West to East

Nothing new to anyone here, but the LA Times has a good piece about the Ducks and their willingness to drop the gloves:

“That’s why Corey Perry doesn’t get roughed up after whistles,” Burke said. “That’s why Ryan Getzlaf doesn’t get punched in the head after he takes a shot at the net. We have a team that makes people accountable. That’s never going to change as long as I’m here.”

As if you weren’t a Brian Burke fan already…

Burke’s goal is to win and entertain fans.  His announced philosophy to put together a team that scores a lot of goals, doesn’t trap and fights is a pretty good one as far as I’m concerned.  Makes it easy for me to pick which west coast game I want to watch live each night.

Eric Stephens of the Times also mixes in some quotes from Laraque and tosses in some numbers to prove just how willing the Ducks are.  This site and the Elias Sports Bureau was sourced.  The article uses a number of 50 fighting majors for the Ducks, but they actually have 51 this season.

Wagons East

If you haven’t heard yet, Sean Avery was traded to the NY Rangers.  As I wrote on TIB, I’m really looking forward to this.  Hockey still gets some decent coverage here in NY and it’s only a matter of time before Avery gives us a handful of great quotes.

Newsday’s Steve Zipay reported Brendan Shanahan gave the deal the thumbs up.

Avery, who is dating actress Elisha Cuthbert, played with Brendan Shanahan on the Red Wings, and Shanahan endorsed making the deal.

He’s not going to be recognizable yet, so I guess he’ll wear the title of Mr. Jack Bauer’s Daughter for a while, not that there’s anything wrong with that.

Avery‘s only dropped the gloves twice this season, but fighting isn’t why you pick up a guy like Sean Avery.

I’m hoping he gets some ice time with Ryan Hollweg to see if they can literally piss off an opponent to death.

Get the super zambonis ready

Landon Bathe is suing the city of Stockton, CA and the company that manages the arena there for bad ice.

Landon Bathe, a 6-foot, 218-pound forward who played for the Thunder’s inaugural season, claims that on Dec. 17, 2005, holes melted in the ice, causing “a trap for unwary hockey players,” said the suit filed in the San Joaquin County Superior Court.

The 24-year-old crumbled to the ground with a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee, clutching his leg before teammates helped him off the ice.

Barnaby Considering Retirement

Bucky Gleason has some bad news for Matt Barnaby fans:

The end finally appears near for Barnaby. The Dallas winger has had concussion problems since Jan. 9 that caused him to temporarily lose vision in his left eye, a scare serious enough for him to ponder retirement.

Barnaby‘s gone from hated to “man, I want that guy on my team” after 14 seasons in the NHL.

He’s a team guy, leaves it all on the ice.  Heart wins over fans, and for a guy that plays the role of agitator so much, Baranaby has a ton of them.

Gleason writes that after three of his fights this season Barnaby temporarily lost his vision.

While I want to see Barnaby continue playing, health and family have to come first.  Concussions are nothing to rush back from.

Feel better MB and take as much time as you need.

Barch Again

Big night, big update.

Krys Barch just can’t say no to a fight right now.  Eight games, six fights.  Both fights last night came after Barch threw big checks.  The first was on Ryan Johnson.  Matt Walker said hello to him quickly after.  The second was a big hit on Dallas Drake.  Johnson beat Jamal Mayers over to Barch that time around.

Congratulations Mark Rycroft

Rycroft became the first Avalanche player other than Ian Laperriere to drop the gloves this season when he took on Ladislav Smid.  Not a big fight, but unexpected from two players with a combined 28 PIMs going into the game.  Laperriere went earlier in the game with Matt Greene.  Greene went after Lappy for a hit on Smid.  Lappy’s leading the NHL in fighting majors with 13.

Who needs eyes?

Travis Moen floored Shea Weber even though Moen’s jersey was pulled over his head.  The two went after Sean O’Donnell and Scott Hartnell threw a few punches and started a late-game scrum.  There’s no immediate update on Weber and he will be checked for a concussion.

There’s one more Preds-Ducks game on Mar 04, 2007.  Preds coach Barry Trotz set it up nicely:

“They started taking some cheap shots,” Trotz told local reporters. “We’ll have long memories. We marked some numbers down.”

Sean Avery’s new fans

Avery went with Greg Campbell last night and Tom K fought Chris Gratton.  However, it’s not the fight that’s getting Avery attention right now.  From Steve Simmons:

Big-mouth Sean Avery, hardly popular among the players, is suddenly popular. The reason? On a conference call with PA executives, he called out Stu Grimson, the former player, for being a lawyer, but one who’s not certified to practise in Ontario where he happens to work.

Nothing like a little union feuding to start building popularity.

Byron Ritchie

Is anyone out there not a fan of Ritchie (other than Oilers fans)?  Big heart in a small package.  He’s like another Rob DiMaio, and everyone’s a DiMaio fan, no?  Ritchie had an entertaining scrap with Alex Burrows last night.  Ritchie at hockeydb, DiMaio at hockeydb

Big, Big Snake

Robin Big Snake had a hell of a game for himself last night.  Four goals, one assist and two fights.  Big Snake now shares the lead for majors in the UHL with Curtis Tidball.

Francois Leroux has returned to the LNAH, signing with the Chiefs.

All scraps from the night are on the videos page and on Youtube: the Anaheim-Nashville highlight above, with Barch-Johnson and Burrows-Ritchie as previews on the vids page.

The Arizona Republic’s David Vest doesn’t hide what he was hoping to see at last night’s Wild-Coyotes game:

What a bummer. Minnesota’s Derek Boogaard, a 6-7 enforcer, was a healthy scratch Saturday. I’m guessing many fans in attendance, like me, were hoping to again see something physical transpire between Boogaard and Coyotes enforcer Georges Laraque. The last time the Coyotes played the Wild at Jobing.com Arena, the league’s top two heavyweights dropped gloves, and Boogaard injured a knee as he fell to the ice and missed the next 10 games. Boogaard, too, likely wasn’t pleased he didn’t play Saturday. The teams play once more this season, March 20 in St. Paul.

Some more reads:
Blow wobbles Weber
Sitting frustrates Hordichuk

Now that it’s about 7am, it’s time to get some sleep…

Godard Times Two

Vote!

Eric Godard was active last night, taking on Jody Shelley and then instigating one with Zenon Konopka due to Konopka going after the just-returned Jarome Iginla earlier in the game.

Both clips are downloadable on the videos page and both are on Youtube already, one in this post, one on the vids page.

Keep your eye out for more Don Cherry: Coach’s Corner to get expanded web presence

CBC.ca will launch a special online version of Coach’s Corner tomorrow with new content, design and features. Enhancements include an improved and larger video picture and an online forum allowing hockey fans to submit their remarks regarding Don’s, uh, “legendary” weekly commentary.

It’ll be available at cbc.ca/coach

via Canucks and Beyond

March of the Barch

Krys Barch is letting the Stars know he has no intentions of going back to Iowa.

He flew in to fight Doug Murray for Eric Lindros (last thing the Stars want is anything hitting that head), and tapped in his first NHL goal to give the Stars a two-goal cushion in a win over the Sharks last night.

The Barch-Murray fight is currently a preview on the videos page.

Vote!

Yes, that really is Brad Boyes.  He did his best Cam Neely impression on Tony Lydman.

Georges Laraque was quick to toss off the mitts after an invitation from Darcy Hordichuk.  Both players have been in and out of the lineup recently and probably wanted to make a statement to their respective coaches.  BGL was able to outmuscle an energized Hordi.  That scrap is also a preview on the vids page.

Elsewhere: The always willing Ben Eager took on David Hale, and Andre Roy met up with Tim Gleason after Gleason shoved Brad Richards down to the ice.  Both fights are Youtube’d after the jump.

Sheldon Souray got the full package for jumping on Colby Armstrong after Armstrong threw a big, but legal hit on Saku Koivu (Youtube).

Some viewing material:
Boyes shows some fight, gets point across
Barry’s Best: Hockey’s Top Hits (video)

Continue reading: March of the Barch

The NHL’s Best Hits of January

The NHL has release its best hits of January video via their channel on Youtube.

Nada

Just a quick post to say there’s nothing to post from last night and I haven’t forgotten about the Ponikarovsky-Tanabe clip (just a little delay, hopefully today).

There are a lot of games to choose from tonight, so just sit back and enjoy.

Things aren’t looking good in the grit department for the Stars: Chuck Carlton is reporting Steve Ott could go on IR.  Matt Barnaby is already out with a concussion.  Krys Barch has stepped up for Dallas, but is it enough?

Return of the Fridge

Todd Fedoruk has been playing for the Flyers for a while after some time off following his fight with Derek Boogaard at the end of October.  He has 7 points in 24 games so far.  While the Fridge has thrown a punch since he’s been back, last night he did so against the opposition when he squared off with Andre Roy.

That fight is on the videos page, as well as a Youtube vid after the jump.

Krys Barch remained active during his call-up, taking on Ryane Clowe.  That’s a new Youtube preview on the vids page.

Also from last night, Wayne Primeau-Adam Mair (after the jump) and Alexei Ponikarovsky-David Tanabe, which I’ll have posted late tomorrow.

Elsewhere:
- Karlis Skrastins is about to break Tim Horton’s record for consecutive games played by a defenseman.
- Chuck Carlton of the Dallas News relays the message that the Sharks broadcast team thought the Stars could be pushed around last night.

You can watch two of three games tonight free on Yahoo.  Leafs-Rangers, an Original Six matchup, will always get some eyes, but Ducks-Coyotes... well, I don’t want to jinx it as I know the superstitious crowd here, but it looks like a good game to me.

Update Feb 01 430am: Ponikarovsky-Tanabe added to the vids page.

Continue reading: Return of the Fridge

Some Love for the LNAH

Mark Keast takes a look at the world’s toughest hockey league, the LNAH, and how the fans love it.

As the NHL struggles with where to slot fighting in its game, the LNAH struggles with where to slot fighting during a game. It is becoming a balancing act—when to nail the tough guy to the bench, when to turn him loose for tactical purposes to turn the tide of a game, and when to throw him out there and slide in a fight for the sheer entertainment value for the fans who have come to expect it. Here, developing players for advancement is not in any business plan. Dollas said typically teams are made up of two lines of scorers, one line of grinders, and one line of fighters.

A couple of site mentions never hurts:

With little mainstream media attention to help spin the story Gaudette and others wants to tell, league stats bolster that reputation—eight teams, 50 games, 1,660 majors in 2005-06. With teams just passing the 30-game mark this season, the fighting major total eclipses 1,020, according to hockeyfights.com.

To check out all the LNAH fight stats, just visit the LNAH page.

I should be posting some LNAH video clips soon, but until then here’s a great mic’d up fight between Jon Mirasty and Jaques Dube from the 25th:

Vote!

Stars-Ducks Action

The Stars and Ducks always seem to come through.

It didn’t take Krys Barch long to make himself known going with both Shane O’Brien and Chris Pronger.  The clip that includes Barch-Pronger is a new Youtube preview on the videos page.  Barch-O’Brien and Steve Ott-Joe DiPenta are both also on Youtube after the jump.

The next Ducks-Stars game is Feb 10, 2007.

A legend to be missed:
Gump Worsley passes away

Continue reading: Stars-Ducks Action