If you don’t like Jarome Iginla then we’re not going to be friends.  I love that he catches Ryan Clowe off guard with a nice left to start this dance, and then weaves in and out, switching hands for the best throwdown of the night.

[S/t to HockeyFights.com for the video]

Someone, much wiser than I, once told me to never get yourself into a dust-up with a man who’s balding prematurely.  At the time I didn’t understand the significance of this piece of advice.   Fedor Tyutin felt the wrath of Rogaine last night when he dropped the mitts with Ryan Getzlaf. Now I understand.  Face, meet fist:

Canada nearly shit the bed on the Opening Ceremony, I’m just being honest here.  When Wayne Gretzky was introduced as “one of” the greatest hockey players ever, I had taken it to suggest that THE greatest player was going to join him in the lighting of the cauldron.

Where was 66?

Friday Night Fights:

I can’t honestly say there’s a place in my heart for Colton Orr, but I sure love when he gets punchy.

Greetings, if you’re looking for a good old fashioned hockey fight, then you can go feast your peepers on Ryan Clowe and Jonathan Ericsson from last night.  Here, we have a second look at the Lord Humongous Zdeno Chara manhandling the suddenly second coming of Rick Tocchet Steve Downie.  Nary a face shot landed, but it’s a subtle reminder of the damage that can be inflicted at the hands of giants.

What a puny plan, Downie.  Just walk away, and there will be an end to the horror.

Steve Ott gets involved in one of my all-time favorite activities; punching the goalie.

Sticky taps to Left Wing Lock on the video.

We All Combed Our Hair Like Marc Savard

Today in shameless cross-promotion comes Gunaxin’s Hockey Hair:  A Tribute To The Salad Skate.  A gallery of hockey players flaunting their feathers like only the warm-up skate would allow compiled by yours truly.  You’re not going to find a set of pictures with this many mullets, skullets, Kentucky waterfalls, gelmets, and faux-hawks anywhere.

The Penalty Shot That Never Was

In what might be one of the most bizarre on-ice occurrences this season, the Toronto Maple Leafs had a penalty shot wiped out after an officials’ review showed Pittsburgh’s Sergei Gonchar had scored on the previous play.  After the shot appeared to hit the crossbar, Alexei Ponikarovsky was sent in alone on a breakaway before being tripped up by Gonchar and awarded a penalty shot.  The shot never took place, and the ACC suits rained down the boos.  Must see video that ultimately declares the Leafs have no luck:

Oh How The Great Have Fallen

Stick-taps to SNY Rangers Blog for pointing this out:  former Rangers general manager Neil Smith has taken over coaching duties of the ECHL’s Johnstown Chiefs.  Smith was largely credited for putting together the New York Rangers 1994 Stanley Cup winning team.  Smith is also the owner of the Chiefs.

Leafs Losing Fans To Video Games, Twitter, Facebook, Etc.

Ugh, you’ve got to be fucking kidding me.  From the Toronto Star comes this feel-sorry-for-the-Leafs garbage about how young fans would rather be social media enthusiasts than watch a hockey game.  Calling potential fans “A youthful couch slouch who’d rather tweet, text, flirt on Facebook or, when it comes to hockey, get his NHL fix from video games”.  Well can you fucking blame them?  This team sucks a thousand lonely cocks, I’d rather be shitting.  Not to mention you could purchase Blackberry’s for all the children in Africa for the price of a Leafs’ ticket.

Nobody Does Bench-Clearing Brawls Like The Flyers Of Old

If you haven’t taken a few minutes to view the epic KHL brawl from the weekend, then you clearly haven’t lived.  Puck Daddy’s Dimitry Chesnokov has the fallout from the fight covered, and the video is viewable on just about every hockey blog there is.  We don’t get to see many bench-clearing brawls anymore, but this doozy from Russia certainly stirs up memories of a time when the Philadelphia Flyers wouldn’t think twice about it.  Look for the incredible mop on Mike Bossy’s head: