On the Islanders Beat

In the TV business, they call a promotion for a coming attraction a “tease,” and today’s blog is along those lines. There was a minor altercation at Islanders practice today that reflected the edgy atmosphere around a team coming off two straight losses that led to lineup changes by coach Ted Nolan.

It wouldn’t be fair to all of Newsday’s subscribers to get into all the details tonight, but I can guarantee you an interesting read in Thursday’s paper about a scuffle involving Arron Asham. You know, the same Arron Asham who won a fierce bout last week with Devils enforcer Cam Janssen. There were no injuries, but you can believe the Isles will be heading into their game with the Flyers in Philadelphia with a serious chip on their shoulders.

Asham won Nolan’s praise last week for his selfless, hard-working play, and yesterday, Nolan said Asham might split time with fellow tough guy Chris Simon on the top line with Alexei Yashin and Jason Blake. Both Simon and Asham will add a physical aspect to that line that could create room for the big guns, but the coach said it might be a good idea to platoon them so they can keep up with the swift-skating Blake and Yashin.

Although he brushed off today’s brief bout with a teammate as a case of “boys will be boys” and declined to discuss it, Asham had no problem talking about his fight with Janssen. If you somehow missed it, I can tell you as a longtime boxing writer that Asham controlled the match from start to finish, landing several flurries of right-hand bombs while gripping Janssen’s jersey with his left hand and managing to avoid most of what was coming back from one of the better fighters left in the NHL.

It happened less than three minutes into the game, but Asham said it wasn’t because of anything between them in the past. “I knew something was going to happen eventually in the game,” Asham said. “He’s the type of player that goes out there and tries to give his team a spark and myself as well. He asked me to go, and I thought it was a good time to do it.

“It was the first one of the year. It was a long one, but I can take care of myself when it comes to fighting. I didn’t get beat up too bad. It was a good fight, a good time. Thank God our team came out on top.”

The enforcer role might be fading from the NHL scene a bit under the new rules, but there’s still a right time and place, and Asham’s battle with Janssen was a good example. It was a case of two guys who had a job to do and did it without hesitation.

And never forget that these guys are bare-knuckled. I can recall talking to Joey Kocur toward the end of his career with the Rangers about the problems he was having with his hands and how painful it was whenever he had to drop the gloves. Believe me, these guys earn their respect, not to mention their paychecks.

“I’ve been doing it for a lot of years now, trying to give teams a boost,” Asham said. “It brings a lot to the team. It gets guys up on the bench, especially that early in the game. If it’s not a fight, I try to go get a big hit or get a good forecheck going. But it’s a role I’ve been playing for a few years now, and I don’t mind doing it.”

Of course, mixing it up with teammates is another story, and it’s good that Asham’s practice sparring didn’t turn too serious. But it’s nice to see a little feistiness from a team that needs to snap out of its two-game losing streak and continue to develop the spirit to fight back even when things go wrong.