If you have a buddy who is a casual sports fan and you want to get him hooked on hockey, today is the day.

A number of NHL matchups today/tonight have the potential to feature some serious battles.

Here the skinny (team fights in parenthesis; potential fighters listed by team):

Vancouver (21) @ Pittsburgh (10) - 1:00 est
Vancouver: Hordichuk, M Brown, O Brien, Davison
Pittsburgh: Godard

Hordichuk/Godard could be a pretty nasty tilt.

Potential - Highsticking minor

NY Rangers (15) @ Ottawa (7) - 3:00 est
NY Rangers: Orr, Voros, Dubinsky
Ottawa: Ruutu, Bass, J Smith

Get your rear ends in your seats. Jarkko Ruutu is in for a long night against a team of Rangers that want blood. This past Monday night, Ruutu missed on a penalty shot. Instead of going back the bench, he retrieved the puck in the corner and fired it at Rangers’ goaltender, Henrik Lundqvist. Bad move. Rangers tough guy Colton Orr wanted to get at Ruutu after the game; but the referees kept everyone separated. It’s been less than a week… the memories are fresh.

Potential - Two fights at one time… ejection. Keep an eye on Voros who matches up nicely with Ruutu.

Boston (10) @ Montreal (12) - 7:00 est
Boston: Sh Thornton, Lucic, Chara, Hnidy
Montreal: Laraque, Kostopoulos, O Byrne, Begin

Superheavyweight Georges Laraque was brought into Montreal for a number of reasons, one of which was to keep the Bruins’ Milan Lucic from running Habs’ players. Laraque has been less than successful. Lucic ran Alexi Kovalev last game and beat the snot out of Mike Komisarek in a one-sided fight. Komisarek is now out for at least a month with a shoulder injury. Laraque asked Lucic to fight him; but Lucic politely declined and went about his way. Laraque force the issue today and jump Lucic. He should have did it last game when the Bs were blowing out the Habs. Maybe he was saving up for a performance on home ice today in Montreal?

Potential - Line brawl. Very nasty game.

For the rest of the matchups, make your way over to Twominutesforblogging.