It's been a hell of a season for Pittsburgh, and in all of the successes we've enjoyed (and heartbreak we've suffered) we should take a minute and reflect - not just upon the hockey prowess that scored so many goals and blocked so many opposing shots, but all the fists exchanged in the hockey tradition of settling differences by pounding one's face in.

So here it is, part one of my three part end of the year wrap up for Tales of the Tape.  I've gone back through all the Penguins fights, reevaluated some of my original decisions and put a bunch of numbers together.  Let's begin with the broadest category: general stats.

What follows is a list of all the players and their fighting records, divided into pre, regular and post season.  I'm only missing one record, which is noted in the records.  These statistics were given by me, as I watched each of the 53 fights that I could find this season.  I tried to be as fair as I could, but I understand that there might be some disagreement on my decisions.

PRE-SEASON
Georges Laraque - 1 fight (1-0-0)
Tyler Kennedy - 1 fight (I could not find any report of this fight.)
Pittsburgh Penguins - 2 fights (1-0-0 with one ommission)

REGULAR SEASON
Colby Armstrong - 2 fights (0-2-0)
Sidney Crosby - 1 fight (1-0-0)
Adam Hall - 2 fights (0-0-2)
Tyler Kennedy - 1 fight (1-0-0)
Georges Laraque - 13 fights (9-0-4)
Kris Letang - 1 fight (1-0-0)
Ryan Malone - 9 fights (4-4-1)
Brooks Orpik - 3 fights (1-0-2)
Gary Roberts - 2 fights (2-0-0)
Jarkko Ruutu - 5 fights (3-2-0)
Jordan Staal - 1 fight (0-0-1)
Ryan Stone - 1 fight (0-0-1)
Darryl Sydor - 2 fights (0-2-0)
Petr Sykora - 1 fight (0-0-1)
Maxime Talbot - 3 fights (1-1-1)
Ryan Whitney - 1 fight (0-1-0)
Pittsburgh Penguins - 48 fights (23-12-13)

POST-SEASON
Tyler Kennedy - 1 fight (1-0-0)
Ryan Malone - 1 fight (0-1-0)
Ryan Whitney - 1 fight (1-0-0)
Pittsburgh Penguins - 3 fights (2-1-0)

So all in all, a very dominant year for the Fightin' Pens.  We had some consistent powerhouses, some consistent punching bags and some very skillful dancers.  Being two wins short of a .500 win average is something to be proud of.  The Penguins definitely fought hard when the need arose.

That's the basics of the stats.  In the next edition, I'll be crunching numbers, looking at wins at home and on the road, game results with fights, teams fought, players fought against, and other things that will make part 2 much more exciting than part 1.  So stay tuned.