George Parros rears back to avoid an uppercut from Matt Kassian. AP Photo/Jim Mone

A Heavyweight Sighting

Valentine's Day 2012 marked something seldom seen in the NHL this year: a true heavyweight clash.

Young Minnesota Wild enforcer Matt Kassian squared off against veteran NHL fighter George Parros of the Anaheim Ducks. It started off pretty open, with both players landing solid shots before it digressed into grappling.

This marks Matt Kassian's steepest challenge of the year, and it comes against a club in Anaheim that is one of only a handful of teams to carry a legitimate heavyweight enforcer these days.

This was George Parros' first fight since December 26th and only his seventh fight all season. Last season he had a total of 27, with seven of those FMs coming before Thanksgiving. Matt Kassian has moved into the tough guy role due to the demotion of Brad Staubitz to Houston. He's had a hard time finding dance partners and this was only his fourth fight of the year, the first since taking on Darcy Hordichuk twice in the same game in December.

With how things tighten up down the stretch with teams battling for playoff spots, fights between heavyweights like Parros and Kassian could be close to done for the season.

Something more common

There is no love lost between divisional rivals St. Louis and Columbus. Last night we saw another chapter added as Derek Dorsett and B.J. Crombeen dropped the gloves for a middleweight duel. It was a locked-out, technical, right-hand battle that had few punches thrown and fewer landed.

Videos added

George Parros vs Matt Kassian Feb 14, 2012
B.J. Crombeen vs Derek Dorsett Feb 14, 2012
Jim Kyte vs Mark Janssens Nov 7, 1995
Eric Cairns vs Aaron Downey Feb 11, 2004
Eric Cairns vs Steve Ott Feb 11, 2004
Rob Davison vs Darren McCarty Feb 11, 2004
John McKenzie vs Pete Stemkowski Jan 6, 1968
Rob Pearson vs Keith Jones Mar 9, 1993
Tony Twist vs Darin Kimble Apr 8, 1993
Lubomir Visnovsky vs Derick Brassard Feb 12, 2012
Andrew Alberts vs Tim Jackman Feb 11, 2012
Mike Duco vs Lance Bouma Feb 11, 2012
Andrew Shaw vs Kyle Chipchura Feb 11, 2012
Brandon Dubinsky vs Zac Rinaldo Feb 11, 2012
Brian Boyle vs Wayne Simmonds Feb 11, 2012
Bryan Bickell vs Jamie McGinn Feb 10, 2012
Jamal Mayers vs Ryane Clowe Feb 10, 2012