Enter Jared Boll.

The Blue Jackets enforcer made sure his team sent a statement to the Ducks, as he beat up on Sheldon Brookbank one minute into the third period, and earned himself a spot on the “Frozen Fisticuffs Fight of the Night” for Sunday, January 8, 2012.

Check it out.

Hagman entered the game with only two goals in his previous 19 games, but he doubled his total for the season by netting two against Coyotes goaltender Mike Smith, including the game-winner on the power-play early in the second period.  That goal would put the Ducks ahead 2-0 and they held on from there, coming away with the 4-1 victory.

The Ducks are hoping that the win will help them turn things around, and they are also hoping that Hagman’s two-goal performance will help him get off the schneid as we near the second half of the season.  For now it has earned him “The Stat Line of the Night” for Wednesday, December 14, 2011.

Interestingly enough, the Ducks were up 2-0 at that point, but Jacques’ victory only seemed to spark the opposition, as the Wild stormed back to earn the 5-3 victory.  That may surprise some, but what shouldn’t surprise anyone is hearing that this bout earned honors as the “Frozen Fisticuffs Fight of the Night” for Sunday, December 4, 2011.

After getting out to a hot start this season, things began to fizzle for the Caps in November, causing them to ditch the chubby, foul-mouthed, fun-loving coach after he led them to a Presidents Trophy and four southeast division titles during his four years with the team.

Now Boudreau has moved to sunnier pastures (literally, if not figuratively).  Will his expletive-filled rants work well with the likes of Ryan Getzlaf, Corey Perry and Bobby Ryan?

For the sake of the Ducks’ organization, hopefully it doesn’t end up looking anything like this brilliant clip, which was put together by the people at Benstonium.

Hat Tip – [Puck Daddy via Benstonium]

Brain Burke

Back in the summer of 2007, the Ducks had just won the franchise’s first Stanley Cup, and forward Dustin Penner was a big part of that, recording 29 goals in the regular season.  That seemed to impress Edmonton Oilers General Manager Kevin Lowe, who signed the restricted free-agent to a five-year, $21.25 million offer sheet.  With the Ducks unable to match the offer due to salary cap issues, the Oilers came away with Penner, but not without having to endure a barrage of criticism.

Most of that criticism came from Burke, who accused Lowe and the Oilers of grossly overpaying for Penner’s services and inflating the market.  Tension between the two GM’s became so high at one point, that they nearly engaged in a barnyard brawl, literally!

Burke described the incident during a recent interview with The Score’s Sophia Jurksztowicz:

My wife overheard me talking to Glen Sather.  It got to a point where Kevin challenged me to a fight on a radio interview.  So I’m like, “well that’s not really how you challenge a guy to a fight.  If you want to challenge a guy to a fight, you pick a place and a time and you show up.”

So I called Glen Sather and I said, “Look, this guy went on the radio and challenged me to a fight.”  I said, “I’m going to be at Lake Placid at the US Junior camp.”  I gave him three dates.  I told him I’d rent a barn and I’d pick the address and time and I’d fight Kevin Lowe…

It got to the point where (NHL Commissioner) Gary Bettman called me and said, “I heard you guys are thinking about having a fight, and if you do I am going to suspend you both indefinitely.”  That’s how crazy it got.

As you probably guessed, the fight never took place.

Burke has since mended his relationship with Lowe.  He largely attributes that to his son, Brendan, who he says has influenced him to take some of his edge off.  Brendan died in a car accident in February 2010 at the age of 21.

Here is Burke discussing his unusual feud with Kevin Lowe.

Hat Tip – [The Score]

After running into the Ducks’ Brandon McMillan in the corner midway through the second period, Clifford fell face first into the boards, causing quite the scare throughout the arena.  Thankfully, the Kings’ tough guy would be alright, as he remained in the game and didn’t miss a shift.

Interestingly enough, that would be the second time Clifford’s face was put in danger during the game, as he dropped the gloves with Ducks’ enforcer Sheldon Brookbank earlier in the period.  Thankfully, Brookbank’s fists were much kinder on Clifford’s face than the Honda Center boards.

As you would expect from any star player who is left on the bench when his team needs a game-tying goal in the final minutes, Ovechkin was not impressed with his coach, and he voiced his displeasure by calling Boudreau a “fat f*ck.”

The Caps would go on to tie the game on a goal by Nicklas Backstrom, and Backstrom would add another goal to earn the Caps the 5-4 win in overtime.  After the game, Keith Jones asked Ovechkin about Boudreau’s decision.  He had the following to say:

“The Ward and Brooks Laich line played unbelievable today. They scored like four goals. I think it’s a coaching decision, so it’s working.”

Boudreau also commented on the decision during his post-game press conference:

“I thought other guys were better than him and I thought there was just a chance that other guys might score the goal. I mean I’ve gotta put out the guys that I think are going to score the goal, and 99 percent of the time Alex is the guy I think is going to score the goal. I just didn’t think he was going to score the goal at that time tonight.”

The Caps did come away with the win and Boudreau’s decision did turn out to be the right one.  Ovechkin was also not benched for the remainder of the game, as he recorded an assist on Backstrom’s game-winner in overtime.  That probably won’t stop this story from garnering plenty of attention around the league, but it also appears as though this is just one of those problems that can be easily resolved by an Ovechkin hat-trick the very next game.  That could spell trouble for the Carolina Hurricanes, who are set to host the Caps on Friday.

In the meantime, here is a look at Ovechkin calling his coach a “fat f*ck” (0:53 mark).

Teemu Selanne

The “Stat Line of the Night” is usually reserved for those whose stats help lead their team to a victory, but today we switch our focus and honor those whose stats truly defy Father Time.  At 41-years-old, Selanne continues to do just that.  The Ducks’ forward entered last night’s game against the Washington Capitals with ten points in 11 games this season, and he added another four to his total, recording two goals and two assists during an 5-4 overtime loss.

His 14 points on the season have him tied for fifth in the league and he appears destined to repeat his 2010-11 performance that saw him finish eighth in the league in points, with 80.  Unfortunately, his four point effort last night wasn’t enough to get his team the win, but it was enough to earn him “The Stat Line of the Night” for Tuesday, November 1, 2011.

One of these fights alone is easily enough to earn both of these men a spot on the “Frozen Fisticuffs Fight of the Night” for Sunday, October 30, 2011, while the combination of both fights has them pegged as early favorites for “Fighter of the Year” honors.

Here is a look at both tilts between Brookbank and Dorsett.

It is almost Movember, which means several men around the world will begin to grow their mustaches from scratch in an effort to raise awareness on men’s health issues, such as prostate cancer and depression.  Approximately 150 players in the NHL took part in the Movember movement last year, as they sported their dusters on the ice and did their part to raise money for various Movember charities.

Ducks’ goaltender Jonas Hiller intends to join the movement this season, as he had the following mask created, which features mustaches on pictures of each of his teammates.  His intention is to auction it off for a Movember charity after wearing it a couple of times during the month of November.

My guess is that the image of Corey Perry with a Hitler-esque toothbrush mustache alone is enough to make this mask sell for a pretty penny.  Here is a look at the mask from a few other angles.

Hat Tip – [The Goalie Guild]