One Chapter Over
Cam Janssen fought Wade Belak. Who would’ve guessed it?
For those outside of Canada who read nothing but their local paper, Janssen threw a hit on Tomas Kaberle, knocking him out of action a few weeks ago. Janssen’s been enemy #1 in Toronto since and there was a lot of talk going into last night’s game.
Within his first few shifts Belak issued the challenge to Janssen and they squared off. About a minute later Janssen actually joined the fight. Janssen’s working on his Matt Barnaby-don’t-come-in-yet-linesmen wave.
That pretty much settled that incident. The Leafs do have a shot at playing the Devils in the first round of the playoffs, so who knows if it will all become an issue later on. Who am I kidding, the Toronto media will make sure of that if the seeding’s right. Three things really stand out from last night’s game: the score, the fight, and the clang of the goal posts being hit.
There were two other scraps last night, Gregory Campbell in quick one with Ben Eager, and Danny Richmond mostly grappling with Manny Malhotra.
Last night’s fights
Gregory Campbell vs Ben Eager Mar 20, 2007
Danny Richmond vs Manny Malhotra Mar 20, 2007
Cam Janssen vs Wade Belak Mar 20, 2007
More Janssen-Belak:
Cam Janssen vs Wade Belak Nov 18, 2006
Wade Belak vs Cam Janssen Dec 31, 2005
If you’re looking for the Tootoo punch on Robidas, that’s in this post.
Update 1040am: Adding some reads and some random thoughts.
Dubinsky, Liffiton back to Hartford
Both Gagne and Upshall scored in that 5-3 Flyers win on Feb. 17, which was notable not only for the Shanahan injury, but the cheap and rough shots that some Flyers (Fedoruk, Eager, Richards, Picard) laid on Rangers starting soon after the puck dropped.
So Colton Orr, who did not dress that game, surely will tomorrow.
After that game, Garden chairman James Dolan apparently blew a gasket and lambasted both GM Glen Sather and coach Tom Renney for not dressing Orr, according to two persons familiar with the issue. “He said, ‘What the bleep is going on here?’’ according to one person who asked not to be identified.
Since then, Orr has played in all 15 games.
Shanahan: You’ve Got Some Explaining to Do – Rangers and trannies. I grew up on Long Island, so I’ll just let Alanah and Page Six do the talking (just a little fun, nothing more).
Speaking of Shanny, he should return tonight: After Concussion, Shanahan Is Back for Rangers Playoff Chase
Brendan Shanahan is one of the few great powerforwards left in the game. I think it’s easy to say no matter what team you’re a fan of. With chunks of time in a few cities, I wonder how most will remember him. He won the Cup in Detroit, so it’s likely that’ll be it, but for those who have followed him throughout his career, it might be easy to still see him in a red/green Devils jersey or racking up goals in St Louis. If you think of him as a Whaler, you might have some Hartford attachment issues.
More than Shanny, I always wonder what team people will think of when they remember Chris Chelios (who seems like he has a good ten years left in him). The man’s played careers in three cities. He’s won Cups in two, and gone to the Finals in all three.
Game within the game
Leafs punch out Devs
Speaking about fighting, isn’t it interesting that hockey writers will shame TV shows, radio programs like mine, newscasts for airing hockey fights and talking about them as a part of the game but will never write a word about how their newspapers routinely put pictures of fights in their rags? Today the Sun, Star, Globe and post all have the Belak/Janssen fight on their front cover yet not a peep from any writer about how their papers are encouraging violence in the NHL.
Jeff co-hosts Leafs Lunch with Bill Watters every day from noon to 2pm eastern. You can listen online and I suggest you do as it’s one of the best hockey shows out there. I do my best to make it a part of my day whenever I can.
With Koci on bench, Hawks go down without a fight – Like it or not, the “Cult of Koci” is growing very, very fast. I think half the Czech Republic stops by this site when David Koci drops the gloves and it’s one of the few times I get a lot of emails from Hawks fans.
