Islanders All-Decade Team: The Enforcers
by Dominik on Dec 28, 2009 5:46 PM EST
in Islanders of Yesteryear
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PrintOur completely fabricated, calendar-based 2000s All-Decade Team is not limited to traditional positions. While I have my fun mocking the irrelevance of one-dimensional enforcers in the post-lockout NHL, that doesn't mean I don't appreciate a willing or skilled fighter. And I certainly enjoyed the Webbs of the world back in their time -- particularly considering how they made some otherwise dull nights a little more exciting.
So without further ado, pick your enforcer for the Islanders All-Decade Team. The idea with this series is guys who played between 2000-01 and 2009-10 (for simplicity's and fake calendar's sake, more than anything else). That means Steve Webb is penalized -- hardly new territory for him -- because the 2000s portion was the tail end of his career. That also means the "years" listed below reference the latter calendar year of a given season. Nonetheless, here are the figures for the most frequent fighters of the last 10 years.
Fight totals come from the lovingly maintained HockeyFights.com, and are divided by preseason (because fights are often the only thing worth watching in preseason), regular season and postseason. Other stats, including fights per games played (F/GP) are regular-season only:
| Player | Years | GP | G | A | Pts. | Fights Pre. | Fights Reg. | Fights Post. | PIMs (reg.) | F/GP | SUVs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eric Cairns | 2001-2004 | 251 | 7 | 17 | 24 | 5 | 44 | 2 | 595 | 0.175 | 0 |
| Tim Jackman | 2008-2010 | 137 | 8 | 11 | 19 | 7 | 38 | 0 | 282 | 0.277 | 0 |
| Eric Godard | 2003-2006 | 107 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 34 | 0 | 260 | 0.318 | 0 |
| Jason Wiemer | 2003-2004 | 94 | 10 | 22 | 32 | 2 | 24 | 0 | 140 | 0.256 | 0 |
| Arron Asham | 2003-2007 | 300 | 47 | 58 | 105 | 0 | 21 | 0 | 315 | 0.07 | 0 |
| Steve Webb | 2001-2004 | 145 | 3 | 6 | 9 | 3 | 18 | 0 | 216 | 0.124 | 0 |
| Brendan Witt | 2007-2010 | 242 | 5 | 29 | 34 | 3 | 12 | 0 | 321 | 0.05 | 1 |
| Chris Simon | 2007-2008 | 95 | 11 | 19 | 30 | 1 | 8 | 0 | 118 | 0.084 | 0 |
| Andy Sutton | 2008-2010 | 115 | 6 | 19 | 25 | 3 | 6 | 0 | 162 | 0.052 | 0 |
| Zdeno Chara | 2001-2001 | 82 | 2 | 7 | 9 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 157 | 0.061 | 0 |
Color me impressed how high up that list Jackman is. He's not an exciting fighter, but the fact he willingly takes on that role against other teams' heavies (many whose sole purpose is to fight other one-trick goons) speaks to the man's courage. I'm not sure how you vote for best enforcer: Best pure fighter? Most willing combatant? Most courageous? Guy who's able to fight and actually play the game (see Asham, Arron)?
Thought it's supposed to be based on Isles work between 2000-01 and 2009-10, I suspect many of you will simply pick your favorite player on this list. That's fine. Recent studies show Internet polls are not 100% scientifically based.
Leave your fight memories, your quibbles (Chara? WTF? Hey, it was funny to me that he had his share that one season.), and anything else in comments. And check out their fight cards at HockeyFights.com if you want to delve deeper or find others I omitted.
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Where’s Mike Comrie? I’m sort of serious… I recall him having five or so fights as an Islander.
Anyway, I’m going with Cairns. He had some huge fights in 01-02, which, you may recall, was the only year of this decade that actually means anything. Sucks to say, but it’s true. I’d put Webb up there as well solely for his work in the Toronto series that same year.
Comrie: Ha! I sort of seriously considered listing him in that table at least. There were a few guys whose surprising number of fights stuck out like that. Ultimately, my own disappointment kept him off. (Coming across Yashin’s fight was another one that gave me pause. I vaguely remember it, but didn’t want to think about it too long.)
Lighthouse Hockey: Eyes on Tavares, mug full of Moulson.
I believe an SUV hit Cairns but there was nothing left of it to show.
Would it be wrong to roll out the RED carpet for Kirill Petrov's arrival to the New York Islanders?
I wouldn’t doubt it!
I pretty much expected Cairns to run away with this one, for many categories: Sheer number of fights, craziness, willingness to go at any time, and popularity. If Webb had as much of this decade as Cairns did, it would be a close contest, I’m sure.
Lighthouse Hockey: Eyes on Tavares, mug full of Moulson.
Cairns
Should run away with this one. He’s also still a part of the organaztion. Him and Chara as 3rd line Dmen had to be intimidating to any team in the league. Of course they were both basically huge cones, but still when they managed to catch you, forget about it.
Also, if you want to really see how nuts Cairns is, check out his stint in England. I think he made it three games before going nuts and getting ejected and suspended for the year.
"So basically, the Stats make no sense whatsoever."
Of course they were both basically huge cones, but still when they managed to catch you, forget about it.
This image/memory/warning will have me chuckling for days.
Lighthouse Hockey: Eyes on Tavares, mug full of Moulson.
Asham
I am not against enforcers, but I think they should know how to play hockey.
Asham wasn’t the best fighter, but I thought he was the best hockey playing fighter.
SHOOOOOOOT!!!! Anon
by burpchelischili on Dec 28, 2009 10:36 PM EST reply actions
That’s really why I liked Asham a lot, and was sorry to see him go. Always aggressive, filled the bill adequately enough, and held his own as a skater. But even having that respect for his tenure, I was surprised to see he had 47 goals (and to see he compiled 300 games! Seems like yesterday when they acquired him, much less let him walk).
Lighthouse Hockey: Eyes on Tavares, mug full of Moulson.
Any way you could add hits to the graph above?
SHOOOOOOOT!!!! Anon
by burpchelischili on Dec 29, 2009 6:16 AM EST up reply actions
Hmmm, good idea but probably impossible. That stat is pretty unreliable from rink to rink the way they keep it right now. Worse, there are several years this decade where the league didn’t release them (they claimed because of that unreliability, though no doubt its potential as ammo in contract negotiations was another).
Lighthouse Hockey: Eyes on Tavares, mug full of Moulson.
I still proudly wear my Steve Webb jersey whenever I go to an Isles or Sound Tigers game. Considering it’s that or my old radioactive Gorton’s fish stick jersey the choice is easy. He is my all-time favorite Islander, he and Jonsson were the only people Milbury kept around for more than a season.
I’m surprised no Yashin, I did see him drop the gloves once against the Rags i think in the 01-02 season. I remember two things, one he didn’t wear his fight strap and did not get ejected and two having to watch the Ranger’s broadcast John Davidson’s outrage that he didn’t get ejected for the infraction. Somehow Theo Fleury was involved as well….
I have an ego larger than Mikko Koskinen
desperate!
hey im gonna be stuck tonight with no tv just a computer.Does ANYONE know where i can watch the game online tonight?
by Lakewood Islander on Dec 29, 2009 10:52 AM EST via mobile reply actions
i know there are sites out there as a friend of mine got a feed of the nfl network a few thursdays ago, but i am not sure what site he used
why isn't #16 hanging in the rafters?
no 16
speaking of 16, ijust read ziggy is playing in slovakia.maybe lure him back. i was upset when a player like sim got his number-even though i think there was another 16 in between. Mike York,maybe?
by Lakewood Islander on Dec 29, 2009 1:11 PM EST up reply actions
York and others
Per Hockey-Reference: Vladimir Orszagh, Daniel Lacroix, Craig Berube, Raffi Torres, Justin Papineau, Justin Mapletoft, Mike York all wore 16.
They certainly haven’t treated #16 with the respect you’d expect. For a game feed, check around closer to the game. I know shady places like justintv and others sometimes have something. Doubt Yahoo shows this one, but…
Lighthouse Hockey: Eyes on Tavares, mug full of Moulson.
speaking of ziggy… http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=511451
we’ll get to see him real soon
why isn't #16 hanging in the rafters?
And Satan, too!
I’m pretty psyched about this, particularly since I don’t care how Team Slovakia fairs. Though I hope they don’t finish ahead of the Czechs. Humiliation in FIFA WC qualifying this year was plenty.
Lighthouse Hockey: Eyes on Tavares, mug full of Moulson.
Cairns
Got to go with EC, he’s from my home town and played on the same AAA squad as I did. 3 years behind me though. Burlington Rep hockey.
If I could come back, and do it all over again. I'd ask God to make me a Pittsburgh Steeler - Jack Lambert
Cool.
The beauty of Internet polls is you can totally vote for reasons like that without a second guess.
Lighthouse Hockey: Eyes on Tavares, mug full of Moulson.
I went with Webb over Cairns
Everytime I think of Cairns I’m reminded of that horrible playoff series (1 game in particular) against Tampa. He made two terrible turnovers which cost the Isles the game and possibly the series because if I remember correctly the Isles had the momentum going into that game. I know that doesn’t have anything to do with his ‘enforcer’ ability but that’s why I couldn’t vote Cairns.
I know that doesn’t have anything to do with his ‘enforcer’ ability but that’s why I couldn’t vote Cairns.
Hey, the criteria is wide open, so that works as much as any. Plus, for me half the fun is hearing people’s explanations on votes like these. Thanks for giving yours.
Lighthouse Hockey: Eyes on Tavares, mug full of Moulson.
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