I like to think of it as a "legal" hit, but dirty nonetheless. I agree that given the existing rules, he should not be suspended. At the same time, I hope the new rules result in hits like Cooke's and Richards' getting suspended. I love physical hockey as much as the next guy, but hits to the head simply do not belong. Having said that, I love the run up to playoff hockey. Got a feeling it's going to be another exciting post season. Go Pens.
Proposed new rule: Kids in Model UN draft better rules than this. Minor or major penalty? Based on what? Intent? And what is going to determine whether something is reviewed for supplemental discipline, and what that discipline might be? Considering the league keeps citing a need for consistency (both between the Cooke and Richards situations and with head hits in general) this does a pretty poor job at promoting that objective. Here's an interview with Colin Campbell on a Pittsburgh sports radio program. A few highlights: - most notable to me, Campbell pins the delay in instituting a new rule on the players' union. He could very well be right, but it seems incredibly far fetched for me. Maybe the NHLPA is worried about suspensions, but I think they would be overwhelmingly in favor of promoting player safety. - towards the end the host begins pressing Campbell on what he really thought of the hit. Campbell seems to think you can't just skate and target the head but that you have to jump, throw an elbow, etc. - Campbell says Cooke "didn't do anything wrong" at one point. I'm not sure if he meant it was a clean hit, or that with how the current rules are, there was nothing wrong. I'm kind of wondering if it's the former though, in which case, he has a lot of explaining for why they're instituting a rule against such conduct then. In other news, big road trip for the Penguins as they go on the road for 5 straight, including 2 at Jersey and one at Boston. Interesting to see how Boston is going to respond. Some people on the radio have mentioned possible retaliation, but I don't think it's very likely. The Bruins are trying to cling to the 8th playoff spot and are already without Savard. Retaliation would very possibly lead to a suspension, and the cost is just too high for a team fighting for their playoff lives.
As usual, I'm sure the NHL will base their penalty on the result of the hit. If the guy gets up, maybe it's a 2 minute. If he stays down a while, maybe it's a major. If he misses time a la Booth or Savard, then maybe it's a suspension. The reactionary policy of the NHL is laughable, but highly predictable. Mark my words, someone is going to die on an NHL ice this decade and it's going to shake this whole league up. What if Savard's helmet pops off before he hits the ice? It's too likely that someone could die or get serious brain damage from one of these hits and they're not going to severely punish anyone until it happens. Here's a thought. Any blind side hit to the dome is a 5 minute penalty. Done. I don't care if you tap him in the head in a playful gesture, it's a major. Then make it like technical fouls in basketball in that these penalties accrue all year. If you have more than one major penalty for head-hunting, you sit out three games. Next major is ten. Next one is twenty, etc. I love the physical nature of the NHL and I don't want that to go anywhere, but this shit has to go and it has to go now. The game is getting faster, the marginally talented hitters are getting nastier and more desperate to do anything to stay on the roster and the only way to calm this is, in my opinion, to be very harsh about it. You wanna send a message with a hit? Do it like the master: <a class="postlink" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-YjnsJDQOek&feature=related" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-YjnsJDQ ... re=related</a> THAT is how you cleanly make a guy pay for keeping his head down.
The whole "someone's gonna die" thing is so overblown. Head shots have been a part of hockey since it's inception, this isn't some new trend. Guys like Gordie Howe used to go headhunting with elbows all the time when someone pissed him off. Guys got KO'd all the time. Scott Stevens is heralded as one of the best hitters of all time, and while his shots were legal shoulder checks, a lot were right square on the dome. "What if this" and "what if that" is all nonsense. That can happen in any sport, in any aspect of life. I'm not saying there shouldn't be a rule in place to try and cut down on it, but the likelihood of someone dying from it is extremely, extremely remote. Stop being so dramatic.
Sorry I missed this one. He has looked REALLY bad over the last 20 games or so. And he looked really bad over the first 10. The 30 something between those he looked great though. I'm not sure what the hell this actually means. Last year he sat out for 50-60 games, got a ton of rest, and completely shat the bed over the last 80 seconds of game 20. All I can tell you is that during a game against the Rangers early this year, myself and others sitting around me were actively wondering when the Yann Dannis era was going to start. Hopefully never. But I wouldn't be surprised if Lou took a netminder in the second round this year, or one in the first round next year. Our first round pick in this coming draft is currently taking the form of a really disappointing Ilya Kovalsuck.
Wow. These guys are unreal. I "hate" Habs fans purely from a rivalry aspect, but these guys take it to another level. Just...wow.
Ohh these plays have been fun this week. I was gonna type up my opinion on Cooke, who I think is a dirty player, but I'll leave it to Don Cherry and the montage HNIC put together of Cooke's history. The fact that Cooke isn't suspended is a joke. Now let's chat about Alexander "I'll lay dirty hits but won't fight" Ovechkin: The above is the reason why I'll never truly respect Ovechkin. The fact that he refuses to drop the gloves all-while getting essentially a free pass on hits like this is ridiculous. Call Crosby a whiner, sure, but he will drop 'em if needed. He'll get one game for this, maybe. This makes another case for taking out touch icing, which I would like to see. Get some guys in-place that understand the game of hockey to make the rules and a lot of the issues nowadays won't be issues within two years. Ovechkin, you're a piece of shit.
Come on now. It's only his THIRD game misconduct of the season. Also, Campbell has a broken clavicle, broken ribs, and could be out for the season. And Steve Downie continues to be the epitome of class in the NHL: Each time I watch it I have the following debate in my mind: "Look at how he raised his knee into the back of Crosby's leg" "Yeah but that seems like an odd way to attempt to trip someone" "It also doesn't look like a natural movement/position to be in while backchecking" and so on and so on
I don't know where you get the idea that Ovechkin won't fight... All of Crosby's "fights" have been him jumping people off the draw or punching guys in the ass with his gloves on. He had one tilly with Andrew Ference where he threw four or five gloved punches until Ference's helmet came off THEN decided to drop them when he had the upper hand (and a bucket with a visor on). Hell of a hockey player, but Ovie would beat the fuck out of him.
Didn't there used to be a rule that said you got an instigator minor if you fought with a visor on? I'm not positive about this, but I seem to remember it being instituted though i never see it called. I mean, I could look it up but... eh.
Close. If you get an instigator minor and you have a visor on they can give you an additional unsportsmanlike conduct if you don't take off your helmet before you fight. But you have to be getting the instigator minor already to get the additional penalty. If the other guy instigates the fight there's no rule that says you can't keep it on. Same as you though I don't think I've ever seen it used.
Ovie's gone 2 games. http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=521482 I'm kind of surprised. Glad, but surprised. Figured maybe a game, if that. One of these times Ovie's gonna take someone, maybe himself even, out for good,
Once Ovie gets a bit older someone is gonna catch him good. Whether it will be legal or not is more interesting to me.
Glad to see him out. He's been getting more physical as of late, but he seems to be utterly shit at making a call as to when the right time to land a hit is. His post game interview was interesting, he didn't seem to take any responsibility for the hit at all, yet on the ice he made an apologetic gesture towards Campbell. Man up, don't try and say you just kind of pushed him and only think it was a 2 min penalty. Anyway, I hope this fucks him over for the scoring records he's gunning for.
The fact that he's a "repeat offender" might actually make him change his play now. He can't win awards if he's taking suspensions.
Ovechkin is not going to change. He's not going to slow down and he's not going to stop hitting the body. It was two speedy players flying down to the boards and Ovie took a bad angle on his hit. If Campbell had popped back up, Ovie wouldn't have gotten more than a 2 minute penalty. It really sucks that Campbell's as hurt as he is and I'm not defending the hit as a clean one, but I feel like it was more a result of speed and over-aggression than some calculated move to take someone out for good (like, say, any of those hits by Matt Cooke). I think what's more interesting is that the Caps managed to overcome a 3-0 deficit on the road without their best player. THAT is what you do when you are the team to beat. Great game, too bad no one's talking about it thanks to that hit.
Bullshit. Ovie didn't even hit him, he placed both hands on Campbells back and pushed him. He may not have wanted to hurt him but it sure as hell wasn't a result of two speedy guys and a mis-timed hit.
I'm getting a little sick of all the suspension talk, but James Wisniewski of the Ducks gets 8 games for the following: Thoughts: - When I first read 8 games I was a bit shocked, but the more time it soaks in the more sense it makes. It's just an initial shock because Colin Campbell has been so god damn inconsistent. - This was the 28th suspension of the NHL season. - I thought Seabrook's hit on Perry deserved an elbow. - I wish Wisniewski didn't take it upon himself to defend Perry. Perry can defend himself fine and it wouldn't have gone down this way. - Here's an idea from a Globe and Mail reader on what to do with all these physcial penalties: Not a bad idea, but the league can barley decide on a headshot rule, so this won't happen anytime soon obviously. Also, Matt Cooke goes to Boston tonight with Campbell in attendance (who apparently talked to both coaches). I hope it doesn't get stupidly out of hand, but I would love to see Chara or Lucic beat the piss out of that piece of shit. Thank god for NHL on the fly.
Thornton kicked the shit out of Cooke 2 minutes in, and got a 10 minute misconduct for 4 extra punches after the linesmen had jumped in. And Mike Rupp decided to fight Zdeno Chara later in the game. Hey, Rupp...ARE YOU RETARDED? That's Zdeno Chara! As for Wisniewski, I think he deserved 8. He charged from the blueline in, left his feet, and fucking clobbered Seabrook in the head. Seabrook's delayed fall was kinda funny though.
Any time I ever see someone wobble like that and then fall down, I always think of Darcy Tucker on Sami Kapanen: