FanHouse ToddFedoruk

I don't know what the Thrashers give-a-crap level was at, but the Penguins certainly kicked their give-a-crap level up a few notches as they snapped a five-game losing streak with a 3-1 win over Atlanta. Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 28-of-29 shots, while Petr Sykora scored a pair of goals in the win.

Not only did Pittsburgh ends its losing streak, it also ended an 0-for-32 power play drought by going 2-for-6 with the man advantage.

It was a costly win of sorts for the Penguins, as Ruslan Fedotenko and Pascal Dupuis left the game with injuries and did not return. Both players had been playing, perhaps, their best hockey of the season in recent weeks.

Fedotenko appeared to suffer a hand injury when he punched out Colby Armstrong in the first period. It was perhaps the shortest fight of the season, as it consisted of one Fedotenko punch to the jaw, and Armstrong attempting to throw one when both players were on the ice. Fedotenko could be seen shaking his hand as he went to the penalty box, and then headed directly to the locker room and did not return.

Alex Goligoski was again a healthy scratch, as head coach Michel Therrien used the same lineup he used in New York the night before, with much better results. Evgeni Malkin recorded three assists, while Sidney Crosby scored his 16th goal of the season.

Ilya Kovalchuk scored the lone goal for Atlanta late in the third period, ending Fleury's shutout bid.

For the most part, Jason Blake has been a rather large free agent bust for the Toronto Maple Leafs. After signing a five-year, $20 million deal with Toronto prior to the 2007 season, Blake scored only 15 goals for Toronto a season ago, and has been a healthy scratch on more than one occasion this season. On Tuesday, Blake scored the game-winning goal in a shootout in rather spectacular fashion -- shown above -- giving the Leafs a 3-2 win over New Jersey.

It's Toronto's third win a row, while the Devils drop their second straight.

After Mike Rupp gave New Jersey a 1-0 lead in the first period, the Leafs received a pair of second period goals from Jeremy Williams and Nik Antropov, before Zach Parise netted a power play goal with 20 seconds to play in the period, tying the game.

Vesa Toskala stopped 25 shots in the win, while also turning aside 3-of-4 shots in the shootout. Scott Clemmensen started for New Jersey, surrendering two goals in regulation on 27 shots.

While Vancouver suffered what could be a devastating injury to starting goalie Roberto Luongo, the Canucks did manage to walk out of Pittsburgh with a 3-1 win, so, they at least have that going for them. Still, the sight of Luongo being helped off the ice probably steals some of the thunder from what was a solid defensive performance and road victory.

Things were quite heated just 25 second into the game (see the video shown above) when Penguins forward -- and former Canuck -- Matt Cooke sent Alexander Edler flying through the air, igniting a line-brawl at center ice. When the chaos was finally sorted out, there were 50 minutes in penalties handed out, including two game misconducts -- one to Cooke, and another to Vancouver's Jannik Hansen.

Pavol Demitra scored a pair of goals for the Canucks, including the game's first goal at the 18-minute mark of the first period. He sealed the game with an empty-netter late in the third period. The line of Demitra and the Sedin's (Henrik and Daniel) accounted for all of Vancouver's scoring on the day, as Daniel registered a goal and two assists, while Henrik assisted on all three Canucks goals.

Mike Zigomanis scored the only goal for the Penguins, who were held to just 19 shots on goal for the game.

Still no official word on the severity of Luongo's injury.

If I asked you what NHL team you would consider to be a bunch of big bullies, what would you likely say?

The Philadelphia Flyers, who regularly get suspensions for vicious hits? The Anaheim Ducks, who won a Stanley Cup on the backs of thugs like Brad May? The Calgary Flames, a Mike Keenan team?

Well, how about the Phoenix Coyotes, who, as noted by Rob Webb of The Bleacher Report, have gone to great lengths this off-season to get bigger, meaner, and tougher.

First [the Coyotes] traded for Olli Jokinen, who is a great player that plays with a physical edge and will stick up for his teammates when needed.

Then they brought in Kurt Sauer. A big, hard hitting defenseman who also has a lot of skill.

Then they brought in the big tough guys, two of them actually: Brian McGrattan and Todd Fedoruk.

I'm not surprised at this turn of events, given the way Gretzky has always loved his tough guy buddies (McSorely, Semenko, Beukeboom).

The Phoenix Coyotes ranked seventh with 1193 penalty minutes last season, suggesting the Coyotes are a physical team. The funny thing is that Daniel Carcillo was responsible for 324 of those minutes, and only one other player, Nick Boynton, had more than 100. The rest of the Coyotes appeared to be fairly tame.

What should we expect from the Coyotes next season?

Who's In? RW Toby Peterson (EDM), LW Brad Winchester (EDM) and LW Todd Fedoruk (PHI).

Who's Out? C Eric Lindros (NHLPA), RW Matthew Barnaby (Retired), C Patrik Stefan (Switzerland), D Daryl Sydor (Pitt), D Jon Klemm (LA) and LW Ladislav Nagy (LA).

What's Changed? Not a whole lot, but that might not be a bad thing. After all, we're talking about a team that only finished three points behind Anaheim for the division title, with a tiebreaker dropping them to third behind San Jose. Once they got to the playoffs, goalie and perennial goat Marty Turco turned in the best postseason performance of his career, only to be bested by Vancouver's Roberto Luongo in a nerve-wracking seven-game defeat.

While a number of parts have departed like Nagy, Lindros, Barnaby and Sydor, management wisely decided not to overspend to replace them. Instead, a number of players are going to be expected to grow into new roles and contribute more.

In particular, Loui Eriksson will get a shot at spot on one of the two top lines, while Niklas Grossman will get to fill the vacuum created by Sydor's departure. Having deadline acquisition Mattias Norstrom on the blue line for a full season won't hurt either.

The new faces who have been imported -- Peterson, Winchester and Fedoruk -- help address one of the glaring gaps between Dallas and the defending champs: tougheness. Although truth be told, plenty of us will be happy if Fedoruk can just get through the season without suffering another catastrophic facial injury.

Dallas is still a balanced squad that plays well in all three zones and boasts a potent power play with Sergei Zubov and Philippe Boucher. Their regular season success over the past few seasons is a real tribute to head coach Dave Tippet, one of the most underrated bench bosses in the game.

Ever want to learn to be a hockey fighter? Why not learn from Derek Boogaard, one of the game's best pugilists.



You don't just have to watch the video instruction. You can now attend the Boogaard Brothers personal training camp, and learn to kick some ass the right way.

When Aaron and Derek Boogaard take a wannabe tough guy to school, they usually do it on the ice.

The venue switched to the classroom this week when the Boogaard brothers - who make the Hansons of Slapshot fame look like lightweights - staged their inaugural hockey fighting camp at a Regina training centre.

The clinic included more 30 registered players from age 12 to 18 who signed on to receive a crash course from two of the toughest customers in the game.

"We're out here to show kids how to look after themselves when they're on the ice," said Derek Boogaard, a 25-year-old enforcer with the NHL's Minnesota Wild.

"We're showing them the little things that would help them out, rather than them learning the hard way and getting hurt."

While fighting has declined in the NHL, there is still a demand for tough customers that no how to handle themselves in a scrap. Instead of the usual goons, teams want players like Travis Moen: bangers who can crash and pot some offense once in awhile.

Still, I wish these kinds of schools didn't exist. Not that I am against fighting (I love hockey fights), but the best fights happen against players who aren't trained and practiced.

The more fighters train, the more they simply tend to wrestle and dance around. I want the old school fights with haymaker after haymaker.