Rangers forward Sean Avery is no stranger to controversy, and during last night’s game against the Oilers, he sparked a 10 player brawl after he dropped Ladislav Smid with a quick punch to the jaw.

“The Oilers were already trailing by three goals in the final period of a disappointing five-game road trip when Avery really got them mad. The Rangers agitator checked Colin Fraser hard into the boards and, according to the Oilers, declined to fight Ladislav Smid when challenged.

Avery eventually took the initiative of throwing a punch after Smid let down his guard when it seemed a fight wouldn’t happen. A brawl then broke out with 8:42 remaining.

When the final buzzer sounded Sunday, the Rangers skated off with an 8-2 win, and the Oilers took their best shots of the day — sending pointed words at Avery.

“I thought it was pretty gutless,” said forward Steve MacIntyre, who fought Rangers enforcer Derek Boogaard twice in the third period before the big melee. “It just shows you what kind of guy he is. He’ll get his.”

Avery declined to comment.

In all, 124 penalty minutes were handed out following the brawl — 67 to Edmonton — including five standard misconducts and four ejections.” {Tampabay.com}

Was it a sucker punch, as Colin Fraser told the press after the game, or was Smid too slow on the draw? He does manage to drop the gloves, but Avery just pounces on him from the first shot. Was it a cheap shot, or was this KO legit?

Between the everpresent (and slightly annoying) Reezig ads to the RBK Edge uniforms all NHL teams are wearing, the athletic apparel giant has left an indelible mark on the modern game of hockey. They’ve become experts at manufacturing hype for their athletes, and they frequently kick out viral videos like this one – where NHL star Sidney Crosby showcases his shooting prowess by moving the net onto its mooring with only his slapshot. But is the video faked? You be the judge:

I’m thinking this was doctored just a little bit. Hey, don’t get me wrong, Sid has an absolute cannon, but the net seems a little too jumpy, even without being totally secured to the moorings. If it’s actually legit, though, how incredible would that be? And if Crosby could do that to a regulation goal, I wonder if Shea Weber could do the same thing (he of net-snapping-Olympic fame).

Either case, Reebok is totally free to fly me out to Pittsburgh and see Sid duplicate this stunt in person.

The $100 million dollar man, Ilya Kovalchuk, painfully botched a shootout attempt during the Devils tilt against Buffalo, literally handing the Sabres the win during the sudden-death portion of their shootout.

The New Jersey Devils have been off to a terrible start, as they currently sit in the 15th spot in the East, having only won four games out of 16, and this flub from Kovy is a microcosm of the problems the Devils have been facing from the get-go.

Will Kovalchuk become the scapegoat for this slumping Devils club? They’ve been riddled with injuries, losing key pieces like Brodeur and Zach Parise early, while Ilya has clearly struggled with finding any offensive production. With that massive contract comes a great deal of accountability, and if Kovy can’t get it into gear sooner than later, it could quickly turn into a throw-away season for the Devils.

Most diehard NHL fans detest the All-Star Game. Their criticism of the showy, little-to-no-contact exhibition game is definitely legitimate. The Skills Competition is pretty entertaining at times, but I usually end up napping through the game itself. The players are clearly playing not to get hurt (as they should) and the goalies inevitability get lit up (because who wants to play defense in an All-Star Game?)

Thankfully, the NHL has been listening, and they’ve flipped the script a bit for the 2010-2011 All-Star Game in Carolina. Here’s a complete list of the changes:

“The 2011 NHL All-Star Fantasy Draft format, which will continue to include fan balloting procedures, contains the following new features:

• Fans will continue to play the lead role in the selection of All-Stars when 2011 NHL All-Star Fan Balloting presented by XM launches on Monday, Nov. 15. The All-Star Balloting process, which is entirely digital for the fourth consecutive game, runs through Jan. 3.

• From a group of 100 players on the ballot, fans will vote for their top six All-Stars by position without regard to the Conference in which the player plays. Fans will also have the ability to write-in a player of their choice.

• The three forwards, two defensemen and one goalie receiving the most votes will be named the first NHL All-Stars.

• The remaining 36 All-Stars will be named by the NHL Hockey Operations Department for a total of 42 All-Star players (3 goalies, 6 defensemen and 12 forwards per team).

• Following the selection of the All-Stars, NHL Hockey Operations will designate 12 NHL rookies to participate in the Honda NHL SuperSkills on Saturday, January 29 for a total of 54 NHL players taking part in All-Star weekend.

• After the 42 NHL All-Stars have been selected, two captains will be chosen per team by the players.

• On Friday, January 28, 2011, a draft event will be held in Raleigh with all 54 NHL players (42 All-Stars and 12 rookies) during which the captains will draft the remaining members of their respective teams.

• First selection in the draft will be determined by coin flip and selections will continue on an alternating basis.

• Each team will be required to select three goalies, six defensemen and 12 forwards in any order they choose.

• After the selection of the All-Star game rosters, the captains will select among the 12 rookies to fill out the rosters for the Honda NHL SuperSkill

• Each team will feature six rookies participating in various skills competitions.

• Teams will participate in six different skills, including NHL Fastest Skater, NHL Breakaway Challenge, Accuracy Shooting, Skills Challenge Relay, NHL Hardest Shot and the NHL Elimination Shoot Out.” {Puck Daddy}

I’m happy the NHL didn’t follow the MLB’s lead and make the game decide home-ice advantage for the Stanley Cup Finals, but instead, they let the players take control of the rosters, and that alone will give the fans a little something extra to talk about. During the offseason, I said that the ASG had become ‘stagnant’ and that the league needed to do something, anything, to make it more attractive to the news cycle, and they’ve done just that. More importantly, I think it shows that the NHL is doing a much better job of actually listening to its diehard fanbase. Now, how about killing this lockout nonsense and going back to the classic Division names?

In an homage to NHL veteran Ryan Smyth’s 1000th game in the big leagues, the entire L.A Kings roster rocked the classically awesome hockey mullet.

“Coaches don’t like disruptions to their practice routines, but Terry Murray happily agreed to let players pay tribute to Smyth on Saturday with those mullet wigs.

“The best way to show respect for a teammate is to do exactly what they did,” he said. “All of the presentations or talk or wristwatch, piece of crystal — this is the best, for sure.”

After laughing at the hair-raising joke, Smyth went back to work. He didn’t get to 1,000 games by slacking off and he’s not about to start now, not with a Cup dream to still follow.” {LA Times}

This could honestly be one of my favorite videos I’ve posted to the site ever. Puck Daddy hilariously noted that Wayne Simmond’s faux-mullet was ‘getting dangerously close to Rick James territory’, while Anze Koptiar’s getup was strangely reminding me of the guitarist from ‘Extreme’.

And as of last night, the Kings were tied for the first spot in the Western Conference, so the mullets must be working, right?

The Penguins’ star center rarely drops the gloves, but he usually comes out on top when he does – and his most recent fight with Dallas Stars defenseman was no exception, as Sid comes out as the clear victor.

{HuffPo}

Out of his five career brawls, Hockeyfights.com has him winning four, with his only loss coming out of his scrap from Keith Ballard in 2009. Does this mean he’s an ‘efficient’ fighter?

I usually don’t get jazzed about star players dropping the gloves (what if your $8-million-a-year guy breaks his hand during a meaningless fight like this?), but it’s not a bad effort from Sid at all. He struggles with Niskanen a bit at the beginning, but he recovers and gets the upper hand towards the second half of the brawl. Really wish he’d snap off that visor when he wants to fight, but more and more guys are leaving it on, so whatever. While we’re on the topic, this is one of my favorite star-player-brawls of all time – Iginla and Lecavalier in the Stanley Cup Finals:

Jaroslav Halak recorded his third shutout of the season with the St. Louis Blues during last night’s 2-0 victory over the San Jose Sharks, but the suspension talk is already swirling around this hit from Joe Thorton.

It’s a violent neutral zone collision, but I’m having a tough time condemning it entirely. Thorton isn’t totally responsible for how all of this transpired – Alex Piertrangelo (I think it was Petro, I can’t find a better video feed besides this one) led Perron with a very weak pass coming out of the defensive zone. You have to fire that pass, or gain the red and dump it. If you pass to your teammates like that, you won’t have any left at the end of the season. It’s a dangerous pass that usually results in a play like this, especially at the professional level. Secondly, Perron has a responsibility to keep his head up. The transition game doesn’t work if your forwards don’t keep their heads on a swivel, and that kind of situational awareness is key to avoiding hits like this.

That being said, I think Thorton was doing what he felt a captain to should do in a game like his, and he tried to use some big hits to get his team back in the game – but this hit on Perron and his hit-from-behind on T.J Oshie were absolutely reckless. The Sharks had just been shutout by the Wild, and their offense had stalled from the beginning of this game, so it’s plain to see that Thorton is frustrated, and he let his emotions get the best of him in this one.

So the way I see it, both guys got what they deserved. Perron got drilled because he was keeping his head down through the neutral zone, and Thorton got tossed from a game that he had been gooning up from the get-go. I doubt the NHL will issue any supplementary discipline for this check, considering Thorton isn’t a consistent offender, and that Perron doesn’t seem to be injured.

During the Devils and Rangers tilt last night, New York Rangers forward Michael Del Zotto’s wrister got deflected way upstairs. Bonus points if you watch this clip on fullscreen mode:

{from Puck Daddy}

The puck destroyed the lens, causing a bit of a delay as the shards of glass were swept up. Looks like that camera operator got the rest of the game off.

Expect the NHL to dish out another suspension (as Rypien will certainly be getting a hefty one after his shoving match with a fan a couple days ago), as Erik Cole dropped a blindside hit on Kings star defenseman Drew Doughty.

“Coach Terry Murray said the 20-year-old Norris Trophy finalist won’t play Thursday night against the Coyotes, but might join the Kings later on their five-game trip.

Murray said Doughty was hurt late in the first period on a neutral-zone hit by Carolina’s Erik Cole. Doughty didn’t return to the bench for the second period, but Murray wouldn’t disclose the nature of the injury.

“The puck had long gone,” Murray said of the hit. “He didn’t have the puck for a long time before that happened.”

Doughty has just one assist in Los Angeles’ first five games, but the young defenceman is a cornerstone of the revitalized Kings, who have four wins in five games to open the season.

Doughty had 16 goals and 43 assists last season, blossoming into an elite defenceman in just his second NHL season. He became the second-youngest nominee for the Norris Trophy in NHL history, only older than 19-year-old Bobby Orr in 1967.

The second overall pick in the 2008 draft also won a gold medal last February at the Vancouver Olympics. Doughty was Canada’s youngest player.” {CP}

I don’t think this was a clear-cut case of ‘intent to injure’, and I don’t think Cole brings his elbow up, or leaves his feet, but it’s definitely a late hit. Doughty doesn’t have possession of the puck at all, and in fact, Carolina is advancing the puck through the neutral zone as Cole delivers the hit. Now one of LA’s best blueliners will be out, and some are wondering now if Doughty’s ‘upper body injury’ is actually a low grade concussion. It’ll be interesting to see how the NHL handles this case.

During Minnesota’s thorough 6-2 beat down of the Canucks, Vancouver forward Rick Rypien pushed a fan that was situated right behind the Canucks bench.

“Rypien and Minnesota’s Brad Staubitz, who fought in the opening period, were about to square off in the second period before being separated by the linesmen in front of the Wild bench.

As Rypien, who was assessed a double minor for roughing and a 10-minute misconduct, was pulled by linesman Don Henderson toward the Vancouver bench, he appeared to push the official.

On his way down the tunnel to the dressing room, Rypien pushed a Wild fan who was applauding at the railing. Rypien was quickly pulled away by teammate Manny Malhotra. The fan was removed from the area. Rypien was in the penalty box to start the third period, but did not get any ice time.

“We’ll wait and see how the league views it,” Vancouver general manager Mike Gillis said. “I’m sure there will be a hearing of some sort.”

Rypien was not available for comment after the game, but Malhotra thought the fan “got a little bit too involved.”

“There’s boundaries that should never be crossed. We’re in our area of work,” he said. “We’re all for the hooting and hollering and supporting your team and saying whatever is tasteful. But as soon as you cross that line and want to become physical with a player then we have to make sure we take care of ourselves. … We have no idea of what their intentions are.” {TSN.ca / Video from Puck Daddy}

Everyone’s speculating as to how the league will respond to Rypien snapping at this fan, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see the NHL send a message with him, and suspend him for 10 or more games. No punches thrown in this incident, but it’s a line that fans and players should never cross. The league has already expressed their displeasure with some of the fan/player interactions during last season (Duncan Keith in Nashville, for example), and I fully expect the NHL to drop the hammer on Rypien.