Did Boston's Marc Savard Back Down From Sidney Crosby?

The hockey blogosphere was on fire earlier this week because of a series of events in Sunday's Pittsburgh-Boston game. During the first period of the Penguins 6-4 win, a few observers noticed that Sidney Crosby played a portion of the game without the protective visor he's worn since he entered the league.

I noticed it was gone for a few shifts -- mainly because the Fox Sports Pittsburgh broadcast pointed it out -- but never really gave it much of a thought. Perhaps I should have.

The scuttlebutt around the Pens is that Boston's Marc Savard was exchanging verbal taunts with the Penguins captain, which led to Crosby challenging him to a fight. Savard reportedly declined until Crosby removed his visor. What has followed is the type of story that seems to take on a life of its own each and every time it gets told.

Penguins blog, The Confluence, posted on the events this past Monday, citing an appearance by Penguins forward Chris Kunitz on a local radio show hosted by Mark Madden. Kunitz admitted the two playmakers were taking part in some trash talk, and that Crosby came back to the bench and had his visor removed following the exchange.

On Wednesday, Madden wrote the following on his blog for WXDX radio in Pittsburgh:

Bruins center Marc Savard taunted Crosby after a Boston goal, and the taunting continued until both players neared their benches. Crosby challenged Savard to fight, and Savard responded: "Take off that [sissy] shield, and I'll be glad to." So Crosby handed his helmet to equipment manager Dana Heinze and told him to remove the visor. Crosby took the ice for his next shift sans shield but Savard backed down, thereby looking like the [sissy] he accused Crosby of being.

Simply riveting. Both players are nearly identical in stature, by the way, if you're interested in the tale of the tape. Crosby is listed at 5-foot-10, 200-pounds, while Savard shows up on the Bruins roster as being 5-foot-10, 195-pounds.

Hockeyfights.com lists Savard as having one regular season fight in his career -- a 2003 tilt with Phillipe Boucher -- while he's also had a couple of wrestling matches, including this February bout with Anaheim's Scott Niedermayer.



Crosby's fighting history is a little more controversial. He dropped the gloves and squared off with Boston's Andrew Ference a season ago, completing the first Gordie Howe hat trick of his career.



This season, however, he's taken a few steps back in the fighting department as he punched Atlanta's Boris Valabik in the groin, and then attempted to maul Florida's Brett McLean after a faceoff.

A possible skirmish between Crosby and Savard would certainly be interesting, perhaps even a little entertaining, but would anybody really win?