Every Friday, FanHouse sifts through the rubble and picks the best NHL fight, with the help of HockeyFights.com.
Some weeks, this job is just too easy. Our search for the best hockey fights includes a couple dandies this week, including a classic heavyweight battle in Toronto. It's the kind of bout that makes Brian Burke smile. Check out our runners-up, along with video of this week's best fight, after the jump.
Now that Phil Kessel is officially a member of the Toronto Maple Leafs, the Boston Bruins can move forward. They knew that Kessel would be tough to bring back, especially given their salary cap issues. What general manager Peter Chiarelli wasn't necessarily prepared to hear was that Kessel didn't want to return under any circumstances.
Enter Toronto general manager Brian Burke, who gave up two first-round picks, along with a second-rounder, for the right to pay Kessel some $27 million for the next five years.
While fans eagerly await the start of the 2009-2010 NHL season, there is one high-profile player who still doesn't know what team he will spend it with.
Phil Kessel had a breakout season in 2008-2009, scoring 36 goals and picking up an impressive plus-23 rating. He was solid on the power play and dangerous in the clutch, finishing second on his team with six game-winning goals. That team, the Boston Bruins, doesn't have enough cap room to sign Kessel, and it sounds like the fourth-year pro is tired of waiting around.
USA Hockey knew what it was doing when it named Brian Burke to run the national team. As they try to build the team on the ice into a more serious international contender, Burke will keep them in the headlines. After a relatively silent experience at the IIHF World Championships, where Team USA placed fourth, Burke is back in midseason form.
In Chicago for Team USA's orientation camp in advance of the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, Burke spoke Tuesday about what fans can expect to see from the Americans. Needless to say, he spoke with brutal honesty, something that fans can equally appreciate and despise.
The Toronto Maple Leafs didn't get what they wanted (John Tavares) during the NHL Draft. They also didn't get the forwards (the Sedins) that were likely their top target in free agency.
Late last week, Maple Leafs general manager Brian Burke made it clear that his team would not be pushed around this upcoming season. Based on his first moves this offseason, he wasn't kidding. After signing tough-guy Colton Orr to a four-year, $4 million deal earlier on Wednesday, the Leafs sent defenseman Pavel Kubina, and the rights to Tim Stapleton, to the Atlanta Thrashers for Garnet Exelby and Colin Stuart.
On the surface, it's a woefully lopsided trade in favor of Atlanta, and nothing more than a salary dump for Toronto.
The plus side? Just moments after the deal was made, word surfaced that defenseman Mike Komisarek had signed with the Maple Leafs.
It's not uncommon for sports teams, at any level, to model other successful teams in an effort to become successful themselves. Hey, if it's good enough for them, it should be good enough for us, right? Sure. Just don't expect Toronto Maple Leafs general manager Brian Burke to follow another team's example unless it involves fighting and blood! OK, maybe not blood, but definitely fighting.
After the Penguins and Red Wings met in the Stanley Cup final for the second consecutive season (and not doing much fighting along the way) Burke, entering his first offseason in charge of the Maple Leafs, was quite candid when discussing the future makeup of his team.
It's officially the offseason, meaning the time is right to look into the future. We begin our division-by-division preview of the potential wheeling and dealing with the Northeast Division.
Brian Burke begins his rebuild of the Toronto Maple Leafs, Dany Heatley wants out of Ottawa and just what is Boston going to do with Phil Kessel and a limited amount of salary cap space?
The real NHL awards will be handed out Thursday night in Las Vegas, so FanHouse decided to hand out its own special awards for the 2008-09 season.
It's designed to maintain competitive balance and parity across the league, but if you waste valuable salary cap space on free agents that don't pan out or contribute the way you expected, you're pretty much stuck without a paddle because nobody is going to bail you out and take that albatross contract off your hands.
Introducing the FanHouse nominees for the Wade Redden Award for Wasted Cap Space.
Every Friday, FanHouse sifts through the rubble and picks the best NHL fight, with the help of HockeyFights.com.
Now that Phil Kessel is officially a member of the Toronto Maple Leafs, the Boston Bruins can move forward. They knew that Kessel would be tough to bring back, especially given their salary cap issues. What general manager Peter Chiarelli wasn't necessarily prepared to hear was that Kessel didn't want to return under any circumstances.
USA Hockey knew what it was doing when it named Brian Burke to run the national team. As they try to build the team on the ice into a more serious international contender, Burke will keep them in the headlines. After a relatively silent experience at the IIHF World Championships, where Team USA placed fourth, Burke is back in midseason form. 
Tampa Bay Lightning general manager Brian Lawton could very well be smarter than Toronto head coach Ron Wilson.
The Toronto Maple Leafs didn't get what they wanted (John Tavares) during the NHL Draft. They also didn't get the forwards (the Sedins) that were likely their top target in free agency.
Late last week, Maple Leafs general manager Brian Burke made it clear that his team would not be pushed around this upcoming season. Based on his first moves this offseason, he wasn't kidding. After signing tough-guy Colton Orr to a four-year, $4 million deal earlier on Wednesday, the Leafs sent defenseman Pavel Kubina, and the rights to Tim Stapleton, to the Atlanta Thrashers for Garnet Exelby and Colin Stuart. 
It's not uncommon for sports teams, at any level, to model other successful teams in an effort to become successful themselves. Hey, if it's good enough for them, it should be good enough for us, right? Sure. Just don't expect Toronto Maple Leafs general manager Brian Burke to follow another team's example unless it involves fighting and blood! OK, maybe not blood, but definitely fighting. 
It's officially the offseason, meaning the time is right to look into the future. We begin our division-by-division preview of the potential wheeling and dealing with the Northeast Division. 
The real NHL awards will be handed out Thursday night in Las Vegas, so FanHouse decided to hand out its own special awards for the 2008-09 season.
