Calling All Enforcers

With Buotte's blog yesterday regarding the almost Ovechkin fight, it got me thinking about team's need for enforcers. Some say that the Capitals are in desperate need for a "true enforcer" oppossed to the occasional scrappers like Matt Bradley. I don't have a problem with teams have the Matt Bradley, Mike Rupp, or Kyle Chipchura type of players. Those who don't go out looking for a fight, but will when necessary. But I can see people's points about a team such as the Capitals. Boasting talent like Ovie, Semin, Backstrom, and Green; you want them protected. The Capitals let Donald Brashear go in order to make room for a more skilled player. Not a bad decision, but that spot has been overtaken by not one player, but several. Consistently recalling and reassigning prospects between the minors, no one has really stuck on the 4th line.

Below I am going to break down each team regarding enforcers. I will point out the obvious enforcer (if any), and the runner-ups (again, if any).

Anaheim Ducks - George Parros is the obvious choice here. Mike Brown hasn't fought as much during his time in Anaheim, but it is a suitable replacement should Parros go down. Kyle Chipchura has surprisingly dropped the gloves 5 times since being acquired from Montreal earlier this season.

Atlanta Thrashers - Eric Boulton is really all they got. He has been there for awhile now and knows what Coach John Anderson expects out of him; to beat people mercifully. Chris Thorburn is second on the team in fights, but Ilya Kovalchuk would rather take on his own fights than have him come in to fight them for him.

Boston Bruins - To the minds of Bruins fans, Milan Lucic is the enforcer here. To people with intelligence, Shawn Thornton is the enforcer. Milan Lucic has 1 fight this season and it's going to stay that way. Sure, he missed a ton of games, great, I get it. However, he just had surgery on his main throwing hand, #8 is not going to risk that while he has to be expected to put up 50 goals in 50 games.

Buffalo Sabres - The days of Rob Ray and Andrew Peters are long gone. This need could pick-up an enforcer towards the deadline in order to protect Thomas Vanek and Co. That is, unless Lindy Ruff and Darcy Regier still believe that Patrick Kaleta is a good fighter. Oh wait, they have Steve Montador, everything is okay.

Calgary Flames - With Brian McGrattan and Brandon Prust holding down the fort in Calgary, the kids are gonna be alright.

Carolina Hurricanes - Not much to mention here. And, who cares?

Chicago Blackhawks - Ben Eager is supposed to handle the task at hand here, but it appears as if he is uninterested this season w/ 5 fights. Colin Fraser has a respectable 6 fights to lead the way. But if anyone forgot, this is the team with Kane, Toews, Sharp, Versteeg, Seabrook, Hossa, and Keith.

Colorado Avalanche - Hard to believe that you cannot even call Darcy Tucker an enforcer of any kind nowadays. He sits far down on the list as far as the Avs are concerned. Cody McLeod, still a rather unknown fighter in the league, isn't afraid to take on the tougher customers of the league. Most recently he fought Brandon Prust of the Flames. Tough guy David Koci is the true heavyweight here, despite being 3 fights behind McLeod with 8. Koci doesn't play nearly as many games or minutes to his credit though.

Columbus Blue Jackets - Jared Boll has things under his wing in Columbus. Derek Dorsett wouldn't mind being Boll, but he's not.

Dallas Stars - Krys Barch handles the enforcer role just fine, despite not looking like one. Steve Ott is there too, to fight anyone that cannot fight.

Detroit Red Wings - Oh the Detroit Red Wings. How miserable for a fan it would be should you not be good year in and year out. Near the bottom of the list for fighting majors once again with 14, Brad May has 9. So there is reason to cheer for one person atleast. May wasn't even supposed to apart of the mix there until they signed him just after the season got under way. He hasn't lost his touch either.

Edmonton Oilers - 12 guys have been willing to drop the gloves for the Oilers this year. Not a bad thing for fans out there. Unfortunately their enforcer in Zach Stortini just cannot win a fight. Then they have J.F. Jacques who can step in if necessary.

Florida Panthers - Bryan Allan, Kenndal McArdle, and Gregory Campbell. Awesome.

Los Angeles Kings - Raitis Ivanans needs no help in LA.

Minnesota Wild - The Bash Brothers: Derek Boogaard and John Scott. There's a reason why the two biggest goons in the NHL only have a total of 11 fights this year: The rest of the league is SMART. But Boogaard also lends his skills off the ice to the youth of Minnesota by hosting a fighting clinic with his brother Aaron.

Montreal Canadiens - Georges Laraque and Travis Moen = 8 fights. Don't know what happened there.

Nashville Predators - Jordin Tootoo and Wade Belak got sick of fighting. 12 fights total for team. Dead last in NHL.

New Jersey Devils - They have Andrew Peters, Pierre Luc-Leblond, and David Clarkson to protect the house when one of them plays, which isn't a lot.

New York Islanders - Tim Jackman is all they got, and he doesn't have the pugilistic skills one would like.

New York Rangers - Donald Brashear can take on the best of the best, as he has been doing for years now. Sean Avery can take on goalies, fans, and the media. Aaron Voros, ummmmmm, yeah, he is just there.

Ottawa Senators - Matt Carkner came out of nowhere to rack up 14 fighting majors thus far. He, unlike some of the potential fighters in Washington probably saw the void in the enforcer role and took it upon his self to make sure everything was okay up in Ottawa.

Philadelphia Flyers - Asham, Hartnell, Laperierre, and Carcillo are all fighting to be the fighter. It's a close race so far, but Laperierre is on top with 13 fighting majors.

Phoenix Coyotes - Paul Bissonnette has 14 of the team's 22 fighting majors. The fans coming out to jobing.com arena have been surprised by not only the record, but this up-and-coming fighter's skills.

Pittsburgh Penguins - Mike Rupp is developing into a true heavyweight and breezing past Eric Godard. Not a bad thing for the team and fans alike. Rupp has some hockey skill that can't be denied. Even Evgeni Malkin will stick up for the top players as well.



San Jose Sharks - I wish I could be in San Jose for every game. Not only do you have the scoring of Joe Thornton, Patrick Marleau, and Dany Heatley, but you have the fighting skills of Jody Shelley and Frazer McLaren.

St. Louis Blues - Lately, David Backes didn't think that the likes of Rick Nash, Corey Perry, and Johnathan Toews should be left untouched. Give credit to Backes for taking on some truly tough customers for the main events. BJ Crombeen and Cam Janssen are jealous they didn't get the chance.

Tampa Bay Lightning - It took Zenon Konopka a long time to make a home in the NHL. But he found it in Tampa, and with that he leads the league in fighting majors. They also got cheapshot artist and piece of crap Steve Downie.

Toronto Maple Leafs - With Brian Burke running the show things have toughened up. Jamal Mayers, who some may of thought vanished from fighting, has returned to his old form with 8 fights so far. Colton Orr isn't shying away either with 10 majors.

Vancouver Canucks - Rick Rypien , Tanner Glass, and Darcy Hordichuck have created a scary trio to deal with. You probably won't see a whole lot of of people messing with the Sedin twins now.

Washington Capitals - The main purpose of this blog is finally here. Tied for the least fighting majors in the league with 12, it comes as a shock to me. With no Brashear, no one can expect big numbers, but 12 is low considering Matt Bradley and John Erskine are on this team. You figure a few others would get into the mix eventually. Maybe Coach Bruce Boudreau told the team to do otherwise.

Well that's all for that.

In Other News:

- Teemu Selanne is out 4-8 weeks with a broken jaw for the Ducks. Not good news for a team that has been performing well as of late. With Selanne out, maybe Dan Sexton can receive more playing time and impress even more.

- The Bruins lost another one last night as they took on the Ducks. Are we going to see a major shake-up in Boston soon? We know how Bostonians can be in tough times; they expect big things regardless of the roster.

- Fresh off his $2,500 fine, Alex Burrows picked up a few more minor penalties in a game that wasn't reffed by Stephane Auger.

That's all for me today. I am sure we may hear from Buotte by the day's end. Check back later for more Nonsense Hockey.