Devils' Clowe 'advised' to cut back on fighting after string of concussions

New Jersey forward Ryane Clowe suffered three concussions in less than a year, limiting him to only 43 games in his first season in a Devils' uniform. As a result, he's been encouraged to cut back on the fisticuffs moving forward.

“I've been advised probably I should watch it a bit, but it’s hard when I’m out there,” Clowe told Tom Gulitti of Fire and Ice. “I’m a competitive guy, so I get fired up easily. We’ll see how that goes.”

Clowe suggested the advice didn't come from general manager Lou Lamoriello or head coach Pete DeBoer, but rather from family or friends. At the same time, it appears as though he's unable to guarantee the gloves will stay on.

I think I get more people close to me wanting me or reminding me of that and that’s probably something I should slack back a bit on. But, to be honest with you, if I went out there and thought about that it would probably still happen anyway because my fights a lot of the time come off reaction - a teammate gets hit, spur-of-the-moment type thing. I can’t recall too many fights where I've lined up off the faceoff and squared off with a  guy and fought.

I’ll try to be a little bit more conscious. I think the whole thing with that is last year I fought (Boston Bruins' Milan) Lucic. Lucic is a top player in the league. It’s not like I’m fighting someone who doesn’t play. You don’t want to fight a guy that’s probably not playing and takes you off the ice and he’s playing three minutes. So, you pick your spots.

Clowe does, however, expect the subject to be raised by the club as training camp progresses. “We’ll talk about that before actually playing in a game,” he said. “I think it’s too early to be fighting anyone now. Lou and Pete, we’ll probably discuss that before we start up.”

According to HockeyFights.com, Clowe engaged in five fights this past season, while averaging almost 11 per year over the course of the previous three seasons.