Though fighting was down this year and fewer teams were carrying enforcers, 2011-12 featured a strong showing of rookies.
Nominees
Zac Rinaldo - Philadelphia Flyers
Definitely not the biggest guy on this list, but one who is very tough for his compact size and engaged in some great scraps this year. While he didn't win many of his fights, he never backed down either. Highlights include entertaining fights against
Corey Tropp,
Brandon Prust, and
Andrew Shaw. In addition to his fighting, Rinaldo was known to throw some monster hits, which lead to some of his fights.
Stu Bickel - New York Rangers
Bickel started out the season in
Connecticut, but injuries on the Rangers' blue line made him available to be called up. Bickel has made the most of his call up by playing a simple, but effective game as well as being a physical force. He developed some nice rivalries with the
New York Islanders'
Matt Martin and
Micheal Haley. Another highlight for Bickel was his slugfest with
Ryan Carter in the crazy Devils-Rangers line brawl.
Brandon Bollig - Chicago Blackhawks
John Scott who? Like Bickel, Bollig started this season out in the minors. By trading Scott to the Rangers, Bollig was called up to take on the enforcer role. He definitely took advantage of the opportunity by taking on
Ryan Reaves twice as well as dropping
Jordin Tootoo. What's even more impressive is Bollig won 7 out of his 8 fights, losing only to
Michael Rupp in a fairly close fight.
Matt Kassian - Minnesota Wild
Kassian originally made the Wild out of camp, but found himself on waivers after hardly playing. But after the Oilers roughing up the Wild, Kassian found himself back up the big club and cemented himself in the line-up with his destruction of
Darcy Hordichuk. Kassian became a cult hero on that team as he supplanted
Brad Staubitz from Minnesota. Kassian kept up the good work up beating
Shawn Thornton in a good fight as well as
Guillaume Desbiens in another.
My Pick
Some very good choices, but I really like what
Brandon Bollig brings to the table. 8 fights in 18 games is very impressive, including a streak of fighting in 4 consecutive games. Another promising thing is that Bollig has some decent hockey skills and
Joel Quenneville seems to like him. I can't wait to see him in the NHL full time next season.
Previous winners
2003-04:
Andrew Peters
2005-06:
Brian McGrattan
2006-07:
D.J. King
2007-08:
Riley Cote
2008-09:
B.J. Crombeen
2009-10:
Matt Carkner
2010-11:
Deryk Engelland