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An NHL tough guy isn't necessarily someone who goes out and beats the snot out of an opponent every night. Sure, goons like that still exist in the league, but an NHL tough guy is more than that. He is a player who will not only stand up for himself and/or his teammates, but will also play through and dish out pain or a game-changing check whenever his team needs him to do so.

Each Wednesday, FOXSports.com's NHL Tough Guy Tracker will spotlight those players and some of the best scraps from around the league.

— Punch Imback

After seeing his teammate Logan Couture take a hit to the head from Calgary's Cory Sarich on March 23, San Jose's Ryane Clowe wasted no time going to town on the Flames defender. Clowe kicked the snot out of his visor-wearing foe, feeding Sarich a plateful of rights before the officials stepped in to stop the bout.

A frustrated Edmonton club went into last Thursday's night's matchup with St. Louis mired in a seven-game losing streak. The Oilers took their frustration out on the Blues early in the contest, dropping the gloves on three separate occasions in the first period with two of the scraps coming in the opening minutes of the game.

After not fighting for two months, Philadelphia's Sean O'Donnell dropped the mitts twice in one game last week. On March 26 in New York, the veteran defenseman got going early when he took on Islanders pest Zenon Konopka 21 seconds into the tilt. O'Donnell completed his night by squaring off against another hard thrower, Matt Martin, in the third.

In an Eastern Conference clash on March 27, Chris Thorburn energized his Atlanta teammates and the home crowd when he took on and beat Ottawa's Zack Smith in the first period of the Thrashers' 5-4 shootout win.

Micheal Haley got the Islanders' fans pumped up early Saturday night at the Nassau Coliseum when he pounded Philly enforcer Daniel Carcillo to the ice on the game's opening draw.

Ducks' tough guy George Parros chalked up another win when he bested Colorado's David Koci on March 28. In 72 games, Parros has knocked knuckles a league-leading 24 times.

For the second time in little over a month, the Blues' Cam Janssen and the Oilers' Jim Vandermeer threw everything but the kitchen sink at one another.

Colorado's Cameron Gaunce challenged Toronto's Mike Komisarek after the Leafs' defender took out the Avs' Mark Olver with a vicious open-ice hit on March 24 in Denver.

Midway through the first period on March 24 against the Coyotes, Blue Jackets big boy Jared Boll floored another tough customer in Paul Bissonnette when he landed a vicious right uppercut during their duel in the desert.

San Jose's Ryane Clowe helped the Sharks increase their division lead on the Coyotes to four points when he recorded a Gordie Howe hat trick in the team's 4-1 win on March 26 in Phoenix. Clowe terrorized the Coyotes the entire night, collecting one goal, two assists, five shots and one fighting major against Paul Bissonnette in the ultra-important contest.