Central Division rivals 'miss those battles' during season pause

St. Louis Blues defenseman Alex Pietrangelo misses the heated battles in the corner with Chicago Blackhawks center Jonathan Toews.

Winnipeg Jets forward Blake Wheeler misses Dallas Stars forward Jamie Benn asking him to fight almost every time they line up against each other for a face-off.
Mostly, the players miss the daily competition since the NHL paused the 2019-20 season on March 12 due concerns surrounding the coronavirus.
"We've had a lot of battles, but you know what? You kind of want those battles," Pietrangelo said Tuesday in a video call arranged by the NHL. "Right now, we miss those battles. I don't know about you guys, but I could probably use a few of those battles against each other."
That seemed to be consensus among the seven Central Division rivals who participated in the two video calls Tuesday and among the players from the Atlantic, Metropolitan and Pacific divisions who participated in previous video calls arranged by the NHL. Closing in on three weeks since playing, they long to get on the ice against each other again.
"I like playing the game hard and I try to play it the right way," Benn said. "I have a lot of fun with it. I do a lot of talking on the ice to other players. I know me and [Wheeler], I think I ask him to fight every game we play."
Wheeler said, "There was one game, I think we faced off against each other like 20 times and he asked me to fight 20 times."

Benn and Wheeler laughed about it last summer in Toronto when they spent some time together off the ice for the first time. But that didn't stop Benn from challenging Wheeler again the first time they faced each other this season.
Wheeler didn't seem to mind it Tuesday. In fact, he sounded as if he couldn't wait for whenever he next lines up across from Benn or the other two players on his video call, Minnesota Wild forward Zach Parise and Colorado Avalanche forward Gabriel Landeskog.
"I always know that whenever we're playing really everyone in our division, but especially you three guys, that every shift is going to be against you and there have been tough nights," Wheeler said. "I think it's a good thing because it brings out the best in you. Having (to go against) the best, it's going to be a tough night. Those are things you miss about the game is sort of that adrenaline going into it.
"I know I'm telling [Benn] 15 times 'no' tonight and you know, 'maybe one of these days.' But no, it's great. It's what I love about the job. It's what gets you going."
As much as they want to play, the players said they understand hockey must be put aside while everyone focuses on staying healthy and trying to prevent the coronavirus from spreading.
"Obviously this is a tough time, a crazy time for everybody," Toews said. "The biggest thing is no matter what your background or what your political views are, I think we're all kind of coming together on this. That's the biggest thing.
"I think you guys all know what it takes to have a winning hockey team. You have to have everybody coming together and I think that's the biggest message right now is coming together with your family, your friends, your community and wait this thing out. You've got to do what we've got to do, and we'll get through it."

The Blues (42-19-10) were leading the Central Division and went 10-2-0 in their final 12 games before the season was paused, putting on hold their aspirations to repeat as Stanley Cup champions. Pietrangelo acknowledged that the timing was frustrating but said it's necessary.
"Right now, I don't think any of us are thinking about that," he said. "We're just more worried about taking care of ourselves and our loved ones. I think at the time, yeah, it's frustrating. But we're all optimistic that maybe we'll have a chance to play again, so maybe we'll have the opportunity (to repeat)."
The time off from playing has provided some perspective so that if the NHL is able to resume the season, the players will appreciate the opportunity.
Toews said he misses those battles with Pietrangelo as much as the Blues captain, especially those that occurred during the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Toews and the Blackhawks defeated Pietrangelo and the Blues in the 2014 Western Conference First Round, but St. Louis got its revenge in the 2016 Western Conference First Round.
"I think we've had some great playoff series against each other over the years, too, where there's been some hatred," Toews said. "That's what the game's all about. So at this point, the fans are missing it, we're missing it and, obviously, we want life to go back to what we're used to."