The return of the fighting d-man?

[Ciccarelli]

Watching Matt Walker, Matt Carkner, John Scott playing for their respective teams, the signing of Tollefsen in Philly, Edmonton resigning Strudwick, Buffalo signing Montador, Carolina giving Harrison a chance (not anymore), Anaheim going for Brookbank and Wisniezwski and Vancouver resigning O'Brien made me think if coaches don't mind again having a physical defenseman that fights when needed.

The last couple of years most coaches and teams prefered to have 6 defensemen that are available to play on the ice during the whole game...since last season and especially this season it seems like the trend is again going in the other direction and teams are playing their enforcer/fighter/energyguy again on defense.

Now this could just be a case, but it would be great if teams return again to the trend to have at least one very physical d-man and fighter back on defense.

[fansince65]

Originally Posted by Ciccarelli

Watching Matt Walker, Matt Carkner, John Scott playing for their respective teams, the signing of Tollefsen in Philly, Edmonton resigning Strudwick, Buffalo signing Montador, Carolina giving Harrison a chance (not anymore), Anaheim going for Brookbank and Wisniezwski and Vancouver resigning O'Brien made me think if coaches don't mind again having a physical defenseman that fights when needed.

The last couple of years most coaches and teams prefered to have 6 defensemen that are available to play on the ice during the whole game...since last season and especially this season it seems like the trend is again going in the other direction and teams are playing their enforcer/fighter/energyguy again on defense.

Now this could just be a case, but it would be great if teams return again to the trend to have at least one very physical d-man and fighter back on defense.

They had better be able to fight , none of the players you mentioned is going to be leading the rush up ice !!
I think it's just every team wants that energy guy that can fight if required , if they can play a decent game on defense then thats the place for them , they are at least going to get some ice time playing "D" and not be sitting on the bench for most of the time or not dressing at all ..

[Ciccarelli]

Originally Posted by fansince65

They had better be able to fight , none of the players you mentioned is going to be leading the rush up ice !!
I think it's just every team wants that energy guy that can fight if required , if they can play a decent game on defense then thats the place for them , they are at least going to get some ice time playing "D" and not be sitting on the bench for most of the time or not dressing at all ..

You are right, Matt Walker for example played 22 mins last night against Philly.

The point is over the last years most d-men that have been fighters played on the 4th line because coaches didn't want to have a d-man in the penalty box.

I remember Purinton having a dispute with the Rangers coach about that...he wanted to stay on defense, the Rangers wanted him to play wing.

I think also David Koci, Wade Brookbank and others have all been turned into forwards because of coaches not wanting a d-men fighting.

Now it looks like the trend is again going in the other direction and we are seeing successors of so great guys like Poeschek, Boughner, Tinordi and others.

[fansince65]

Originally Posted by Ciccarelli

You are right, Matt Walker for example played 22 mins last night against Philly.

The point is over the last years most d-men that have been fighters played on the 4th line because coaches didn't want to have a d-man in the penalty box.

I remember Purinton having a dispute with the Rangers coach about that...he wanted to stay on defense, the Rangers wanted him to play wing.

I think also David Koci, Wade Brookbank and others have all been turned into forwards because of coaches not wanting a d-men fighting.

Now it looks like the trend is again going in the other direction and we are seeing successors of so great guys like Poeschek, Boughner, Tinordi and others.

Matt Is a great example , if he was playing on the forth line how much ice time would he have seen ?? 5-7 minutes maybe , playing "D" he gets in the game for 22 minutes and does a good job .
When a played has played a certain position for most of his career it's hard to adapt to something new , on D the look up ice is entirely different then playing on the wing ..

[Wendel_Clark_17]

Bryce Salvador is another one. I don't think we'll ever see the old days where you had two tough guys, a few wingers who could go when needed and 2-3 tough defensemen.

[Ciccarelli]

Originally Posted by Wendel_Clark_17

Bryce Salvador is another one. I don't think we'll ever see the old days where you had two tough guys, a few wingers who could go when needed and 2-3 tough defensemen.

I think we can be happy if we see more tough fighting d-men playing 15 mins a night then a useless forward playing 2 mins a night.

The best thing we'll maybe have again would be teams carrying a heavyweight as forward a secondary fighter on the checking line and one physical fighting d-man.

[BROKEN*ORBITAL]

There will be no return of the fighting defenceman. The Carkner and Walker types will be molded the way John Erskine was in Washington. They broke in as fighters who "played" D, but will now be converted into d-men who occassionally fight. These guys will end up being more the Jeff Beukeboom, Luke Richardson types, and not so much like the Cam Russell's and Doug Houda's of the game.

[moxie]

Originally Posted by BROKEN*ORBITAL

There will be no return of the fighting defenceman. The Carkner and Walker types will be molded the way John Erskine was in Washington. They broke in as fighters who "played" D, but will now be converted into d-men who occassionally fight. These guys will end up being more the Jeff Beukeboom, Luke Richardson types, and not so much like the Cam Russell's and Doug Houda's of the game.

I get your point, but Luke Richardson is a pretty bad example to use. He had a career high in FMs 14 years after he entered the league. He was not most active until he ended up with the Flyers, so it depends 100% on the situation the player is put into.

[BROKEN*ORBITAL]

Originally Posted by moxie

I get your point, but Luke Richardson is a pretty bad example to use. He had a career high in FMs 14 years after he entered the league. He was not most active until he ended up with the Flyers, so it depends 100% on the situation the player is put into.

In almost 20 years, Luke broke double digit fighting majors 3 times. That also came in an era when fighting was MUCH MORE PROLIFIC. He was a d-man who would fight, not a fighter who played D.

[BullyFan009]

I don't think we'll see any d men getting more than 15 fights and not many will break 10. Walker, Erskine, Vandermeer and O'brien are all tough guys and could be their teams enforcers but it's tougher to have a dman in the box for 5 compared to a forward. I know it's been said but these guys are more dmen that can enforce rather than enforcers who play d.

[stevecanuck16]

Originally Posted by BROKEN*ORBITAL

In almost 20 years, Luke broke double digit fighting majors 3 times. That also came in an era when fighting was MUCH MORE PROLIFIC. He was a d-man who would fight, not a fighter who played D.

I think what he meant is that Richardson was not a guy who broke in as a fighter and saw his fighting majors dwindle after that. He kept consistent throughout his career and got his fighting major high later on in his career.

[StealinUrCar06]

Fighting D-men, brings up a lot of memories like Cairns, and uh....Cairns.

[Killah_punk]

Originally Posted by StealinUrCar06

Fighting D-men, brings up a lot of memories like Cairns, and uh....Cairns.

How about McSorely.

[StealinUrCar06]

Originally Posted by Killah_punk

How about McSorely.

Oh hell yeah

YouTube - Marty Mcsorley hits Donald Brashear

[Ciccarelli]

Originally Posted by StealinUrCar06

Fighting D-men, brings up a lot of memories like Cairns, and uh....Cairns.

Actually also Brendan Witt was a lot more willing to fight when he came into the league. He is too important to the Islanders right now, but he was a willing fighter in his early years...he fought guys like Kordic, Vandenbussche, Scott Daniels in his first season.