HOCKEY NIGHT in DSP 07-08

10spro · Post by **10spro** » Thu Sep 27, 2007 11:17 am

PK, this may be a breaking year for A. Helsmki. He's having a great pre-season and last night he scored a beauty in the battle of AB.

Derek Roy had a great game last night and I think he's ready to be taking the void left by Briere and Drury in BUF. Poor Leafs fans; I think their goaltender contraversy will continue this year.

10spro · Post by **10spro** » Thu Sep 27, 2007 11:21 am

A day after Downie's cheapshot:

http://www.canada.com/nationalpost/stor ... 10&k=47050

Yeah, some nights, it's like the WWE.

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Thu Sep 27, 2007 1:29 pm

Good to see George Parros has added a soul patch to the best porn 'stache in sports, BY FAR:

P.S.: Is Andy McDonald (foreground) any taller than 5-8? He's listed at 5-11. If he's 5-11, then I'm 6-6 (6-1 in real life).

Take care,
PK

tjung0831 · Post by **tjung0831** » Thu Sep 27, 2007 4:27 pm

Getzlaf is looking a little like Mark Messier in that pic....

10spro · Post by **10spro** » Thu Sep 27, 2007 4:48 pm

I think they always take their measurements with their skates on. Funny how they are parading Lord Stanley around London and no one has a clue what trophy that is.

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Thu Sep 27, 2007 4:52 pm

10spro wrote:I think they always take their measurements with their skates on. Funny how they are parading Lord Stanley around London and no one has a clue what trophy that is.

Are you sure? If so, then Chara would be a 7-footer. I've read in a number of spots where he brushes 7 feet with the blades on.

P.S.: I've checked a few British sports Web sites and a couple of London papers' Web sites, and the coverage is buried or non-existent.

Well done, Gary Bettman. Take the season opener away from its home base in hopes of gaining more attention and get ignored.

Only fitting for the biggest boob in North American sports management.

Take care,
PK

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Fri Sep 28, 2007 10:18 am

The Globe and Mail ranks the top 200 players in the NHL:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/ ... lobeSports

Bertuzzi at No. 42, ahead of Ryan Smyth? Maybe five years ago, but sure as hell not now.

Take care,
PK

Naples39 · Post by **Naples39** » Fri Sep 28, 2007 4:03 pm

Downie gets 20 games!

As I've said, that was a dirty hit, and I think Downie deserved a suspension, but I was thinking 4-7 games. 20 games though is ridiculous. That is 3 games short of the McSorley suspension, and the same length as the Bertuzzi incident.

I can't help but feel this is extremely arbitrary sentence. If the league wants to continue to crack down on illegal checks to the head, fine, let this be the first of many 20 game suspensions. But frankly there is about a 0% chance that another player gets 20 games this season for a similar play.

The easy reaction to that is 'well, this hit was that much worse than other hits,' but that's not really the case. Check out this hit by Colby Armstrong on Jeff Carter last year (it's about 1 minute into that clip). A nearly identical play, with Armstrong clearly leaping ito the check like Downie, however Armstrong threw a blatant elbow to boot, whereas Downie's hit was all shoulder. Armstrong wasn't even penalized, let alone suspended. Announcer Ed Olczyk in fact seems to approve of the hit.

Pretty poor decision from the NHL IMO.

Sudz · Post by **Sudz** » Fri Sep 28, 2007 4:06 pm

Naples39 wrote:Downie gets 20 games!

As I've said, that was a dirty hit, and I think Downie deserved a suspension, but I was thinking 4-7 games. 20 games though is ridiculous. That is 3 games short of the McSorley suspension, and the same length as the Bertuzzi incident.

I can't help but feel this is extremely arbitrary sentence. If the league wants to continue to crack down on illegal checks to the head, fine, let this be the first of many 20 game suspensions. But frankly there is about a 0% chance that another player gets 20 games this season for a similar play.

The easy reaction to that is 'well, this hit was that much worse than other hits,' but that's not really the case. Check out this hit by Colby Armstrong on Jeff Carter last year (it's about 1 minute into that clip). A nearly identical play, with Armstrong clearly leaping ito the check like Downie, however Armstrong threw a blatant elbow to boot, whereas Downie's hit was all shoulder. Armstrong wasn't even penalized, let alone suspended. Announcer Ed Olczyk in fact seems to approve of the hit.

Pretty poor decision from the NHL IMO.

20 games? how the hell is that a 20 game suspension....it was a NON-STICK infraction....that is freaking absurd.. a horrible cheapshot...but 20? f that.

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Fri Sep 28, 2007 4:19 pm

I guess I'm in the minority, but I think it's a fitting suspension that hopefully shows that the NHL is serious about eliminating head shots from the game.

Downie's hit was one of the more malicious I've seen in a while. Finishing his check, my ass. He launched his body almost parallel with the ice, with both skates leaving the ice, and led with his elbow into McAmmond's head.

Plus you need to consider Downie's history. The kid is a f*cking misfit with a long rap sheet of moronic offenses in juniors.

It's about time the NHL took a stand against this kind of crap. Hopefully Steve Downie will be the example players look to when they realize the NHL means business about cleaning up Neanderthal tactics.

The game can still be physical without rewarding head-hunters. Steve Downie is a head-hunter, plain and simple.

Take care,
PK

Sudz · Post by **Sudz** » Fri Sep 28, 2007 4:31 pm

the head shot was horrible....

but a stick infraction is way worse.

the mcsorely thing? the simon thing?

i think it was a horrid hit....but not at the level as those...

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Fri Sep 28, 2007 4:36 pm

Sudz wrote:the head shot was horrible....

but a stick infraction is way worse.

the mcsorely thing? the simon thing?

i think it was a horrid hit....but not at the level as those...

Sure it was, when taken in context of the league as a whole.

How many times do you see stick-swinging incidents in a season? Once or twice?

How many times do you see head shots in an NHL game? Every night to every other night. It might not be as blatant as Downie's elbow, but guys are running at player's heads more than ever before. Way more than ever.

So these kinds of head shots are a bigger threat to more players than stick incidents strictly because they occur MUCH more often. The NHL must eliminate these types of hits from the game.

Take care,
PK

10spro · Post by **10spro** » Fri Sep 28, 2007 7:48 pm

I think a 12 game suspension would have somehow fit the crime...

10spro · Post by **10spro** » Fri Sep 28, 2007 8:08 pm

J. Demers former Habs coach and SC Champion with Montreal is in Vancouver to speak about illiteracy. How many of you knew this about Jacques? His wife one day was fed up that he wasn't paying the bills, little did she know that Demers could not read.

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/capress/0709 ... s_literacy

Feanor · Post by **Feanor** » Fri Sep 28, 2007 9:22 pm

If the NHL has to be harsh to the point of being unfair and give 20 games to Downie to send a message about head hunting to the whole NHL, then I say good on them.

If they don't give the same sentence when this same hit happens again, as it surely will, then they will be rightly crucified.

Feanor · Post by **Feanor** » Sat Sep 29, 2007 12:42 pm

Allan Muir at SI doesn't seem to have go the memo from the NHL about head hunting for this season:

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/w ... tes/1.html

But Ed thankfully Moran in Philly did.

http://www.philly.com/philly/sports/fly ... nsion.html

10spro · Post by **10spro** » Sat Sep 29, 2007 4:08 pm

All the talk was focused on the Ducks in London but the Kings steal the spotlight in the season opener with the impressive debut of rookie J. Bernier. Kings' PP did the rest.

Naples39 · Post by **Naples39** » Sun Sep 30, 2007 10:58 pm

Well, the idea that the Downie suspension was setting some kind of new precedent against blows to the head didn't even last through the weekend.

Andy Sutton threw this hit, a blatant elbow to the head. While not as bad as the Downie hit, one would think that if Downie gets one of the longest suspensions in NHL history, Sutton would get 5-10 for this illegal shot to the head. Guess not. Colin Campbell confirmed that this hit was a "suspendable offense", but no suspension will result because "there was no injury, and I don't think he made complete contact."

Colin Campbell also explained that “We’re not saying shoulder hits to the head are illegal. Only if all the other criteria come into play. We don’t want to take shoulder hits to the head out of the game...Shoulder hits to the head are still a legal body check."
http://www.hockeybuzz.com/blog.php?post_id=9702

So basically, the test for suspensions are Campbell's subjective interpretation of the player's intent, and if injury results. If I'm an NHL player who head-hunts from time to time, now I can pay no attention to the Downie suspension because the rules about shots to the head clearly haven't changed. Downie's suspension has already proven to be the worst kind of suspension - an arbitrary one.

Sully · Post by **Sully** » Sun Sep 30, 2007 11:37 pm

Complete bullshit.

Feanor · Post by **Feanor** » Sun Sep 30, 2007 11:52 pm

Dear oh dear. Why I do have to love a game that is run by the stupidest executives in sports.

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Mon Oct 01, 2007 8:57 am

Oh, boy. That is complete shite.

Nice consistency there, NHL. I thought it might take a month or so for Campbell to look like a complete hypocrite.

It took less than a week!

Take care,
PK

Post by **ScoopBrady** » Mon Oct 01, 2007 4:05 pm

Well as was expected Kane and Toews made the team. I was a little upset that Skille didn't but not at Tallon or Savard, at Skille for not doing enough. I like the team but it sucks they're starting the season with so many injuries.

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Mon Oct 01, 2007 5:20 pm

Carey Price also sticks with Montreal, Nick Foligno with Ottawa and Sam Gagner with Edmonton.

I think Price takes the top job from Huet by Game 20 of the regular season.

Take care,
PK

10spro · Post by **10spro** » Mon Oct 01, 2007 5:40 pm

Those three rookies you mentioned PK have really impressed in preseason play. But the real pressure starts now. I thought that perhaps Price would do well to have a year in juniors under his belt especially in the all important keeper position. Gagner has showed flashes of great skills and Foligno gets his nose dirty, something they need in OTT.

tjung0831 · Post by **tjung0831** » Mon Oct 01, 2007 6:01 pm

2007 1st round pick David Perron appears to have made the Blues opening night roster as well. He's going to start the season possibly playing with Doug Weight and Martin Rucinsky.