You don't want your first line winger going off  for 5 minutes with the opposing team's 4rth line center on any occasion.....

OK, so does it matter if he is the "3rd line" center?, because he gets the 2nd most minutes of active centers on the team.  Once again, nobody seems to like "skating clowns"  or staged fights, but everybody seems to have their rules as to whom someone should fight.  If Horton is on the ice with with a "player" and not a "skating clown" and he is ticked off at that said player and wants to go, he should go. 

In response to dezaruchi's comment:

I don't care how many minutes of ice Smith sees. Horton shouldn't bother with him because it's an awful trade off. Of course he'd like to fight Horton because Smith's career high is 26 points. Let him fight 4th liners if he wants to go.

So a fight should be based on points and not emotion?  Are you saying that you are in favor of the "skating clowns" then?  Obviously Smith is not in Horton's caliber of talent, but if Smith is on the checking line, matched up against Horton's line at times during the contest, and he takes a run at Horton, you want him to walk away?  I stated that I don't believe that Ottawa has any "skating clowns" and that all their guys seem to be "real players", so if Horton wantsto go with Smith he should.  I didn't say Horton should go with Smith just because Smith wants to go with Horton.  It's not like Smith is Orr, Scott, Parros, etc...

That's quite a stretch isn't it? Most fights are between guys who play similar roles. When you see guys like Lecavalier, Thornton or Iginla fighting, it's rarely against goons. It's more likely they fight with each other. I'm saying that Smith should be trying to goad Horton all night because it's a bad trade off for Boston. Also, if Horton gets "run" by Smith then someone other than Horton should fight him. Smith's job is to throw people off their game. If Horton drops the gloves with him, then Smith has already won. Trust me, if Smith takes a run at DK or Lucic, then Horton will go after him. If not, Horton needs to keep his gloves on.

That's quite a stretch isn't it? Most fights are between guys who play similar roles. When you see guys like Lecavalier, Thornton or Iginla fighting, it's rarely against goons. It's more likely they fight with each other. I'm saying that Smith should be trying to goad Horton all night because it's a bad trade off for Boston. Also, if Horton gets "run" by Smith then someone other than Horton should fight him. Smith's job is to throw people off their game. If Horton drops the gloves with him, then Smith has already won. Trust me, if Smith takes a run at DK or Lucic, then Horton will go after him. If not, Horton needs to keep his gloves on.

Something tells me, Lane MacDermid coming up and getting in a couple of scraps made him come back sooner than he should have.

I didn't so I'm not sure where you're trying to go with that. I used those 3 as examples of  similar caliber players who also fight occasionally. I'm not sure what your fascination with Smith is all about. I've seen at least half of his games with the Sens. The guy's a meathead with a very limited skill set. I couldn't care less about what might happen emotionally if Horton fights Smith. I care more about Horton playing a smart, disciplined game. Jesus, imagine what would happen if Chara and Lucic fought every time someone made them mad. They'd each have 600 pims a year and Zee would no longer be a Norris candidate.

I don't think you ever really strategize to have Horton, Lucic, or Chara fight.  Its gonna happen and that's fine, but your top scorers need to worry first and foremost about winning games.  Let them fight when they want to, not when they're called out by opposing tough guys as a side show.  That's the sole reason for having Thornton in the lineup, and it's part of the value in having McQuaid and Campbell in the lineup.  So if the Bruins go up by two goals and Zach Smith starts bumping Rask or looking for a fight to change the momentum, we have a 3rd/4th line player who can handle that without taking a top player off the ice (and risk injury).  Like dez said, if Horton goes with Smith, Ottawa has already won the tradeoff.

If I'm Julien, I let Chara, Lucic, and Horton drop the gloves if they've really got a beef with someone, or if they're fighting another teams top line players, but not to have a meaningless throw down with other teams 4th line tough guy.  That hurts the team.  That stuff is Thornton's job.  Same reason Lucic didn't fight Laraque.

I wasn't too happy about the outcome of the Horton-Sestito exchange last year.  That stuff is garbage.  Like it or not, Horton is now one solid punch away from a career ender.  If I'm Thornton, I would tell anyone who looks crosswise at Horton that they're getting me instead.

I know that you get what we're saying...

Okay, because I hate watching ballroom dancing where things just keep going around in circles -

We're confusing two scenarios.  Scenario 1 is Lucic v. Weaver.  That is, one of the Bruins's top players initiates a fight with a player on the other team regardless of who that player is to his squad.  We had the bulk of this conversation about whether Lucic's retaliation on Weaver was dumb or not.  I think concensus (including his coach) was that it was warranted and part of Lucic being a force.  The same would be true if Zach Smith slashes Horton across the achilles and Horton turns around and fights him. Bruin player reacting on emotion gets into a fight that hopefully keeps the opposition honest even if it means Horton is off the ice for 5 minutes.  Assume Bruins roll four lines for that 5 minutes and each shift is 40 seconds - 300min/40 = 7.5 shifts/4 lines = Horton misses two shifts.  If you're not willing to support this, then you probably also don't want players blocking shots because they might miss a couple of shifts walking it off in the tunnel.

Scenario 2 is Lucic v. Laracque.  Remember Laracque chasing Lucic all over the ice trying to goad him into a fight and Lucic telling him flat out: I'm under coach's orders not to fight you.  That's the scenario where you don't want your top guys fighting Neil or Dziurzynski or Smith just because they come calling with a facewash and a nasty comment about Horton's wife.  It's a calculated provocation and strategically, it's what the opposition is trying to goad you into doing.  So...don't do that.  But if they escalate to attempts to injure - injure them with rights to the face.

Incidentally, I support Lucic fighting Neil ever game, all game.  He routinely opens that guy up like a can of tomato soup.  Love it.

Okay, because I hate watching ballroom dancing where things just keep going around in circles -

We're confusing two scenarios.  Scenario 1 is Lucic v. Weaver.  That is, one of the Bruins's top players initiates a fight with a player on the other team regardless of who that player is to his squad.  We had the bulk of this conversation about whether Lucic's retaliation on Weaver was dumb or not.  I think concensus (including his coach) was that it was warranted and part of Lucic being a force.  The same would be true if Zach Smith slashes Horton across the achilles and Horton turns around and fights him. Bruin player reacting on emotion gets into a fight that hopefully keeps the opposition honest even if it means Horton is off the ice for 5 minutes.  Assume Bruins roll four lines for that 5 minutes and each shift is 40 seconds - 300min/40 = 7.5 shifts/4 lines = Horton misses two shifts.  If you're not willing to support this, then you probably also don't want players blocking shots because they might miss a couple of shifts walking it off in the tunnel.

Scenario 2 is Lucic v. Laracque.  Remember Laracque chasing Lucic all over the ice trying to goad him into a fight and Lucic telling him flat out: I'm under coach's orders not to fight you.  That's the scenario where you don't want your top guys fighting Neil or Dziurzynski or Smith just because they come calling with a facewash and a nasty comment about Horton's wife.  It's a calculated provocation and strategically, it's what the opposition is trying to goad you into doing.  So...don't do that.  But if they escalate to attempts to injure - injure them with rights to the face.

Incidentally, I support Lucic fighting Neil ever game, all game.  He routinely opens that guy up like a can of tomato soup.  Love it.

Okay, because I hate watching ballroom dancing where things just keep going around in circles -

We're confusing two scenarios.  Scenario 1 is Lucic v. Weaver.  That is, one of the Bruins's top players initiates a fight with a player on the other team regardless of who that player is to his squad.  We had the bulk of this conversation about whether Lucic's retaliation on Weaver was dumb or not.  I think concensus (including his coach) was that it was warranted and part of Lucic being a force.  The same would be true if Zach Smith slashes Horton across the achilles and Horton turns around and fights him. Bruin player reacting on emotion gets into a fight that hopefully keeps the opposition honest even if it means Horton is off the ice for 5 minutes.  Assume Bruins roll four lines for that 5 minutes and each shift is 40 seconds - 300min/40 = 7.5 shifts/4 lines = Horton misses two shifts.  If you're not willing to support this, then you probably also don't want players blocking shots because they might miss a couple of shifts walking it off in the tunnel.

Scenario 2 is Lucic v. Laracque.  Remember Laracque chasing Lucic all over the ice trying to goad him into a fight and Lucic telling him flat out: I'm under coach's orders not to fight you.  That's the scenario where you don't want your top guys fighting Neil or Dziurzynski or Smith just because they come calling with a facewash and a nasty comment about Horton's wife.  It's a calculated provocation and strategically, it's what the opposition is trying to goad you into doing.  So...don't do that.  But if they escalate to attempts to injure - injure them with rights to the face.

Incidentally, I support Lucic fighting Neil ever game, all game.  He routinely opens that guy up like a can of tomato soup.  Love it.

In response to dezaruchi's comment:

On a side note, I love to see the first liners with a chip on their shoulders go.  That's as close as we will get to old time hockey.  You know when Vinny drops the gloves, it's a real fight and it's awesome.

In response to MeanE's comment:

 So a fight should be based on points and not emotion?  Are you saying that you are in favor of the "skating clowns" then?  Obviously Smith is not in Horton's caliber of talent, but if Smith is on the checking line, matched up against Horton's line at times during the contest, and he takes a run at Horton, you want him to walk away?  I stated that I don't believe that Ottawa has any "skating clowns" and that all their guys seem to be "real players", so if Horton wantsto go with Smith he should.  I didn't say Horton should go with Smith just because Smith wants to go with Horton.  It's not like Smith is Orr, Scott, Parros, etc...

You don't want your first line winger going off  for 5 minutes with the opposing team's 4rth line center on any occasion.....

Okay, because I hate watching ballroom dancing where things just keep going around in circles -

We're confusing two scenarios.  Scenario 1 is Lucic v. Weaver.  That is, one of the Bruins's top players initiates a fight with a player on the other team regardless of who that player is to his squad.  We had the bulk of this conversation about whether Lucic's retaliation on Weaver was dumb or not.  I think concensus (including his coach) was that it was warranted and part of Lucic being a force.  The same would be true if Zach Smith slashes Horton across the achilles and Horton turns around and fights him. Bruin player reacting on emotion gets into a fight that hopefully keeps the opposition honest even if it means Horton is off the ice for 5 minutes.  Assume Bruins roll four lines for that 5 minutes and each shift is 40 seconds - 300min/40 = 7.5 shifts/4 lines = Horton misses two shifts.  If you're not willing to support this, then you probably also don't want players blocking shots because they might miss a couple of shifts walking it off in the tunnel.

Scenario 2 is Lucic v. Laracque.  Remember Laracque chasing Lucic all over the ice trying to goad him into a fight and Lucic telling him flat out: I'm under coach's orders not to fight you.  That's the scenario where you don't want your top guys fighting Neil or Dziurzynski or Smith just because they come calling with a facewash and a nasty comment about Horton's wife.  It's a calculated provocation and strategically, it's what the opposition is trying to goad you into doing.  So...don't do that.  But if they escalate to attempts to injure - injure them with rights to the face.

Incidentally, I support Lucic fighting Neil ever game, all game.  He routinely opens that guy up like a can of tomato soup.  Love it.

If Horton is on the ice w/ the fourth line, that also implies that Krejci and Lucic are on the ice with the other teams fourth line.

We should be looking to score in that situation, not fight.

On a side note, I love to see the first liners with a chip on their shoulders go.  That's as close as we will get to old time hockey.  You know when Vinny drops the gloves, it's a real fight and it's awesome.

My point is that they don't have a 4th line tough guy!  If you consider Neil a "real player", than so is Smith.  I wasn't happy about the outcome of the Horton-Sestito exchange last year either.  You never answered my question.  If you are afraid of one of your power forwards dropping the gloves because of concussions, would you re-sign him?  If you take the "power" out of Nathan's game, is he worth the money?  Is he skilled enough to warrant $4 million a year?