Official Site of Darcy Hordichuk

Vinny Prospal scored just 58 seconds into overtime as the Tampa Bay Lightning downed the Nashville Predators, 2-1, at the Sommet Center.

In the overtime, Brad Richards received a pass at the right circle and faked a shot before throwing the puck on net. Dan Ellis stopped the shot, but Prospal was right there to bang in the rebound for the win.

Richards also scored a goal while Johan Holmqvist finished the game with 18 saves for the Lightning, who have won three of their last four games.

Alexander Radulov scored the lone goal while Ellis finished the game with 23 saves for the Predators, who had a three-game winning streak stopped.

The Predators took a 1-0 lead with 7:23 left in the first period as Radulov flicked a wrister from the left circle that beat Holmqvist over the right shoulder.

Ellis only needed to make five saves in the first period to keep Tampa Bay off the board.

The Lightning tied the game at the 13:09 mark of the second period. Vincent Lecavalier snapped a wrister from the right point that Martin St. Louis deflected on net. Ellis made the save, but Richards lifted the puck past the prone goaltender.

Nashville managed just two shots on net in the middle stanza, both of which Holmqvist turned aside.

The Predators had 10 shots on net in the third period and the Lightning six, but none went into the net as the teams skated to the overtime.

Wade Brookbank vs Darcy Hordichuk from the Carolina Hurricanes at Nashville Predators game on Feb 5, 2008.

First came a hockey team named the Hurricanes. Then the Nashville Predators had to deal with some very real tornadoes as violent weather hit central Tennessee. Read the rest of this entry »

Daniel Carcillo vs Darcy Hordichuk from the Phoenix Coyotes at Nashville Predators game on Feb 2, 2008.

Jared Boll vs Darcy Hordichuk from the Columbus Blue Jackets at Nashville Predators game on Jan 31, 2008.

With less than nine minutes left Thursday night, Nashville Predators enforcer Darcy Hordichuk picked a fight with the Blue Jackets’ top-line right winger.

It wasn’t a case of the playground bully trying to take the honor student’s MP3 player. The Jackets’ top-line winger was rookie Jared Boll, who leads the NHL with 19 fights.

The action-packed scrap featured not only a clash of tough guys but of contrasting cultures within the ever-changing hockey fight game.

Hordichuk, 27, is decidedly old school: a heavyweight whose primary mission is to serve and protect. Boll, 21, is Tigger on skates: an energetic banger who can fight but contributes in other capacities.

“It’s just like society. You need police officers around to keep the kids in order,” Hordichuk said hours before his dustup. “I’d rather stand in front of Boll’s punch than one of Jody Shelley’s punches any day.”

It’s becoming tougher to be a tough guy in the NHL.

Although fighting remains a prominent and fan-enticing part of the game, these days an enforcer needs to pair skating skills with swinging fists for a true one-two punch.

“Throughout the league everyone is getting better,” feisty Predators forward Darcy Hordichuk said. “You have to keep up with the times.”

Rules changes in the wake of the lockout that wiped out the 2004-05 season led to a perceived decline in “staged” fights — one player calling out another — yet fighting majors are on the rise.

Such an evolution has created an interesting challenge for traditional tough guys like Hordichuk.

Known for his slugging but not necessarily his slap shot, Hordichuk has been asked to follow the lead of hard-hitting teammates like Jordin Tootoo and Shea Weber by contributing offensively as well as aggressively.

Across the league fighters are being forced to keep pace with the game’s speed and skill elements.

Failure to do so, as Hordichuk learned earlier this season, can mean an extended stay on the bench.

“The pure tough guy who struggled to get around the ice is a little bit of a dying element,” Predators Coach Barry Trotz said.

“Now you not only have to be the toughest hombre on the ice, you also have to be able to play a regular shift.”

Full Story: Enforcers fight to keep place in game – [Tennessean.com]