Fight of the Year nominee and Mirasty | West Coast Rink Rants

02:12 PM ET 12.23 | Nothing decent for show last evening, so we will travel to the American Hockey League and shine the spotlight on cult hero Jon Mirasty. While he has yet to earn a regular season NHL shift, his name is legend among fans from Bakersfield, California to Sorel-Tracey, Quebec. Mirasty now plays for the Syracuse Crunch and his cult following continues to grow. The beauty thing about him being in Syracuse, aside from a few pre-season games earlier this year, it is that he is the closest to the big league as he has ever been. There is small talk that his game is not up to par with the NHL standard, but I'm sure that if guys like Toronto's Andre Deveaux could weasel an NHL shift Mirasty certainly will earn one.

Hear that Burke?

You need a tough guy and Mirasty needs a job in the NHL. Give the guy a shot!

Of course, Mirasty at 5'10 (maybe) 220 lbs does not have the frame of a classic heavyweight, but size has never been a prerequisite to determine who can compete on the heavyweight circuit. In past Rink Rants we have discussed smaller heavyweight contenders like Domi, Hordichuk and Stock, Mirasty is cut from the same cloth as these guys. At 25, he is relatively young and he still has some time to mature and learn and will someday be NHL enforcer material.

-MB

Mirasty vs. Derek Boogaard- Juniors