Mouthy

Scott Cruickshank over at the Calgary Herald has a nice piece on the NHL's best trash-talkers.

"Ian Laperriere had it all figured out -- he would yap-yap his way through the National Hockey League....

"It comes with experience -- you think you're going to get away with stuff like that, like you do in junior," says Laperriere. "But here? These guys are men. You can't do that for a long time. If you want to have a short career? Go ahead, be my guest. But if you want to stick around, you've got to quiet down."

Asked who's talking trash nowadays, he doesn't hesitate.

"Alex Burrows, in Vancouver," says Laperriere. "He's the guy who will have the last word. But it's his second year in the NHL and at one point ..."

He finishes with a knowing nod.

A few days after Laperriere's comments, Burrows goads Detroit Red Wings' ruffian Aaron Downey. Part of the stick-jousting fracas -- in the warm-up yet! -- includes Burrows calling Downey "chubby" and teasing him about eating too many french fries."