On the Forecheck
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A new sherriff in town
by Forechecker on 11/27/08 at 06:40 PM ET
Comments (6)
Darcy Hordichuk wanted a multi-year contract, so he was let go over the summer. Josh Gratton was brought in during training camp, but he didn’t win a roster spot and never dressed for Nashville in the regular season. Nick Tarnasky was acquired from Tampa Bay while the Lightning were over in Prague, but after two months, he failed to impress with either his hockey skills or fisticuffs.
Nashville Predators fans, your Goon of the Month for December is now Wade Belak, acquired in a trade with Florida earlier today. And you know folks, I think you’ll like this guy…
Sure, he may have only scored one goal in 182 games since the Great Lockout:
But hey, it was against the Predators, so at least they took one dangerous sniper away from the opposition!
For a more relevant video resume, check out the following tussle with Minnesota’s Derek Boogard from last month, found over at HockeyFights.com:
Minnesota comes to Nashville Saturday night, so it’ll be interesting to see if the two exchange pleasantries once again. One other thing to note about Belak is that he does pick up a load of penalties given his ice time. Back in 2006-7, he was #1 on a list of defensemen in this regard (although he’ll likely dress as a forward when he plays for Nashville).
Filed in: Nashville Predators | On the Forecheck | Permalink
Tags: Wade+Belak,
Comments
I have to say i was disappointing to hear his name is pronounced as it is, and not like the the villain in the first Indiana Jones movie 
Posted by pwnicholson from Nashville, TN on 11/28/08 at 12:22 AM ET
oh and i did some more checking online, watched some more videos, etc and it looks like he’ll certainly be a better fighter than Tarnasky.
He has a good webpage too
http://www.wadebelak.com/
Watching his fights, he certainly isn’t overpowering or fast like Hordi or Toots, but just fights long and hard and outlasts other fighters, and can slowly and methodically slug it out with other heavyweights.
Posted by pwnicholson from Nashville, TN on 11/28/08 at 12:47 AM ET
I love Belak, I desperately miss him in Toronto and it has absolutely nothing to do with anything he does on ice.
Like most enforcers he’s pretty pathetic at the actual playing hockey part of his job, though his positional flexibility makes him marginally more useful then most… he’s played everywhere besides goal in the NHL.
He has the unique quality of being absolutely hilarious though, I’m convinced he would be far more famous and make far more money as a comedian.
Get Belak on TV besides playing hockey and the Thrashers popularity increases rapidly. I’m more then half convinced he spends more time practicing his comedic skits for his next interview then he does hockey.
Posted by Rand on 11/28/08 at 11:56 AM ET
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Right. Like it’s a step up to protect any of the Predators. Oh well, when you’re looking forward to a fight for eigth or ninth spot in the Western Conference, I guess you have to have something to get excited about. At least Dirk is honest enough to call Belak the “Goon of the Month”.
Posted by OlderThanChelios from Grand Rapids on 11/27/08 at 11:05 PM ET