Here is one one of the great things about NHL job competition: Guys fighting for jobs don’t mind fighting opponents, if that’s what it takes to stay with the big club.

We saw that against at Anaheim, when B.J. Crombeen, Yan Stastny and Jay McClement all dropped their gloves. Stastny and McClement did OK, as the following videos show:

Stastny battled Ryan Carter, who accidentally (or so it seems) kneed Manny Legace in the head. In the old days, Geoff Courtnall might have accidentally lost his edge and slid full-speed into Anaheim goaltender Jean-Sebastien Giguere at the other end.

And here Cam Janssen’s last bout, against big Wade Belak:

Notice how visibly disturbed the fans were by this violence.

A FEEL-GOOD STORY

A hundred years ago, when the Blues traveled on the cheap, Hockey Guy pulled into many fast-rood restaurants with Blues. In the old days, the team often traveled by bus from Calgary to Edmonton, Montreal to Quebec City and Washington to Philadelphia.

It was always cool to see the look on people’s faces with this guys lined up to order cheeseburgers. That doesn’t happen much any more, although it did happen with the Blackhawks.

AROUND THE RINKS: With Mats Sundin prepared to finally select the team he will play for, we could see some major player movement before the NHL puts its holiday trade embargo in place. The Rangers are looking to shake up their team and would very much like Sundin. They, like most of the suitors, would have to clear cap space. (Vancouver would not.) Scott Gomez has been terrible for the Rangers and Michal Rosival or Brandon Dubinsky might be available for trade . . . Edmonton, like the Rangers, is looking to mix things up — so it’s only natural that trade speculation would swirl around those teams. At some point the Oilers have to move one of those three goalies . . . The Thrashers control Ilya Kovalchuk for one more season after this one, so the club insists the scorer is not on the block . . . Old friend Brent Johnson is taking charge in goal for the Capitals.