodness . . . as you could imagine, though, the Red Wings’ record at fighting is horrid at best: a tepid 1-4-6.  The Blues and Wings, despite playing five games, have not fought against each other this season.  There is no reason to believe that will change in this contest.

Jonathan Ericcson (6’4”, 220lbs, 1-2-0) and Justin Abdelkader (6’1”, 212lbs, 0-0-3) each lead this team with three fights (THREE FIGHTS!) each.  Brad Stuart (6’2”, 210lbs, 0-1-1) has been injured parts of the season but has fought twice.  Solo fighters include Pavel Datsyuk (5’11”, 194lbs, Draw, Questionable with a lower body injury), Drew Miller (6’2”, 178lbs, Draw) and Doug Janik (6’2”, 211lbs, Loss, currently with Grand Rapids of the AHL).

I’m just going to let you fill in your own conclusions here.  Will there be a fight tonight? _______.  (Any one of these with a “Yes” in it?  You are either the funniest people alive, or illogically imbalanced.  Possibly, you could be both.)

Maybe the Blues can help send the hated Wings toward the postseason with a bad taste? Doubtful, but we’ll see.

LET’S GO BLUES!!!!!

Information obtained via the incomparable Fried Chicken’s Hockey Fights