Hordichuk, better known for using his hands against opposing fighters than for scoring goals, was sent in alone by Jannik Hansen on a 2-on-1, and made a quick deke in tight before lifting a backhand in off the blocker of Oilers goaltender Jeff Deslaurier.

“Embarrassing,” said Ryan Kesler, who sits next to Hordichuk in the Canuck dressing room. “There should be a fine. For him to actually pose for a picture with his shirt off… You’ve seen his body, He doesn’t have the greatest body. It’s like the ‘before’ picture in the Jenny Craig commercials.”

“It’s embarrassing, for sure,” added Kevin Bieksa. “We said we should have air-brushed parts of him if he’s going to have his shirt off.”

The little bruiser was born on Sunday, February 22nd.

In the National Hockey League, top goal scorers like Alexander Ovechkin, Sidney Crosby and Vincent Lecavalier bring spectators to their feet with blazing speed and dazzling moves.

They also make it possible for their teams to land bigger profits by drawing fans to the arena and challenging for the Stanley Cup. But these players wouldn’t be as good without their enforcers–tough guys who typically don’t score much but are willing to pummel anyone who dares to get rough.

Enforcers have a long tradition in the league. Bob Probert helped the Detroit Red Wings regain prominence after 14 straight losing seasons by dishing out punishment to anyone who took liberties with Steve Yzerman. Ditto for the Philadelphia Flyers’ Dave “The Hammer” Schultz, who protected Bobby Clarke in the mid-1970s as the team won two Stanley Cups. The Edmonton Oilers used Dave Semenko as their policeman in the mid-1980s to keep Wayne Gretzky safe as the Oilers captured their first two championships.

Says Lacavalier, a three-time All-Star who led the Tampa Bay Lighting in points last season: “We need [fighters]. If there weren’t fights, players wouldn’t be accountable for their actions.” With NHL payrolls capped at 57% of revenue, having an inexpensive enforcer enables teams to spend more money on skilled players.

The Lightning recently signed Lecavalier to an 11-year, $85 million contract extension. But he’s off to a slow start through seven games this season, and the Lightning sit in last place after free-agent enforcer David Koci was unable to fill the void left by the off-season departure of Lecavalier’s longtime bodyguard Andre Roy and was cut by the team earlier this month.

In Pictures: Best Hockey Fighters for the Buck

To determine the best fighters for the buck, we compared player fighting stats since the start of the 2006-07 season to their pay last year. Since a game’s momentum usually swings to the team whose player prevails in a fight, we awarded a bonus for each win and subtracted points for each loss, as determined by fan voting at hockeyfights.com, an online Mecca for pugilism at the rink.

When comparing salaries, we took experience into account by contrasting a player’s pay with a pool of enforcers that have similar longevity in the league, since younger players have pay-limits set by the NHL. Only the 15 players currently active on NHL rosters who dropped their gloves 20 or more times while playing in at least half their team’s games over the past two seasons were included in our ranking.

The best fighter for the money is Colton Orr of the New York Rangers. Orr fought 34 times during the past two seasons (the most in the Eastern Conference), winning 21 of them (tops in the NHL). His $525,000 salary last year was only $50,000 above the league minimum, 9% less than the average of other enforcers who have qualified for restricted free agency.

Georges Laraque of the Montreal Canadiens ranks second, despite being hockey’s highest-paid enforcer last year, earning $1.3 million playing for Pittsburgh. Reason: If there was a heavyweight title for hockey fighting, the belt would be around his waist. Laraque holds a record of 19 wins, zero loses and two draws over the past two seasons, while commonly dropping the gloves against hockey’s premier fighters.

Some enforcers can do more than fight. Colorado Avalanche forward Ian Laperriere, ranked 11th on our list, racked up 48 points over the last two seasons while fighting 37 times.

Coming out of the lockout that cancelled the 2004-05 season, the league marketed itself as “The New NHL,” which among other changes, meant a commitment to reduce fighting. Hockey fights dropped from 789 in the season before the lockout to 466 during the 2005-06 season. But last season the number of fights increased 33%, to 664, and is on pace to reach 879 this year.

It seems that the NHL now recognizes this trend and fighting’s place in the game. The league recently reversed course, deciding to show video clips of fights on their Web site for the first time, and it expects fans to continue doing the same on outside sites. Says Washington Capitals owner Ted Leonsis, “It’s like oxygen, get used to it.”

Full List from Forbes

Darcy challenged Ducks George Parros to a nice second period scrap. It wasn’t the best of fights, but Darcy finally got a chance to show the Canucks fans what he has in store for them.

Darcy vs Parros starts around the 1:40 mark on video

Hordichuk scored a tying goal in his Canucks debut against the Oilers. After Edmonton forward Kyle Brodziak opened the scoring with a shot during a power play, Darcy banged in the tying goal seven minutes later.

Then rookie Michael Grabner scored a power-play goal early in the second period, and Vancouver swept a home-and-home preseason series over the Edmonton Oilers with a 2-1 win on Tuesday night.

will pack a bigger punch this season

His website greets you with a ‘DH’ emblazoned on a puck that’s enveloped in a swirl of cosmic blue and white.

The ‘DH’ stands for Darcy Hordichuk, but for the new Canucks enforcer it could just as well mean Designated Hitter.

Not only has Hordichuk promised to punch it up with the baddest boys on the NHL block, the fourth-line winger worked with Ultimate Fighting Championship star Chuck “The Iceman” Liddell and trainer John Hackleman this summer to put more spring in his step and power in his punch.

At a place called The Pit in San Luis Obispo, Calif., Hordichuk endured twice-daily workout regimens for two weeks after his wife, Lisa, parlayed her friend’s familiarity with Hackleman into a training invitation.

“It’s all about confidence and just seeing how those guys work — they train, then they’re meditating on the beach and running in the hills — was kind of neat and a good experience,” Hordichuk said Wednesday following an informal skate at Burnaby 8-Rinks.

“Obviously, it’s lot different than training on the ice. It’s violent, but it’s a controlled violence and there are things you can learn from hitting the bag with them, wrestling and other stuff to get your stamina up a bit.

“Like your angles coming into a fight. I’ve had my style for the last 15 years and it has worked for me, but I can do some different things.”

Hackleman believes that Hordichuk’s punching power will be five times as effective because of UFC training that involves the hips and shoulders.

“I hope so,” replied Hordichuk. “Hockey is so different than the UFC and it’s difficult to turn your hips when you’re on the ice. But there are ways to get your hips behind it and make your punches more powerful.”

Full Story: Canada.com

Related: Ground and Chuk

Darcy brings his fists to Vancouver

Darcy is headed back to Canada. Darcy signed a free agent deal with the Vancouver Canucks.

Darcy who was traded by the Predators to the Carolina Hurricanes opted not to sign a deal with Carolina but instead test the free agent market and sign with the Canucks.

The Iceman teaches Darcy a few tricks

Former Nashville Predator Darcy Hordichuk trades in the penalty box for The Pit this summer. Now, he’s hoping training with the Iceman will make him better on the ice.

These days, Darcy Hordichuk is far from his altar boys days growing up in Canada.

The NHL forward is now on the Central Coast training with UFC superstar Chuck Liddell, his trainer John Hackelman and the rest of The Pit fight team. Hordichuk actually sought out Hackelman to improve his hockey game.

“John, I think, is one of the best trainers in the world and [has] produced some of the best fighters in the world,” Hordichuk said about his reason for contacting Hackelman. “In hockey, there is a lot of fighting, and that’s sort of my role. The guys nowadays are getting a lot bigger and stronger, and I’m always going to stay my same size, so I thought, why not get the edge and come train here at The Pit with John?”

Added Hackelman about his newest client’s progress, “His punching power has probably increased five times. Just by the turn of the hip and whipping the shoulder around.”

Dropping the gloves was the reason Hordichuk got his shot in the NHL, and the reason he’s stayed for nine seasons in the league.

“I knew that if I wanted to make in the NHL I wasn’t skilled enough to put the puck in the net and my skating at the time was all right. But I said, you know, if I want to play with the big boys, I’ve got to be one of the big boys,” said Hordichuk.

One of Darcy’s biggest hits while training at The Pit was when he got a few pointers from the man himself, Chuck Liddell.

“It brings a smile to my face. Obviously I need pictures to prove it, because obviously everyone back home doesn’t believe this small kid that grew up on a farm that wasn’t supposed to play in the NHL all of a sudden is training with one of the best fighters in the world,” said Hordichuk.

It is safe to say when Hordichuk hits the ice next season he will be one of the most feared altar boys out there.

“His punching power is a lot better. I think he’s going to drop some guys on the ice,” predicted Hackelman.

“If I can’t punch beat them up on the ice, I’ll choke a hold on the ice,” joked Hordichuk about his new skills.

Source: KSBY.com