Clarkson Gets Busy
David Clarkson was a busy man on Halloween night, involved in two fights and nearly a third when Andre Roy decided to jump him late in the third period of New Jersey’s 6-1 win last night. Clarkson tangled with Chris Gratton and Shane O’Brien earlier in the evening. Sheldon Brookbank logged his first major of the season against Nick Tarnasky in the game as well.
Clarkson is now tied with Doug Murray for the individual FM leaders lead. Tampa Bay’s efforts last night propelled them to a tie for the top spot in terms of team leaders.
The two teams meet again later this month on the 24th.
Tocchet Permitted to Return in February
NHL commissioner Gary Bettman announced this morning that Rick Tocchet will be reinstated into the league effective February 7, 2008. The date will mark two years since Tocchet first announced that he was taking a leave of absence from his assistant coach position for the Phoenix Coyotes.
Bettman realizes that many out there believe that Tocchet should never be permitted to be part of league activities again. However he believes that those people need to take a step back and look at the entire picture instead of focusing on the negatives of Tocchet’s actions:
“There are those who suggest that Mr. Tocchet should be prohibited from resuming active status in the league for an extremely long and additional period of time, perhaps forever,” said Bettman. “In my view, those who would make such a suggestion are not familiar with all the facts and are still focused on the original headlines.”
Coyotes Head Coach and Part-Owner Wayne Gretzky formally announced that the team will allow Tocchet to resume his position as assistant coach:
“We respect the Commissioner’s decision and are relieved that this situation is behind us,” stated Gretzky. “We will welcome Rick Tocchet back on Feb. 7, 2008.”
Koci Learns Lesson
Blackhawks’ enforcer David Koci says that he’s learned his lesson one week after being bloodied at the hands of Zdeno Chara:
‘‘Usually I’m a more defensive fighter, but my last two fights I tried to kill the guys,’’ Koci said. ‘‘I got confidence from my first couple fights, and I tried to be more aggressive. That’s not the way I usually fight, and that’s why I got hurt. You learn from your mistakes.’‘
Koci is still a couple weeks away for returning to the ice according to doctors:
‘‘They want my nose to heal up,’’ he said. ‘‘If I just got bumped now it’d be broken again, and if I just got jabbed there’d be blood all over the place. For the job I do, I’ve got to be 100 percent.’‘
Filling in
While David is on vacation, I’ll be filling in for him. I’ll be taking care of most of the logs, blogging, and throwing up some videos to the best of my ability. Remember if you need help in the forums, feel free to contact myself, Jamie or Bill.
If you have other questions or concerns you can email David. However please be aware there will be a delay in receiving a response.
Recent Videos Added
Tom Kostopoulos vs Craig Adams Oct 26, 2007
Rob Davison vs Aaron Downey Oct 26, 2007
Riley Cote vs Shawn Thornton Oct 26, 2007
Ben Eager vs Milan Lucic Oct 27, 2007
Andrew Peters vs Andre Roy Oct 27, 2007
Steve Bernier vs Brenden Morrow Oct 29, 2007
Doug Murray vs Todd Fedoruk Oct 29, 2007
Brian Sutherby vs Lawrence Nycholat Sep 20, 2007
Some Reads
Crowder turns goal-scorer in the unlikeliest of hockey venues
Less call to brawl
Blue Jackets’ Shelley, a force of nature
Flyers need to control their players or pay the price
Curtailing NHL fights changed league personality
Scott Parker Answers Your Questions
Godard: More than fists
Will champions Duck out early?
Revival of Flyers’ roughhouse style downplayed
Fists a-flying in NHL
