Thank You Calgary, Thank You Anaheim
These two future playoff opponents had a hell of a game last night. You can catch the goals here (and Yahoo), and the other stuff here. Could be my pick for most entertaining matchup so far with Dallas-Colorado close by.
It’s easy to point those two out because the East isn’t set yet. One thing that won’t be easy is the Eastern Conference standings staying the same after tomorrow night’s games (or tonight if you’re going by the date of this post), but I’m hoping they do. Carolina-Tampa, Ottawa-Montreal, Rangers-Philadelphia, Buffalo-Jersey. Some great series from this season that can only get better in the playoffs (and spill into next season - that unbalanced schedule will be fun if these matchups stick).
Fun fact of the day: Cory Cross fought Steve Ott tonight. It was the Red Wings 6th fighting major this season. It was Ott’s 16th. Dallas has a league-leading 51 fighting majors. St. Louis is second with 49. Both teams play tomorrow night.
More from the fighting front: John Erskine dropped Eric Cairns last night. For those keeping top 10 lists, it might have pushed Erskine into yours and dropped Cairns out (who was #1 in many eyes two years ago). Georges Laraque will probably sit atop of the rankings this season, especially after his ragdolling of Chris Simon a few weeks ago (despite few punches landed). That along with the fall of Cairns, and Donald Brashear taking a few losses (namely one to rookie Brian McGrattan), Big Georges should take the crown this season.
The best fight debate should come in the form of tough guy rookie of the year. Besides McGrattan, both Derek Boogaard and Colton Orr started making big names for themselves. George Parros and Cam Janssen weren’t shy, and Josh Gratton made the most of his time in the show. We’ll be doing a slew of 2005-06 awards over at hockeyfights.com and I’ll be sure to link to them over here.
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