The Leafs and Sens fought it out in a close game last night.

Just a few minutes into the game Jeff Finger and Jesse Winchester got things started.  Some bumping after a whistle and the gloves were off.  Winchester had a big hit on Jamal Mayers earlier that might have sparked that one.

About ten minutes Colton Orr continued his monster week by dropping Matt Carkner.  Orr has looked unstoppable in his last couple of fights.

Just a minute after that, Luke Schenn took on Chris Neil.  Schenn clearly didn’t appreciate the hit Neil laid on him, plus the bonus stick-work afterwards.

Schenn took another big hit in the second period, this one from Jarkko Ruutu.  John Mitchell went straight after Ruutu and the two had the fourth and final fight of the night.

After being down 2-1 in the second period Ottawa scored two goals in just over three minutes to take the lead.  The held on to win 3-2.

In other action:
- Aaron Voros bloodied Matt Bradley, but Bradley wound up scoring the game winner for the Caps.
- There were two fights in the Flames-Avs game. Brandon Prust picked up his 8th major against Chris Stewart.

So long Shanny

Brendan Shanahan has annouced his retirement.  He was a true powerfoward and his game will be missed.  It is rumored that Shanahan will work for the NHL.

More on Shanahan:
The NHL without Brendan Shanahan is sadly now a reality
Chase Has Fond Memories of Shanahan
Bowman: Shanahan the “missing piece”
Shanahan leaves impressive off-ice legacy

Videos added

Kyle Quincey vs Rene Bourque Nov 17, 2009
Chris Stewart vs Brandon Prust Nov 17, 2009
John Mitchell vs Jarkko Ruutu Nov 17, 2009
Luke Schenn vs Chris Neil Nov 17, 2009
Colton Orr vs Matt Carkner Nov 17, 2009
Jeff Finger vs Jesse Winchester Nov 17, 2009
Matt Bradley vs Aaron Voros Nov 17, 2009
Matt Walker vs Paul Bissonnette Nov 16, 2009
Wayne Simmonds vs Kenndal McArdle Nov 16, 2009
Ryan Getzlaf vs Bill Guerin Nov 16, 2009
Tim Jackman vs Shawn Thornton Nov 16, 2009
Jason Strudwick vs Tom Sestito Nov 16, 2009
Zack Stortini vs Michael Blunden Nov 16, 2009

Some reads

Avery grinds with old gusto
Canucks’ Hordichuk fights to stay in NHL
Players less safe in era of salary cap, instigator penalty
Chicago Blackhawks say ‘thank you’ to ex-Shark Jeremy Roenick
Wing Ryan Malone is Tampa Bay Lightning’s unsung hero

A decently busy night for fighting (yes, Saturday Night… but that joke’s past).  Eight fights in twelve games overall.

Brian McGrattan and Colton Orr got things started early in the Hockey Night in Canada game.  Orr landed some heavy shots, leaving McGrattan to clean himself up in the box.  These two have now had a handful of great fights in the NHL.

Brandon Prust and Jamal Mayers dropped the gloves off of the next faceoff.  It was Prust’s second night in a row with a fight.  He had a great scrap with Adam Mair Friday night.  Olli Jokinen and Francois Beauchemin had a quick fight later in the game.

A couple of other notables:
- Cam Janssen continued a very solid season with a solid showing against Brad Staubitz.  It was fight number five for Janssen.
- Rick Rypien also picked up his fifth major last night.  He fought Cody McLeod, who’s been wearing a visor due to injury.

Videos added

Rick Rypien vs Cody McLeod Nov 14, 2009 x2
Brad Staubitz vs Cam Janssen Nov 14, 2009
Krys Barch vs Paul Bissonnette Nov 14, 2009
Brandon Prust vs Jamal Mayers Nov 14, 2009
Brian McGrattan vs Colton Orr Nov 14, 2009
Olli Jokinen vs Francois Beauchemin Nov 14, 2009
Raitis Ivanans vs Zenon Konopka Nov 14, 2009
Byron Bitz vs Deryk Engelland Nov 14, 2009
Luke Schenn vs Troy Brouwer Nov 13, 2009
Raitis Ivanans vs Chris Thorburn Nov 13, 2009
Brad Richardson vs Jim Slater Nov 13, 2009
Dion Phaneuf vs Paul Gaustad Nov 13, 2009
Brandon Prust vs Adam Mair Nov 13, 2009

Some reads

Schultz proud to be a Flyer for life | Hall of Famer Dave Schultz: Unplugged
Flyers’ Pronger named No. 1 ‘nastiest’ defenseman
The greatest sports moustaches of all time
Stamkos might just be spooky good

The Detroit Red Wings currently have five fighting majors, a pace to far surpass last season’s total of 11.  The reason for that is Brad May.  May has all five of the Wings majors and even though he’ll be 38-years old by the end of the month, he’s still playing the same style of game he has since entering the NHL.

May fought soon-to-be-cult-fave Rick Rypien last night.  It was an open fight that favored the younger Rypien, but it had the Detroit crowd roaring.

It’s the second night in a row May dropped the gloves.  He took on Jared Boll Wednesday.  Fighting back-to-back nights isn’t easy at any age, let alone 37.  May is clearly still willing to do whatever it takes to help his team.

1000

Donald Brashear played in his 1000th NHL game last night.  He marked the occassion by fighting Eric Boulton.  It was a long, slow-paced tussle.  Zach Bogosian and Ryan Callahan had a quicker scrap later in the game.

Carkner keeps the lead

Matt Carkner added another major to his league lead.  He now has eight on the season.  Carkner’s opponent last night was Ian Laperriere.

Videos added

Krys Barch vs Brad Staubitz Nov 12, 2009 x2
Jay Leach vs Paul Bissonnette Nov 12, 2009
Rick Rypien vs Brad May Nov 12, 2009
Zach Bogosian vs Ryan Callahan Nov 12, 2009
Eric Boulton vs Donald Brashear Nov 12, 2009
Matt Carkner vs Ian Laperriere Nov 12, 2009
Bryan Allen vs Shawn Thornton Nov 12, 2009 x2
Cody McLeod vs Colin Fraser Nov 11, 2009
Matt Hendricks vs Colin Fraser Nov 11, 2009
Brad May vs Jared Boll Nov 11, 2009

A read

Rick Tocchet: Eliminate instigator rule to control head hits

The St Louis Blues routed the Vancouver Canucks 6-1 last night.  Four goals were scored in the opening 7:36.  The only fight the Canucks had in them was literally fighting, leading to four fights in the game.

The action started early.  After Andy McDonald scored 18 seconds into the game, Kevin Bieksa was challenging BJ Crombeen.  By the 34 second mark the gloves were off and Bieksa was getting the upperhand, trying to kick-start the Canucks.  It didn’t take and down by four in the second Tanner Glass had a good scrap with Cam Janssen.  The hometown crowd was happy with the outcome of that fight and that wouldn’t change for the rest of the game.

Mid-way through the second Bieksa and Crombeen decided to go for round 2.  With a little under five minutes left, Darcy Hordichuk challenged Janssen to cap off the night of fights.  Hordi picked up an instigator earning him a game misconduct instead of a regular misconduct, plus an automatic one-game suspension and a fine for Alain Vigneault, the Canucks head coach.  The NHL could rescind the extra disciplinary actions, but outside of timing (the shift starting before the 5-minutes left cut-off), there’s little reason to believe the league would.

Videos added

Darcy Hordichuk vs Cam Janssen Nov 10, 2009
Kevin Bieksa vs B.J. Crombeen Round 2 Nov 10, 2009
Tanner Glass vs Cam Janssen Nov 10, 2009
Kevin Bieksa vs B.J. Crombeen Round 1 Nov 10, 2009
Eric Nystrom vs Ryan White Nov 10, 2009
Adam Pardy vs Travis Moen Nov 10, 2009

Some reads

Carcillo fighting the urge to fight
Hammerin’ Hecht battles to score
Iginla answers coach’s challenge with strong play
Journeyman earns trust as a pinch-hitter
Ryan Craig motivated by stint with Norfolk

Cam Janssen and Arron Asham dropped the gloves for the fifth time in the NHL yesterday.  Like the other four, it was a good one and had the crowd roaring early in the game.  Philly wound up coming out on top, 2-1, in a shootout.

Added video from first fight to make sure we’ve got them covered in the logs:
Arron Asham vs Cam Janssen Feb 11, 2006 x2
Arron Asham vs Cam Janssen Nov 2, 2006
Cam Janssen vs Arron Asham Feb 17, 2007
Arron Asham vs Cam Janssen Jan 31, 2009

Eric Godard and Jody Shelley added to their own rivalry as well.  Last night was fight number four.  Like Janssen and Asham, they’ve had a great series so far.

Eric Godard vs Jody Shelley Nov 22, 2003
Jody Shelley vs Eric Godard Feb 2, 2007
Eric Godard vs Jody Shelley Oct 28, 2008

Shelley had a quick fight against Jay McKee earlier in the third period.

Matt Carkner continues to cement his NHL status.  Last night’s opponent was Andrew Peters.  They first fought 12 years ago in the OHL.

Shawn Thornton fought twice for the Bruins.  He took on both Steve Montador and Paul Gaustad.

Videos added

Andrew Peters vs Matt Carkner Nov 7, 2009
Eric Godard vs Jody Shelley Nov 7, 2009
Jay McKee vs Jody Shelley Nov 7, 2009
Michael Rupp vs Brad Staubitz Nov 7, 2009
Jochen Hecht vs Mark Stuart Nov 7, 2009
Paul Gaustad vs Shawn Thornton Nov 7, 2009
Cam Janssen vs Arron Asham Nov 7, 2009
Kenndal McArdle vs Matt Bradley Nov 7, 2009
Steve Montador vs Shawn Thornton Nov 7, 2009
Colin Fraser vs Matt Hendricks Nov 6, 2009
Tim Jackman vs David Clarkson Nov 6, 2009

Some reads

Consistency lacking in enforcement of instigator rule
Emery meshing well with Flyers
George Parros: My wedding and my moustache
Carrie Underwood gushes over Mike Fisher on Regis and Kelly
Smaby patiently waits for chance
A fusion of rink and ring

A relatively slow week so far.  Jared Boll was busy last night though.  Two fights for the Blue Jacket in a 3-2 shootout loss to the Sharks.  Boll handled Kent Huskins easily in the first period.  I’m sure Boll had this on his mind before the game.  Brad Staubitz went after Boll in the second period.  The two grappled for quite a while before being broken up.

Byers suspended

Dane Byers was suspended for one game due to instigating a fight against Tanner Glass Tuesday night late in the Rangers game against the Canucks.

Videos added

Brad Staubitz vs Jared Boll Nov 4, 2009
Kent Huskins vs Jared Boll Nov 4, 2009
Chris Clark vs Rod Pelley Nov 4, 2009
Ian Laperriere vs Rick Rypien Dec 2, 2006
Dane Byers vs Tanner Glass Nov 3, 2009
Lukas Krajicek vs Niklas Hagman Nov 3, 2009
Raitis Ivanans vs Paul Bissonnette Nov 2, 2009
Jean-Francois Jacques vs Andy Sutton Nov 2, 2009
Zenon Konopka vs Arron Asham Nov 2, 2009

Some reads

Rick Tocchet demands intensity from Tampa Bay Lightning
Predators rookie finds NHL life tough
Boogaard grows game, not goal total
Patience is a virtue regarding young players

Sidney Crosby is starting to make this a habit.  For the third season in a row Crosby has dropped the gloves.  He was battling around the net with Marek Zidlicky before the two exchanged slashes, prompting the gloves to come off.  Zidlicky’s fought with about the same frequency as Crosby the past few seasons.  Sid had Zidlicky’s jersey up pretty fast, getting in a few punches as the linesmen wasted no time breaking it up.

Desert fight

The Coyotes and Ducks are probably in the opposite spots most expected in the standings.  Last night’s game between these two teams in Phoenix was played hard and chippy all the way through.  James Wisniewski laid a monster, if not questionable hit on Shane Doan in the first period.  Doan had a little trouble getting back to the bench and Keith Yandle stepped up for his teammate.  Just a minute into the second period, presumably with his head clearer, Doan took on Wisniewski himself.  Heavyweights George Parros and Paul Bissonnette also had a scrap in the first.

May’s status unknown

Brad May was high-sticked while on the bench last night.  He remained in Calgary for observation, but is scheduled to fly home today.  There’s no date for his return, but good to know it’s not serious.  The Wings are a pretty tough watch without him.

Videos added

James Wisniewski vs Shane Doan Oct 31, 2009
George Parros vs Paul Bissonnette Oct 31, 2009
James Wisniewski vs Keith Yandle Oct 31, 2009
Marek Zidlicky vs Sidney Crosby Oct 31, 2009
Craig Rivet vs Andy Sutton Oct 31, 2009
Steve Montador vs Tim Jackman Oct 31, 2009
Bryce Salvador vs Steve Downie Oct 31, 2009
Tim Conboy vs Daniel Carcillo Oct 31, 2009
Tom Kostopoulos vs Arron Asham Oct 31, 2009
Jay Harrison vs Ian Laperriere Oct 31, 2009

Some reads

May still has some fight left
John Tucker cancer free after radiation
Former Rangers Prucha, Korpikoski miss New York
Devils resumed Islanders’ playoff beard tradition
Montreal’s scientific method
George Parros: Dux in tux was a full evening
A Ref’s Life: Player communication

There were a pair of fights last night, both coming from the Senators-Lightning game.  This is the second time this season these two mildly overacheiving teams have met up.  The first game saw a few scraps as well.

There were new matchups this time around.  Mid-way through the game Chris Neil took on Zenon Konopka in a fairly spirited fight.  Konopka wasn’t too big a fan of the way the bout ended, with Neil getting in a late shot with the linesmen in.  Steve Downie wanted a piece of Jarkko Ruutu with under a minute left in the game.  Downie had the early part of the bout, but Ruutu was able to even things up.  These two have fought once before, when they were part of the Battle of Pennsylvania.

Tampa and Ottawa play twice more.  The next game is in just a week.  The last isn’t until April.

Videos added

Chris Neil vs Zenon Konopka Oct 29, 2009
Jarkko Ruutu vs Steve Downie Oct 29, 2009
Shane Hnidy vs Jake Dowell Oct 26, 2009
Shean Donovan vs Kenndal McArdle Oct 28, 2009
Jim Vandermeer vs R.J. Umberger Oct 28, 2009
Paul Bissonnette vs Jared Boll Oct 28, 2009
Cam Janssen vs Tim Conboy Oct 28, 2009
Brad Winchester vs Jay Harrison Oct 28, 2009

Some reads

Red Wings appreciate knowing veteran enforcer Brad May has their backs
Bolts’s Zonopka brings energy
A storied rise to the NHL for Caps’ Boudreau
Gill collects ring, but fits right in with Montreal
Some fun with numbers
Knock some sense into ‘em
High-def TV luring Americans to NHL

Steve MacIntyre and Brian McGrattan got the latest Flames-Oilers game started off right.  Just a few minutes into the game the two had a great fight that had the crowd roaring.

It was the second game of the season for MacIntyre and his first regular season fight since February, although he did have a pair against Joel Rechlicz in the preseason.

The Flames have won all three games against the Oilers so far. There have been five fights.

The other Wild monster

No Derek Boogaard?  No problem.  The Wild just substitute giants and add John Scott to their squad.  Scott handled Tim Conboy with ease.  Conboy, at 6’2” and 210 lbs, is no small man, but he could never get past Scott’s enormous reach advantage.

King returns, King leaves

DJ King played one game last season and returned to action last night.  He dropped the gloves and had an impressive win over Krys Barch.  Unfortunately he left the game right after with a hand or wrist injury.  He’s currently listed as day-to-day.

Richards crushes Booth

Mike Richards laid a huge hit on David Booth in last night’s Flyers-Panthers game.  Richards caught Booth’s head hard with his shoulder and Booth laid motionless on the ice. While Booth’s long-term status is unknown there was some positive news:

“They did some very quick motor tests and everything seemed fine,” Sexton said after the game. “He’s coherent. He knew his name.”

The league will review the play, Richards could be suspended.

Videos added

Tim Conboy vs John Scott Oct 24, 2009
Steve Begin vs Chris Neil Oct 24, 2009
Shawn Thornton vs Matt Carkner Oct 24, 2009
Byron Bitz vs Matt Carkner Oct 24, 2009
Ladislav Smid vs Mark Giordano Oct 24, 2009
Steve MacIntyre vs Brian McGrattan Oct 24, 2009
Steve Ott vs B.J. Crombeen Oct 24, 2009
Brian Sutherby vs Brad Winchester Oct 24, 2009
Krys Barch vs D.J. King Oct 24, 2009
Brad Staubitz vs Eric Boulton Oct 24, 2009
Nathan Smith vs B.J. Crombeen Oct 23, 2009
Keith Ballard vs Chris Kunitz Oct 23, 2009

Due to the storm in NY I lost power a few times and was unable to grab the Schenn-Glass and Boyle-D’Agostini clips (and Richards’ hit on Booth).  I should have them within a few days.

Some reads

Tucker leaves hospital, not due back soon
Ducks’ Boynton dealing with frustrations
Beauchemin looks forward to return to L.A.
Super-pest finds serenity in New York
Clear-thinking must rule concussion debate
Flyers, Bruins excited about outdoor game
Devellano’s next honor should be Hall of Fame

Last night wasn’t Derek Boogaard‘s first game this season, but it was his first with a fight.  Boogaard accepted an offer to go from David Koci, who looked like he realized what a mess he was in a few seconds too late.  The Avalanche list Koci at 6’6” and 238 lbs.  Even if they’re being generous with an inch, he looked quite small compared to the monstrous Boogaard. It was a long layoff in the fistic department for Boogaard as he hadn’t dropped the gloves since January.  Apparently that was no issue as Boogaard easily handled the tough Czech.

There were a few other good bouts last night.  Krys Barch and George Parros went back and forth in Anaheim.  Francis Wathier played in his first NHL game and got into his first fight, against Mike Brown.  Scott Walker and Brendan Witt had a good go mid-way through the first period of the Islanders first win of the season (a shootout).

Videos added

Krys Barch vs George Parros Oct 21, 2009 x2
Francis Wathier vs Mike Brown Oct 21, 2009 x2
David Koci vs Derek Boogaard Oct 21, 2009 x2
Scott Walker vs Brendan Witt Oct 21, 2009

Some reads

Seeing Red, in All Its Wide Variety
Wright exceeding early expectations with Lightning
Give Sens real nicknames