Each team has that one player who whose sole job is to make life miserable for his opponents and to protect his team stars. Whether you love or hate these kind of players they are necessary and most teams are happy to have a guy like that in their roster.
This article is part two and I will solely focus on the remaining four teams of the Atlantic Division. These teams are the Buffalo Sabres, Tampa Bay Lightning, Florida Panthers and the Detroit Red Wings. As a reminder you can click here for part one which focused on top fighters; Shawn Thornton of the Boston Bruins, Brandon Prust of the Montreal Canadiens, Chris Neil of the Ottawa Senators and Colton Orr of the Toronto Maple Leafs.
I will start with the Buffalo Sabres. The top fighter for the Buffalo Sabres is John Scott. In the 2012-2013 season he recorded eight fights. His first fight of the season happened on January 21st against top fighter Colton Orr from the Toronto Maple Leafs. On January 31 Scott took on the top Boston Bruins fighter Shawn Thornton. Scott had two fights with George Parros of the Florida Panthers as well as Frazer McLaren of the Toronto Maple Leafs. His final fight of the season was against New York Islander Matt Carkner who received an elbowing penalty.
I think next season he will again be one of the top fighters for the Buffalo Sabres. I can see him going up against some of the same fighters he did this season especially George Parros (who is now on the Montreal Canadiens) and Frazer McLaren from Toronto since he had four fights this season with just these two players.
I picked Jordin Tootoo from the Detroit Red Wings. In 2010 Tootoo (while with the Nashville Predators) went to therapy part of an NHL program treating him for substance abuse and behavioral problems. When he was cleared he came back to the NHL he signed as a free agent with the Detroit Red Wings. This past season Tootoo recorded eight fights. His first fight of the season was against Jared Boll from the Columbus Blue Jackets on January 21. His next set of fights (two in the same game) were against Eric Nystrom and Brenden Dillon of the Dallas Stars on January 29th. Steve Begin from the Calgary Flames was another and Derek Dorsett of the Columbus Blue Jackets, where in the game against the Blue Jackets Tootoo received an instigator and a misconduct penalty. On March 7 and March 15 Tootoo went up against Edmonton Oiler Mike Brown. Finally his last fight was against the Anaheim Ducks Matt Beleskey on March 24th.
The Detroit Red Wings are not known for their fighting skills. In the 2011-2012 season the team as a whole recorded fifteen fights while the 2012-2013 season the team only recorded fourteen fights. Eight of the fights were by Tootoo. Next season I see him being high on the list of fights.
Up next from the Tampa Bay Lightning I picked the biggest fighter of last season BJ Crombeen, who recorded fourteen of the teams thirty-one fights. His first fight was against New York Islander Matt Martin on January 21. He then went against the top fighter/penalty point leader Chris Neil from the Ottawa Senators. Next Crombeen went up against Keaton Ellerby of the Florida Panthers. Some other players who added to Crombeen’s flight card was Zac Rinaldo of the Philadelphia Flyers, Travis Moen of the Montreal Canadiens, Mike Brown from the Toronto Maple Leafs, Stu Bickle from the New York Rangers, Gregory Campbell from the Boston Bruins, Mark Stuart from the Winnipeg Jets and Mark Fraser of the Toronto Maple Leafs. On March 23, Crombeen had fights with Matt Kassian and Marc Methot. The fight against Methot, Crombeen received an instigator penalty and a misconduct penalty. The final two fights finishing off Crombeen’s fight card was against Pittsburgh Penguin Douglas Murray and Carolina Hurricane Nicolas Blanchard.
Over the past few years Crombeen has always recorded a high number of fights. He has recorded anywhere from nine to 17 fights per season over the last few seasons. Because of the fighting records he has he will be back as one of the top fighters next season for the Tampa Bay Lightning. As well, I can see Keith Aulie who only recorded four fights this past season being one of the top fighters along with Crombeen next season.
Finally for the Florida Panthers I picked Eric Selleck as the top fighter. I know an ideal choice looking at the 2012-2013 fight records would have been George Parros but he is no longer with the Florida Panthers. Eric Selleck only had one NHL fight this season but he recorded 16 fights in the American Hockey League. His one and only fight was against Kevin Westgarth from the Carolina Hurricanes on March 19. During a legal line change Selleck got off the bench and charged Westgarth causing a fight. Selleck received an instigator penalty along with a misconduct and was later given a one game suspension with no pay for that one game. The money, close to 6000$ was given to the NHL Emergency Player Fund.
Since all the top fighters are no longer on the team, I can see Selleck become one to enforce the role as the team fighter. Every team needs their bully to take on other teams bullies and I think Selleck will do just that when it is needed. He was probably taught a lesson and will chose his fights wisely so he will not get suspended again. I look forward to seeing what Selleck will bring to his team in the upcoming seasons.
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