No Quit

There were three lengthy fights last night.

It started early, with Sean Avery and David Clarkson dropping the gloves just 35 seconds into the Rangers-Devils game.  They fought for about an hour or so before falling to the ice.

In the Ducks-Stars game Brad May and Krys Barch went for the fourth time this season.  Two of the other fights are among the top rated fights of the season, and this one will likely come close to them in voting.  “Wanna make a highlight reel?”

The three other May-Barch fights this season: Nov 5, 2007, Nov 21, 2007 and Jan 15, 2008.

Lastly, Derek Boogaard got into his first scrap since Nov 23.  His opponent then, and last night, was Jody Shelley, although Shelley switched team jerseys in-between.  Boogaard didn’t look rusty, maintaining control throughout the bout.

Attenzione! Carcillo vicino

Tuesday’s Coyotes-Oilers game led to a couple of articles yesterday about Daniel Carcillo from up north.

Jim Matheson of The Edmonton Journal defines Carcillo as the new breed of tough guy

Carcillo is essentially the new breed of the NHL tough guy. He can play a regular shift, skate and shoot, get on your nerves and he likes to fight. He’s not your true night watchman because he doesn’t weigh 260 pounds like Laraque or Boogaard or Raitis Ivanans.

“I tried to fight Ivanans once ... he tagged me one and I was gone. I cut him, so I was pretty happy, though,” said Carcillo.

Mark Spector of the National Post declares Carcillo a new breed of fighter (see a trend?).

Carcillo states that coach Wayne Gretzky isn’t really concerned about the fighting as much as his post-penalty penalties: mostly Carcillo mouthing off and picking up extras.

An interesting tidbit towards the end of Spector’s article:

Laraque predicts that the NHLPA will vote to push for the abolition of the instigator rule. The topic was addressed during new NHLPA head Paul Kelly’s fall tour, and will come up again at the union’s summer meetings. Should Kelly get the go-ahead from his players, he could then approach the league about dropping the instigator.

And Laraque thinks that could end the trend towards players like Carcillo.

“That’s their job - to draw penalties. Now [without the instigator penalty] you can beat the piss out of the people who do that, and not get two minutes extra,” Laraque said. “Most of the guys in league, they hate these agitators.”

Videos added

Brad May vs Krys Barch Mar 19, 2008
Derek Boogaard vs Jody Shelley Mar 19, 2008
Sean Avery vs David Clarkson Mar 19, 2008

Note that the two clips on the Avery-Clarkson page contain basically the same video, but one has Doc and Chico announcing (MSG+) and the other has Sam and Joe (MSG).

Some reads

Boulton, Holik get in shoving match
Fritsche’s solid game backs up tough talk
The years fly by
Barch has another marathon fight
Team Canada in Kandahar for ball-hockey rematch
Curtis Brown back after missing 25 games
Will late push save Panthers, Martin?
Garden of Grit
Okposo’s debut only excitement in Isles’ loss
Wrestlers fit right in with Buffalo tough guys
Top Madison Square Garden chants
Stevens’ job should depend on playoff berth