Hockey Night in DSP-Season 2011-12

[10spro]

Wow, crazy flurry of goals all of the sudden in CHI.

[XXXIV]

Wow, crazy flurry of goals all of the sudden in CHI.

4 on 4 magic.... 3 goals in 65? seconds.

[10spro]

The Weber decision set the tone, and things have gone downhill from there. Shanahan is s***. I love the NHL, but it is becoming a complete joke with all the thuggery that goes unpunished.

That's exactly what I thought when he only fined Weber. Open head hunting season for all. The way he's assigning the suspensions, he's not any better than C. Campbell. Shanny, what happened to you man?

[XXXIV]

The Weber decision set the tone, and things have gone downhill from there. Shanahan is s***. I love the NHL, but it is becoming a complete joke with all the thuggery that goes unpunished.

That's exactly what I thought when he only fined Weber. Open head hunting season for all. The way he's assigning the suspensions, he's not any better than C. Campbell. Shanny, what happened to you man?

He obviously has no real power. Its business as usual. The c*** on top needs to be gutted for any real change.

Maybe not even then. Goes back to the original thought. They are waiting for someone to be killed on the ice.

[10spro]

Wow, crazy flurry of goals all of the sudden in CHI.

4 on 4 magic.... 3 goals in 65? seconds.

The way this game is going, they should play more 4 on 4. But CHI is doing the right thing. You have to be patient with a team like the Yotes, a well structured team, well coached, they ain't pretty and won't give you much but will capitalize on your neutral zone turnovers.

[10spro]

One other thing, Backstrom did the same thing Asham did, and after the game was over to boot, yet only got one game compared to Asham's four. How the f*** is that consistent

I can only think that Asham is a repeat offender and supposedly Backstrom one of the young stars in the league. The other excuse is that Backstrom did it in his backyard and didn't run from downtown like Asham did to cut the opponents' throat. Pathetic.

[toonarmy]

One other thing, Backstrom did the same thing Asham did, and after the game was over to boot, yet only got one game compared to Asham's four. How the f*** is that consistent

I can only think that Asham is a repeat offender and supposedly Backstrom one of the young stars in the league. The other excuse is that Backstrom did it in his backyard and didn't run from downtown like Asham did to cut the opponents' throat. Pathetic.

I think what Weber did near the end of the game was much worse than what Backstrom did. Backstrom didn't really do much damage to Peverly. Of course Asham didn't do much damage either but got 4 games. BTW, Asham actually has no history of supplementary discipline. This is his first, so he's not a repeat offender.

[Lancer]

Cheaters prosper tonight (Torres).

[XXXIV]

Soft goal Crawford.

Kane needs to do more shoot the puck and less trying out for the lady's figure skating team.

Hawks miss Hossa...

Big win for the team owned by whom?

[Lancer]

Soft goal Crawford.

Kane needs to do more shoot the puck and less trying out for the lady's figure skating team.

Hawks miss Hossa...

Big win for the team owned by whom?

Ya that was a crappy goal he let in.

News already out Shanahan won't suspend Torres because no penalty was called on the hit.

[Lancer]

Can the Stanley Cup Playoffs go one f*cking day without a suspension or disciplinary hearing?

This league and its players are a joke. Stop with the Neanderthal bullsh*t and play the damn game.

Why can the Olympic tournament be played with incredible intensity, yet the Stanley Cup Playoffs are more polluted with this knuckle-dragging crap than ever? And don't trot out the larger ice surface as an excuse. That's bullsh*t.

Post of the day.

I can't believe NBA officiating has surpassed the NHL.

[Lancer]

If the Hawks are smart, here's what they do.

Have Hossa come out tomorrow in a head to toe body cast on a stretcher talking like the elephant man.

That's the only way Shany will suspend Torres since the severity of the injury is what he's basing these suspensions on.

[Naples39]

I am equally disappointed in the rulings, but if you guys think this is no improvement from Campbell, you haven't been paying attention.

For one, if nothing else we get a good explanation of the logic and factors being used in making decisions. That is a very important piece.

With this knowledge, while I disagree with the rulings and the factors used, the suspensions are not unpredictable.

Take Asham and Backstrom for example. Both are similar on first glance, but there are noteworthy differences. Asham's hit was during the run of play, while Backstrom's was two players stopped and facing each other and each player is prepared for a confrontation. Also, Peverly raises his stick to Backstrom's face before Backstrom does anything. The NHL judged Backstrom's crosscheck "excessive and reckless," but his crosscheck wasn't even enough to knock Peverly over. Asham on the other hand not only knocked down Schenn in a "violent and vengeful manner," he also punched him in the back of head while he is defenseless.

Looking ahead to the Torres review, the hit was illegal as a charge and 48.1 illegal check to the head. It was also borderline interference being a little late. Torres has several prior offenses, and Hossa had to be taken to the hospital as a result of the hit. If Hossa has any kind of lasting injury, this will be a 4+ game suspension.

Still, the NHL gets it wrong sometimes, and the Neal video is somewhat befuddling. That they "are willing to accept Neal's assertion" that he was bracing himself when he leaped into Couturier, despite the fact that seconds later he makes another illegal charge, is laughable.

[10spro]

Well, at least a bit of good news for Hawks fans as Hossa was relasead from hospital following the incident.

[pk500]

Neal aimed for the head of Giroux, one of the league's top stars who already has suffered a concussion this season, and he only gets one game. FARCE.

Smith took a wicked dive when he was clipped by Smith. There was NO injury on the play, yet Shaw gets three games? FARCE.

Shanny levies suspension like a drunk playing Pin The Tail On The Donkey.

But nothing will change. Ratings are WAY up in the U.S. for the first round. Knuckle-dragging play will be ENCOURAGED, not penalized, by the suits in the home office in New York.

The NHL is wrecking a perfectly wonderful game.

[Lancer]

There is no difference between Shanny and Campbell because it all goes thru Bettman and he has the final say.

They are just puppets of Bettman.

The only reason I see ratings up is because NYR is good this year and also Pitt/Philly gets a lot of interest. Also finally having the chance to see all the first round games instead of maybe 1 a night like it's been the last 5 years has boosted ratings.

[Naples39]

I'd be shocked if Bettman plays any part whatsoever in 90% of the suspension decisions. The problem with Bettman is that he's not a hockey guy, and he doesn't provide leadership on non-business hockey issues.

Bettman, Shanahan and Campbell haven't thrown a single check, and at some point the players have to bear some responsibility. I don't buy the argument that well the league is clueless on discipline so I have no choice but to throw a dirty headshot. The recurring cheapshot artists like Torres are the ones doing the most damage to the integrity of the league.

[XXXIV]

Disagree 100%. The Fish stinks from the head down.

As long as Bettman is around the league will always be second class or as its becoming now...No Class.... At some point this piece of garbage has to be held accountable for his inaction and his general stupidity.

They have owned Phoenix since 2009 for Gods sake. We gonna blame Andrew Shaw for that too?

As far as I know the owners are not paying someone else 7 f***in million dollars a year to run their league.

[Macca00]

Smith took a wicked dive when he was clipped by Smith.

I'm glad someone said it! I thought he went down like a soccer player - Ashley Young would have been proud of that dive!


Great blog posts, Naples. I agree - overall I do think Shanny is an upgrade from Campbell but I am still trying to wrap my head around a few decisions like the lack of a suspension for Shea Weber (there have been so many incidents that seems like it was ages ago) and Shaw's crazy 3 game suspension.

[XXXIV]

Smith took a wicked dive when he was clipped by Smith.

I'm glad someone said it! I thought he went down like a soccer player - Ashley Young would have been proud of that dive!

Smith acted like he was shot and miraculously recovered after Shaw was given the boot....Still Shaw did nothing to avoid the contact(he had all day)and did get his head.

[XXXIV]

But nothing will change. Ratings are WAY up in the U.S. for the first round. Knuckle-dragging play will be ENCOURAGED, not penalized, by the suits in the home office in New York.

The NHL is wrecking a perfectly wonderful game.

Yes I am...Thank you for the seven million per and the five year extension...Expect more of the same.

[Naples39]

The word is that Shaw got 3 games because GMs let it be known that goalies should be off limits after the Lucic-Miller collision earlier this year.

I'm also not trying to defend Bettman, but he is not making these decisions and there's more to it than "it's Bettman's fault." The players are making the dirty plays, and the collective braintrust of "hockey guys" is making these decisions. Bettman is a poor commissioner because he is ABSENT on this issues. He disclaims all responsibility and repeatedly asserts he leaves these types of decisions solely in the hands of his "hockey guys."

The NHL is dying for someone with the balls to throw the book at these guys, and who has the guts to call BS on things like Neal's defense that he was trying to avoid contact.

The neanderthal attitude of "not wanting to remove hitting from our game" has softened, but it is not going away quietly.

[XXXIV]

Well, at least a bit of good news for Hawks fans as Hossa was relasead from hospital following the incident.

That is great news. Looks like he will be okay. They dont know what his hockey status is yet though.

http://espn.go.com/chicago/nhl/story/_/ ... torres-hit

Quenneville had some comments about Gary's kids.

"It was a brutal hit," Quenneville said. "I saw exactly what happened. It was right in front of me. How four guys missed it was hard. The refereeing tonight was a disgrace."

[XXXIV]

The word is that Shaw got 3 games because GMs let it be known that goalies should be off limits after the Lucic-Miller collision earlier this year.

I dont disagree with that. Like I said, Shaw had all day to avoid that and he still got his head pretty good.

I wish you had Bettman's job.

[XXXIV]

The NHL is dying for someone with the balls to throw the book at these guys .

Here I also agree with you and since you are unwilling to take the job, I like Pk's idea

The NHL needs Roger Goodell. NOW.

I dont like some of what he does but he isnt hiding under his desk collecting his huge check, He is balls in taking care of business.