Tough Enough - Canes Drop Mits 44 Times Last Season
by Bob Wage on Jul 30, 2008 3:19 PM EDT
10 comments
Are the Carolina Hurricanes a tough enough hockey team? They do have some smallish players who have a tendency to get pushed around a bit. Last season before the call-ups of Wade Brookbank and Tim Conboy, the team seemed to be getting physically dominated at times. The December game in New York against the Rangers was a perfect example.
Let's take a closer look at the fights last year and see what affect if any, that Conboy and Brookbank had. Here are the team's stat totals for fighting majors last year, according to Hockeyfights.com-
- Brookbank -12
- Conboy - 7
- Commodore - 6
- Gleason - 6
- Walker - 5
- C. Adams - 4
- Cole - 2
- Ladd - 1
- Williams - 1
Once you check to see that Brookbank only played in 32 games while Conboy played in 19, it's easy to determine that they were both very active and aggressive while they were on the ice. Coincidentally or not, the Canes had an extremely good winning percentage when both of those players were suited up last season.
Many fans will say that it doesn't matter who wins or loses these fights, what's most important is the idea that the players will stick up for their teammates when needed. But just for the heck of it, let's do some number crunching by totaling the fight card results at Hockeyfights.com and see what the records are for each combatant. The winners and losers are determined by online votes, (win, lose, draw), by fans after each fight.
- Brookbank 3-4-5
- Conboy 0-4-3
- Commodore 2-2-2
- Gleason 3-1-2
- Walker 2-1-2
- Adams 0-2-2
- Cole 0-1-1
- Ladd 0-0-1
- Williams 0-0-1
There aren't a ton of victories for the Canes, (10 out of 44), but Tim Gleason and Scott Walker finished with decent winning percentages. Brookbank isn't necessarily the flashy free-swinger that Jesse Boulerice used to be, but he seems to hold his own. Two of his four losses came against Donald Brashear and Georges Laroque, top-notch heavyweights in their own right.
Tim Conboy wasn't shy about mixing it up with anybody either. His first ever NHL fight was against Scott Parker, a bigtime bruiser. According to coach Peter Laviolette, both Conboy and Brookbank should make the squad this season. Will the number of fighting majors increase this year?
The 44 fighting majors accumulated last year were the 2nd highest since the club moved to Carolina. Again according to Hockeyfights.com, here are the year by year totals.
- 1997-98 - 57
- 1998-99 - 30
- 1999-00 - 21
- 2000-01 - 26
- 2001-02 - 33
- 2002-03 - 32
- 2003-04 - 34
- 2005-06 - 17
- 2006-07 - 25
- 2007-08 - 44
The year the Hurricanes had 57 fights was when Stu "The Grim Reaper" Grimson was on the team and he led the way with 22 skirmishes all by himself.
Of course, there is much more to being considered a tough team than just fighting. If the team has a heavy forechecking presence or has blueliners that will lay you out as you cross into their territory, that can also make your team especially hard to play against. Let's take a quick look at the roster and open up a discussion how we think the team stands regarding this. I'm sure each reader will have their own opinion.
On the Hurricanes defense, I'm not sure if there is anyone who would strike fear into opposing forwards as they skate across the blueline. Mike Commodore used to line people up once in a while, but of course he is up in Ohio now.
Joni Pitkanen is not known to be overly physical and neither is Joe Corvo. Tim Gleason can and will play the body as will Nic Wallin when he is healthy. Anton Babchuk is a big kid, but wasn't necessarily known as a heavy hitter when he was with the Canes previously. Frank Kaberle will normally shy away from contact. Joseph Melichar is supposed to be physical, but is a bit of a question mark at this point. Dennis Seidenberg can also get physical at times.
While none of those blueliners would necessarily be considered a "heavy hitter", there could be a good mixture of physical guys and puck movers in that bunch. Keep in mind, one of them will probably be traded before the season starts. (Kaberle?)
On the offensive side of the ice, the Canes lost their team leader in hits last season. Erik Cole will be knocking bodies around in the Western Conference next year. Tuomo Ruutu will have to pick up where he left off in 2007-08. He had 171 hits compared to Cole's 186. Patrick Eaves will also be counted on to pick up his forechecking presence this year, if he can stay healthy.
Other forwards who have a good number of hits include Eric Staal (99), and Scott Walker (98). Staal seems capable of using the body more, but would that take away from his offense? Since the all-star normally is the primary focus of opponent's aggressors, it would seem like the body can only take so much abuse.
Rod Brind'Amour and Justin Williams can hit people when it's needed, but don't average much more than a hit per game played. Matt Cullen, Ray Whitney, and Sergei Samsonov won't be counted on to knock anyone around. Although it may happen from time to time, it's not the focus of their game.
On the 4rth line, Ryan Bayda and Chad LaRose will hit people, but their relatively small size limits the effectiveness of their efforts. Finally, Wade Brookbank and Tim Conboy will counted on to forecheck and play a physical brand of hockey, as well as to drop the gloves when necessary.
(edit)- Brandon Sutter will most likely see time on the 4rth line as well and showed that he is perfectly capable of delivering big hits. He knocked one particular superstar Russian, (Alexei Cherepanov), out of the World Junior Tournament a year ago. Can he play as just physically in the NHL? Time will tell.
Overall, while the Canes don't necessarily have a legitimate heavyweight who would strike fear into anyone looking over their roster, they do seem to have a good balance of skilled and physical players, as long as the physical ones can stay healthy.
What do you think?
A quick thanks to JP over at Japer's Rink, who did a similar study about the Caps over on his site.
Johnny Clegg
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It would seem that the hitting will pick up, but the fighting will stay the same. I still think a big punishing hitter on the blue line is needed – pesky & quick forecheckers we have, and is what is needed for the offense. Sometimes (like in Brindy’s case) it is WHEN you make the hit, not how many. Vets are better at picking and choosing their spots, while younger guys are the high energy guys who will hit anything that moves. (These guys end up being out of position more, but recover a bit faster than the vets). A good balance is needed there, and we seem to have that as well.
by marc on Jul 30, 2008 4:00 PM EDT reply actions
Don’t forget Sutter…my only real memory of him playing is against the Russians when he laid out that dude on the backcheck. Ouch!
by Justin Walther on Jul 30, 2008 4:31 PM EDT reply actions
1) We are saddened to see a decrease in pugilism in the NHL. We think its a mistake for the league to try to initiate rules to try to curtail or end this aspect of the game
2) Now don’t misunderstand, we aren’t advocating a return to the bench clearing brawls of the mid 70’s, but think that a return to the levels of the pre Bettman days would be welcomed by a vast majority of fans. their is a very vocal minority of anti fighting folks like Damien Cox who liken us pro-fighting folks as Neanderthals, but ever see a real hockey fan get up and leave a game if a fight was about to happen or occurring?
3) Who is the favourite player on most teams? Its the leading scorer and usually the enforcer/goon. At least it used to be that way. Additionally with Detroit’s success without a real fighter and with a salary cap, many teams are cutting back on the one dimensional players who would be involved in most fights. The George Parros/Brashears are a vanishing species. We say its for the detriment of the game.
by fauxrumors on Jul 30, 2008 4:36 PM EDT reply actions
I went to a residential hockey camp with Stu Grimson when I was a kid, and I cannot stress enough what an amazing person he is / was and how great he was to hang around with both on and off the ice.
by repenttokyo on Jul 30, 2008 4:38 PM EDT reply actions
Justin- great point, how could I forget Brandon? Even though he is thin of frame, he showed that he is perfectly capable of delivering a huge hit. making an edit right now.
by Bubba on Jul 30, 2008 4:40 PM EDT reply actions
I ain’t holding my breath on Eaves hitting much of anything. I’d start showing them vids of those Kronwallian death hits hits from the Wings’ Kronwall. He’s about the only guy that is clean most of the time and he dealt out more than about anybody else I watched. He ain’t huge either, just wicked good timing. Tell Cullen to keep his head up Oct. 13th. A player is a natural hitter or he ain’t. Ruutu is about the only natural pain dealing forward and Brookbank and Conboy hopefully start dealing in bruises in the rear. If Corvo, Pitkanen, Seidenburg or Gleason spend much time working on hitting they will be far less effective in moving the puck. Corvo can bump a dude off now and again. Our team isn’t built to stay mired in area long enough to draw a bead on a player. With any luck that will pan out and we can avoid getting into too many stupid penalty situations. If Roddy comes back good as new he may step in and start slamming some bodies. He has the exper. to know when and when not to and his timing is as good as anybody’s. He doesn’t where the “C” cause he’s pretty. I’d say he changes his game a tad, Staal is getting some awsome exper. under his belt, he may smack around a little more, we all know he’s gonna be a target. Then let Ruutu go apeshit. He crushed a body in the first 10 seconds he played for us and has a sweet scar from that game. He’s got it in him.
My .02? I think we will see a diff. kind of team this year. Staal is growing into a great player, he stepped up last year and I expect him to keep stepping. If Rod’s back and in shape I expect him to do what he has always done, lead by example. The team needs to hit, you watch him and Staal start hitting and the rest of the boys will try to get on the bandwagon. If Williams, Cullen, Whitney, Samsanov, Eaves and Ruutu play thier A game, an opponent better be careful, I could see alot of odd man breaks coming from our core. With Corvo and Pitkanen back there, the boys will get the puck where it needs to be. Be interesting to see what Sutter can/will bring.
Takes a rounded effort. Look at the Bruins and Craps. Chara shut down the big O and the Craps were left wondering what happened most of the time. I also think hunger and pissed off will come in to play this year. Our guys better be hungry, pissed off is esy.
A
by Paladin6 on Jul 30, 2008 4:43 PM EDT reply actions
Ruutu is going to be our biggest(small) hitter for sure. I hope his energy is right where it was last year, and he can find a way to keep from getting hooking calls all the time. Rod and Williams should do some good agitating, Eaves needs to step it up on the forecheck, but not to his shoulders detriment. Cullen needs to stay away from contact. ANY contact.
I am with faux- if the enforcers continue to disappear, the game will get too politically correct.
by packpigskinfan25 on Jul 30, 2008 8:07 PM EDT reply actions
When I think back to the really tough teams to play over the last ten years, the Devils of the mid and late 90’s come to mind. Scott Stevens would make one of his patented layouts somewhere around center ice and the entire complexion of the game would change. Nothing against Stevens but this doesn’t seem like rocket science. You have an opening and you take it. Lots of guys skate with their heads down.
The Canes don’t need fighters, they need tone setters to establish a known reputation that gets teams on the defensive from the get go. The fast guys will automatically have more ice and more time if the league is aware that you better be ready when you go into Raleigh.
The team for the past two seasons has reacted to the agressiveness of the oponent. There is a big difference. Pro-active vs. Reactive. Its not like you need to run players. Just a few well placed, timely, clean, and impactful hits.
Just one guy’s opinion.
by Ken on Jul 31, 2008 6:18 AM EDT reply actions
Ken-
I agree with you on everything, but hitting truly is an art form, and some of the best clean hitters are not truly recognized in the NHL. Guys like Mike Ramsey, who was one of the best pure, clean hitting defenseman I have ever seen. (His fame came from 1980 US olympic team). Stevens was another one. Lining up someone for an open ice hit is extremely difficult – I’ve been trying to learn it for the past 20 years – and even if you do lay the hit on someone, in open ice both players are moving with speed, so you have to get the hit just right or it won’t be effective.
Faux- I couldn’t agree with you more. Nick Fotiu (as I mentioned in earlier posts) is probably one of the top 5 most popular Rangers of all time, and one of the top 5 most feared fighters of all time. He learned to skate at 18, after winning a Golden Gloves boxing title. He was a home town boy from Staten Island, and ALWAYS threw pucks into the stand after the warm up. He always had time for kids – Stu Grimson was the same way in Hartford, and Rob Ray was like that in Buffalo. It would seem that the pugilists had the best connections with the fan base.
by marc on Jul 31, 2008 11:21 AM EDT reply actions
Good points made here, especially the one mentioning that quality is better than quantity. We have all seen some players take themselves out of position at times because they over-skate attempted hits.
by Bubba on Jul 31, 2008 1:48 PM EDT reply actions
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