Ugly hat trick for NHL as mayhem spins out of control

[madinmaryland]

This is connect-the-dots time for the NHL, and the picture is not exactly pretty.

Beginning with a mean-spirited game in Pittsburgh between the Penguins and Islanders on Feb. 2 that included a dodgy hit and a goalie fight, and concluding with the pre-Valentine Day's Massacre rematch between the two teams on Long Island, the NHL has descended into the gutter -- a refuge of rancor, vitriol and vengeance. In the 18 years of Commissioner Gary Bettman's stewardship, a period in which when the league has shed its mom-and-pop veneer and become a growing part of the sports entertainment industry, this is the first time that the NHL has seemed circa-1970s small.

There have, of course, been incidents during the Bettman years that obliged the generic sports fan to cast a rheumy gaze at the league -- Marty McSorley stalking Donald Brashear (video) and Todd Bertuzzi assaulting Steve Moore (video) to name two -- but, after a few reflexive rounds of a national tsk-tsking, these events came to be viewed almost as one-offs, spasmodic eruptions of hockey's basest instincts. They were horrific events, but they were not necessarily defining ones for a league that was trying to honor the old trappings while modernizing its ways.

But now a disturbing pattern has emerged, and the NHL can't seem to get out of its own way.

Since Feb. 2, the NHL has seen a) two goalie fights; b) three bouts in the first four minutes of a Stars-Bruins game that also included a vicious blindside hit; c) unbridled brawling between two Original 6 rivals, the Bruins and Canadiens, that included the son of the NHL's dean of discipline as a major combatant flailing away as his elbow pad flapped; d) a match between the Penguins and Islanders featuring 346 penalty minutes that would have been better handled by a SWAT team than two referees and two linesmen; and e) one of the biggest names of the past quarter century, Penguins co-owner and Hall of Famer Mario Lemieux, decrying the violence directed at his team, a plaint that was greeted with widespread, if not universal, derision because his team leads the league in fighting and employs arguably the most destructive player in the NHL.

Read more: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/writers/michael_farber/02/15/nhl.mayhem/index.html#ixzz1EEbwHwNl

[Upton]

1. I get tired of the fighting..

but hockey is a man's game. If the wimps don't like it, let them watch something else...like figure skating.

Btw, in the poll at the link, when the question was asked.."Is the NHL too violent?"..64% have so far voted NO

[Forkboy]

2. Silly article, the equivalent of having the vapors.

[inthebrain]

3. Mario can suck it

This guy retired and still continues to whine. Cooke ain't the only cheapshot artist on that team. Talbot follows as a close second.

I'm glad the Isles served that team full of punks their just due. Mario's whining is like the mother of a bully complaining cause her son got the bloody nose he deserved. For over five years I've watched the Islanders get run night in and night out. No calls from the refs and Colin Campbell, who has to be one of the worst disciplinarians in any sport makes up BS as to why certain players shouldn't get suspended. Yet, he habitually throws the book at the Islanders for any infraction.


Now the NHLs most pampered franchise got a bloody nose on the scoreboard (9-3) and on the ice. Everyone has to take notice and feel bad for that band of babies.

[Forkboy]

4. Some of those shots by the Islanders were overbaord.

They gooned it up big time, and it was a sad display. That 4th line has just 5 combined goals on the year, and well over 400 penalty minutes. It's clear what their role is. No matter how one feels about the Penguins (I have no love for them), the Isles sunk to a serious low that night, and the suspensions were well deserved.

Having said that, your overall point about Mario is correct. He has no place to talk while players like Cooke and Talbot are on his team. If he truly wants to clean up the game he can start by releasing those two players. Until then he's just talking the talk and not walking the walk. I also wonder how much he disliked fighting while Ulf Samuelsson was covering his ass every night. Gretzky pulled the same shit, whining about fighting after he left the game, somehow forgetting that he had McSorely protecting him every game and fighting anyone who looked at Wayne the wrong way.

[inthebrain]

5. The Pens have been running the Isles goalies all season long

and taking cheap shots on Bailey and Tavares. What you saw the Isles give Pittsburgh last Friday is what they've been getting all season long from those punks. Only difference is that the Isles fought back.

Gillies does not deserve a suspension for Tangredi. Tangredi (purposfully or accidentally is hard to say) elbowed Gillies in the face when that hit was delivered. That's why you see Gillies fly off at weird angle when delivering that hit.

Martin's suspension is ridiculous as well. Talbot nodded in agreement to have a go with him and turned around and turtled. Martin's punch barely connects as he held up. The second punch catches Talbots shoulder pad and that was it.

Those two suspensions were absurd and it's crazy that Martin got as much as Cooke and Gillies one shy of Godard for leaving the bench.

Speaking of Godard, no fine on the Pens or suspension to the coach for that play.

Calling what the Isles did a "sad display" is just absurd. It was no different than what Boston did to montreal the other night (no suspensions there). It's called frontier justice in hockey. When the league fails to protect it's players the team takes it upon themselves.

[Forkboy]

6. Actually, it was quite a bit different from the Boston game.

I understand that you feel the Isles have been run, and I understand that players can, and should, police themselves and respond. But you're making the same mistake they did, you're going by emotion. Gillies not only targeted the head, he left his feet to do it, two things that will get anyone a suspension. The fact that he did it when the NHL is hyper aware of head shots makes it doubly stupid. Here's the vid, for anyone curious. It's clear he goes for the head, and that he is leaving his feet as he hits Tangredi. Any player doing that is getting a suspension these days, end of story.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QKYXYRT-pyo

As for Martin, he fucking sucker punched the guy. Talbot isn't even looking when the first punch is thrown by Martin. Here's the video. Go to the 2:05 point and start watching. It's a candy ass sucker punch, and you'd turtle too, count on it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QKYXYRT-pyo

There was nothing in the B's/Habs game like those two incidents. No one took any cheap shots (though Ryder came close on one play), no one got sucker punched, no player went out of his way to take a shot at anyone's head. Yeah, there was a ton of fights, but no bush league stuff that caused them.

Look, I'm not saying that you don't have a valid beef with the Pens and how they get treated by the League. And I know Talbot took a shot at an Isles player a week before this game. But none of that excuses the cheap shots. It just doesn't. You pick your spots and do it clean, and those two players didn't.

And like I said before, these players aren't in the NHL for their talent in anything other than throwing fists. Let's not kid ourselves and act like these guys are angels. They're goons, plain and simple, and that rep surely came into play in the decision.

Martin: 2 goals, 5 assists in 45 games...and 103 penalty minutes
Gillies: 1 goal in 32 games...and 109 penalty minutes
Zanopka: 1 goal, 5 assists in 58 games...and 200 penalty minutes


There's no doubt in my mind that had the roles been reversed, and Cooke and Talbot had done to Islander players what Martin and Gillies did to them, you'd blow your top, and you'd be furious if there were no suspensions handed out. And rightfully so. To argue that these suspensions are ridiculous is what's ridiculous, and just makes you sound like a bitter homer. If you know the game itself, and I think you do, then deep down you know these suspensions were the right call to make. This from someone who certainly likes the Isles more then the Pens, and can't stand Colin Campbell either. :shrug:

[inthebrain]

9. Gillies never left his feet when he delivered his blow

Matt Martin is a first year rookie. You're arguing that a kid, in his last year in juniors, was amongst the league leaders in scoring, is only out there to play the goon. Again, on this you know nothing of a players pedigree.

Konopka is tops in the league in face off percentage. Does not have a reputation as a dirty player in this league. He drops the gloves and does it in the confines of the rules. THere is more to this game than just putting up points.

And you need to watch that Gillies hit again if you are going to claim he left his feet. He didn't. You're just plain wrong on that.

And calling Martins punch on Talbot a sucker punch is a stretch. Those two are jawing before the fight.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-S9mCL5JiDc

Not to mention before the punch (which BTW Martin held up) Talbot also whacked Koskinen with his stick and no call from the refs.

Both suspensions are BS.

[rocktivity]

7. The NHL fears that acting against the fighting will cut down on ratings and attendance

I think they're quite content with being WWE Lite.

:headbang:
rocktivity

[flvegan]

8. Yep.