Ottawa and Buffalo Brawl

Feb 23, 2007 5:30 AM David M Singer

If a picture is worth a thousand words, last night’s brawl must be worth a thousand four-letter words. Sabres coach Lindy Ruff was certainly letting them fly with Sens coach Bryan Murray.

The spark:

Chris Neil vs Drew Stafford Feb 22, 2007

The brawl:

Adam Mair vs Anton Volchenkov Feb 22, 2007
Ray Emery vs Martin Biron Feb 22, 2007
Ray Emery vs Andrew Peters Feb 22, 2007
(note: the video is the same for all)

Other fights from last night:

Todd Fedoruk vs Tim Gleason Feb 22, 2007
Mathieu Roy vs Jody Shelley Feb 22, 2007
Jean-Francois Jacques vs Ole-Kristian Tollefsen Feb 22, 2007

Tim Gleason gave Todd Fedoruk a good fight. Fedoruk, despite a scrap against Andrew Peters just two days ago, still looks rusty from his time away from the fighting game.

Let’s do it again

The Sabres play the Senators again on Saturday.

I’m sure Brian McGrattan will be dressed for this one.

Scheduling fun

I wrote about Saturday’s great divisional games, and this week the unbalanced schedule is basically “working”. It took some time, almost two full seasons, but divisional rivalries have suddenly exploded.

The Rangers-Devils action from earlier in the week led to a title in the NY Daily News you wouldn’t have expected a couple of months ago: Eight not enough for rivals

I’m sure the schedule will still be modified after next season, but if divisional games continue to be heated contests, it’ll only be a slight modification instead of a huge overhaul.

Last howl for Laraque

The word in Pittsburgh via ESPN Radio 1250AM is the Penguins have made a trade with the Phoenix Coyotes for Georges Laraque. Laraque still has to waive his no-trade clause for the deal to be completed. Big Georges was scratched for last night’s game against the Calgary Flames.

The Arizona Republic doesn’t have any done deal reported, but does publish: Laraque could be dealt before deadline. The traded hinted at is with the Pens, something I’ve written a few times in Quick Hits recently. It became apparent by the All-Star break coach Gretzky didn’t feel like he was getting what he expected from BGL.

Downloads

There’s a delay for the video downloads update. They will be updated within a day or two.

Pops No More

Just a reminder: there are no pops being served from this site anymore.

Back to the brawl

ESPN (AP) recap and video
ESPN News video report
NHL: Boxscore | Scoresheet
Local news links to be added

LetsGoSabres.com: Fight Night Notebook, Sabres take round one of Royal Rumble
SabresReport.com: Brawling at the Bank
The Smarting Senators: Hey Bryan, What About Brian?, Update: Hey Bryan, Don’t You Wish You’d Dressed Brian?, Further Update On The Bry(i)ans: Hey Mr. Ruff, You’re Right, You Don’t Laydown

More links about last night’s Sens-Sabres game to be added later along with any other good reads and info dug up.

Friday Night ...

Don’t want to jinx it, but Ducks-Stars has been a good series this season. They play again tonight at 8:30 PM ET.

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