2009-10 Worst Enforcing Team

[Merlin401]

Nominees

Buffalo Sabres - 26 fights
Buffalo again went at it without a heavyweight on the team, although they will probably save themselves from "winning" the award by at least rostering some capable middleweight fighters who were only half active this year such as Steve Montador, Adam Mair, and Craig Rivet.

Carolina Hurricanes - 34 fights
Carolina seems to be stuck in this perennial toughness confusion, reluctantly trying to get some fighters into the lineup but never really getting to a point where they are consistently enforcing with a tough lineup. This year's squad was led by the never-menacing Tom Kostopoulous with some contributions from Jay Harrison and Tim Gleason.

Detroit Red Wings - 19 fights
Detroit made their usual token gesture towards including a "heavyweight" on their roster for a little bit as a tease, carrying the aging Brad May for most of the season before Christmas. May gave us a few highlight reel fights but after that it was back to Patrick Eaves and Derek Meech being the tough guys most nights.

Nashville Predators - 23 fights
On paper, their lineup didn't look too terribly soft but tough guy Wade Belak played sparingly and wasn't too menacing while in the lineup (certainly well off his fighter of the year campaign from a year ago). Spark-plug Jordin Tootoo took a few notches off his aggressiveness as well, finishing with only 4 fights (after 10 the year before). Overall, rather uninspiring.

Washington Capitals - 20 fights
With the incredibly skilled Ovechkin, Semin, Greene et al., Washington made a move to become Detroit-East this year: A dominating offensive lineup who could use the power play as their enforcer. They had a smattering of tough North American styled players though, such as Matt Bradley, Chris Clark and John Erskine. For the most part the entertainment and protection for this team all game from one source: a lethal offense.


My Pick

::Sigh:: As much as it was nice to see Brad May skating around again, Detroit continues their dominance in this category.


Previous Winners

2003-04: Detroit Red Wings
2005-06: Detroit Red Wings
2006-07: Detroit Red Wings
2007-08: Detroit Red Wings (for once, this was completely undeserved though)
2008-09: Detroit Red Wings

[blackngold]

I'll be really tempted to vote for the Caps in this one. Their mentality and fatass Boudreau's early-season comments were despicable.

[Phila26Flyers]

This goes to Washington easy, if only for doing nothing but jerk each other off after Carcillo KO'd Bradley. That was a pathetic display of team.

[PilotsFan]

Red Wings.......

[chilly666]

im surprised the hawks aren't in this one this year

[blackngold]

Originally Posted by chilly666

im surprised the hawks aren't in this one this year

That is true. Maybe them over the Sabres? Buffalo at least had Mair, Rivet, Montador, Gaustad, and Kaleta... 5 guys that will go every now and then. All Chicago had was Eager who is a punk. Burish and Boynton only played a handful of games at the very end of the season.

Either way, this award will come down to Detroit and Detroit-wannabes Washington.

[HordiBrusk29]

Phoenix as well. Without Bissonnette in the line up they are about as tough as Detroit. Especially with Jim Vandermeer being such a ***** all year long with a whopping one fight against R.J. Umberger.

[ScottRasner]

Originally Posted by HordiBrusk29

Phoenix as well. Without Bissonnette in the line up they are about as tough as Detroit. Especially with Jim Vandermeer being such a ***** all year long with a whopping one fight against R.J. Umberger.

Theres no way Phoenix would have more than 10 fights this year if it wasnt for Bissonnette, that said Detroit takes this one, although they havent been as bad as years past.

[zoli]

Went with Buffalo. They went without an enforcer all year, which is quite sad. They had quite a few famous fighters in the past, now its really nothing.

[Podollan]

I would love to vote for them all!

[Killah_punk]

There is no winner here, just losers.

[BigBadWolf1171]

Went with Washington,when Matt bradley(all the heart in the world) is your enforcer you know......

[Fotiu]

Washington.
Detroit had Brad May at least.
If only John Erskine had been active....

[Active Stick]

For once in a long while, this is actually a tough choice instead of an easy win for Detroit. One thing that stands out when looking through Washington's fight card is all of the instigator penalties, and even fights where there weren't instigators had comments like "the non-Washington player got a boarding penalty." On one hand stuff like that says the guys were sticking up for each other, but on the other hand it also says the team was getting ran quite a bit and that other teams weren't afraid to physically abuse them. Some of the comments Bruce Boudreau made after the Koci incident don't really help them out either. That small portion of the season where Detroit had May might have actually saved them a vote from me. I'm giving it to Washington.

[jp4202003]

i went easily with the Caps. i just didn't like the passiveness of this team. we're beat down by even the habs in the 1st round of the playoffs. red wings might not have a lot of fighters, but at least they're not passive.