Fight Club: Dallas Stars
The Dallas Stars are set to faceoff against the New Jersey Devils in a few hours. We’re going to take a look at their fight card. This card is very interesting as compared to the fight card for the New Jersey Devils and the New York Rangers.
| No. | NAME | Position | Hometown | Region | Total Fights | Notes |
| 14 | JAMIE BENN “C” | L | Victoria, British Colombia | Canada | 11 | Last Fight: October 14, 2014 versus Nick Foligno (DAL @ CBJ) |
| 20 | CODY EAKIN | C | Winnipeg, Manitoba | Canada | 1 | Last Fight: March 18, 2013 versus Jarome Iginla (CGY @ DAL) |
| 18 | PATRICK EAVES | R | Calgary, Alberta | Canada | 5 | Last Fight: April 7, 2010 versus Kris Russell (CBJ @ DET) |
| 38 | VERNON FIDDLER “A” | C | Edmonton, Alberta | Canada | 15 | Last Fight: October 11, 2014 versus Paul Gaustad (DAL @ NSH) |
| 16 | RYAN GARBUTT | L | Winnipeg, Manitoba | Canada | 7 | Last Fight: March 22, 2014 versus Chris Neil (OTT @ DAL) |
| 10 | SHAWN HORCOFF | C | Trail, British Columbia | Canada | 8 | Last Fight: April 25, 2014 versus Luca Sbisa (DAL @ ANA) |
| 11 | CURTIS MCKENZIE | L | Golden, British Columbia | Canada | 1 | Last Fight: September 22, 2014 versus Steve Ott (STL @ DAL) |
| 17 | RICH PEVERLEY | C | Kingston, Ontario | Canada | 4 | Last Fight: November 23, 2013 versus Vladimir Sobotka (DAL @ STL) |
| 22 | COLTON SCEVIOUR | C | Red Deer, Alberta | Canada | 0 | |
| 91 | TYLER SEGUIN | C | Brampton, Ontario | Canada | 0 | |
| 90 | JASON SPEZZA | C | Toronto, Ontario | Canada | 4 | Last Fight: March 3, 2009 versus Dion Phaneuf (CGY @ OTT) |
| 24 | JORDIE BENN | D | Victoria, British Colombia | Canada | 0 | |
| 23 | KEVIN CONNAUTON | D | Edmonton, Alberta | Canada | 3 | Last Fight: September 24, 2014 versus Shane O’Brien (DAL @ FLA) |
| 6 | TREVOR DALEY “A” | D | Toronto, Ontario | Canada | 8 | Last Fight: November 19, 2009 versus Derek Dorsett (CBJ @ DAL) |
| 4 | BRENDEN DILLON | D | New Westminster, British Columbia | Canada | 9 | Last Fight: January 14, 2014 versus Ryan Jones (EDM @ DAL) |
| 5 | JAMIE OLEKSIAK | D | Toronto, Ontario | Canada | 2 | Last Fight: September 22, 2014 versus Jacob Doty (STL @ DAL) |
| 83 | ALES HEMSKY | R | Pardubice, Czech Republic | Europe | 0 | |
| 21 | ANTOINE ROUSSEL | L | Roubaix, France | Europe | 22 | Last Fight: September 27, 2014 versus Steve Ott (DAL @ STL) |
| 2 | JYRKI JOKIPAKKA | D | Tampere, Finland | Europe | 0 | |
| 37 | PATRIK NEMETH | D | Stockholm, Sweden | Europe | 0 | |
| 32 | KARI LEHTONEN | G | Helsinki, Finland | Europe | 0 | |
| 29 | ANDERS LINDBACK | G | Gävle, Sweden | Europe | 0 | |
| 43 | VALERI NICHUSHKIN | R | Chelyabinsk, Russia | Russia | 0 | |
| 55 | SERGEI GONCHAR | D | Chelyabinsk, Russia | Russia | 2 | Last Fight: March 17, 2012 versus Clarke MacArthur (TOR @ OTT) |
| 72 | ERIK COLE | L | Oswego, New York | USA | 7 | Last Fight: November 19, 2009 versus Ian White (TOR @ CAR) |
| 33 | ALEX GOLIGOSKI | D | Grand Rapids, Minnesota | USA | 1 | Last Fight: September 27, 2011 versus Kris Versteeg (DAL @ FLA) |
| Total Fights | 110 | |||||
| Total Fights (European Player) | 22 | |||||
| Total Fights (USA Players) | 8 | |||||
| Total Fights (Canadian Players) | 78 | |||||
| Total Fights (Russian Players) | 2 |
As you can see, the Dallas Stars are a very Canadian heavy team.
The thing I find interesting about this fight card is that everyone from Europe has never fought except for one person and he boasts the most career fights on the roster…and he’s only 24 years old! Antoine Roussel, from Roubaix, France, a country that does not boast a lot of NHL players (in fact, he is only 1 of 2 active NHL players from France), holds the record for the most fights on this season’s Dallas Stars roster.
Unlike the Devils and the Rangers, the Stars do not have an enforcer or goon on deck.
Of interest though, six of the players have already dropped the gloves during the preseason/regular season so far. One of which was Canadian rookie Curtis McKenzie.
I decided to add another group to the Fight Club…the Russians. Between the two Russians, only Sergei Gonchar has fought a couple of times in his career. His last bout was March 17, 2012.
In this sample, with only 2 Americans on the roster, their statistical data is not comparative against the team as a whole. Both Americans fought, but haven’t fought in a few years.
All Canadians have fought except three players. One of those non-fighters is Tyler Seguin. While Jordie Benn has never fought, his brother, Jamie, has fought 11 times in his career. His last showdown was 10 days ago.
This study so far has shown that the Canadians are the ones that are the fighters. In this group, Europeans generally did not fight. Only one skater of the four European skaters was a fighter. The rest have never dropped their mitts in the NHL.
If the NHL were to move into a non-fighting culture, it appears they’ll have to start with the Canadian youth hockey leagues. The Europeans are proving that they are not all fighters, which means that they focus solely on talent and workmanship. The Americans, even though they are known to be from a violent culture, are not dropping the gloves nearly as much as the Canadians do.
{Statistical source: HockeyFights.com}
Michelle Kenneth's Hockey and Musings 
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