Bashing Brash, Day 1

Glen Sather was right, there will be cheers for Donald Brashear at MSG. Given the price increase at MSG, more and more of the diehard, knowledgeable hockey fans have been pushed out. This is not to say that there aren't some puckheads who will root for Brash - you see Redden and Poti jerseys out there, so there are misguided members of the faithful - but the vast majority will not get behind a player with Brashear's history. The cheers will come, however, from the few corporate clients that come - they don't know the game, they don't care about the game, they just want to see a little violence.

And Donald Brashear will certainly provide that. Brashear is a vicious fighter who throws punches with little-to-no regard for personal safety. When Colton Orr would just start launching punches, you knew he was in trouble. He was a more surgical striker who used his size and leverage to work in his defense while he picked his spot for the big blasts. Whether in tight or at arms length, Brash just rears back and throws. I want to trash Brash for it, but let's face it - it has worked for him. He will hit the 1,000 game mark this season, no small feat for a brawler.

The question is how much fighting will he actually do? According to Hockeyfights.com, the past-his-prime brawler had just 11 fights last season and has not had more than 15 in a season since 2002. Just how prolific can he be? Glen can claim that Brashear will fit in Tortorella's system well but Brash scored double digits in goals just once in his career, back in 2000. So since he isn't about to score, what will he contribute to the system? A forecheck of high elbows, slashes and cross checks?

Aside from the outright bitch-slap to the faces of the True Blue and every player in the locker room, the decision to sign Brashear is a slap in the face of the sport. He blatantly ignores the Code on the ice but teams keep picking him up because of the success of all-out-warfare fighting style. It has gotten him suspended time after time from the NHL and even suspended for a dozen games in a league based around fighting! At the time brash put it back on the league, saying that everyone there was picking on him, trying to make a name for themselves.

I'm sorry, there is no excuse for breaking the Code. It is Brashear's readiness to denigrate our sport with his barbarity that I loathe him and won't be among those cheering when he steps out on the ice in a Blueshirt this fall or any other time.

So, each day this week, I am going to post a YouTube of the animal in action. Today's fine feature will be the Quebec senior league incident that caused the aforementioned 12 game suspension:

And Glen Sather signed this guy.

Bring Back The Brawler!

Larry Brooks mentioned in his Sunday column that:

"The Rangers, by the way, have made no effort to re-sign Colton Orr, who will have no trouble at all scoring a multi-year deal within hours of the opening of the market. We're told Florida is keenly interested in the heavyweight."

Orr simply has to be re-signed by the Rangers. Sure John Tortorella doesn't care for fourth lines, doesn't care for fighters and wants to make the team faster. It doesn't matter: Tortorella and the Rangers need Colton Orr.

It is no coincidence that the first time that Colton Orr was scratched all season long was the only one where a Ranger was seriously injured. As I said back then, had Orr remained in the lineup Donald Brashear would have had someone to worry about on the ice. Instead he had free reign to hit whomever he liked and he did, costing the Rangers their top defensive forward and penalty killer Blair Betts.

Colt missed eight games in '07-08 and the enforcer role had to be passed around; the results weren't pretty. Remember Brandan Shanahan wrestling Steve Ott? Or Dubi holding on for dear life against Mike Komisarek? Horrifying.

Orr made $550k last season with a cap hit just under that. Aaron Voros made $1.2m with a cap hit of a cool mill - exactly what it will be the next two seasons. Waive him, send him to the minors and offer Orr that much money and the tough guy should stick around. Sather was willing to realize his mistake with Fritsche and Rissmiller, it is time he finished cutting ties with the triumverate of mediocrity.

Voros proved that not only can't he skate/stickhandle/score/pass/check but he can't fight either. Dane Byers and Justin Soryal both may be able to take care of themselves but they are both kids. Byers has the tools to be a power forward and shouldn't destroy his hands fighting every Flyer, Islander and Devil goon. Soryal might be able to turn into a major league tough guy but he has to get more experience and take his damned visor off first. No matter their youthful exuberance and willingness to throw down the mitts, neither one can step into the skates of a tough guy like Orr.

Orrsie is a top-five NHL heavyweight and in the seemingly never-ending grind of the regular season, having a player like that is invaluable in keeping the skill players safe and the fans interested. Sather shouldn't let him get away.

Letter To The Editor

... it's not like Ottawa GM Bryan Murray is going to trade the highly skilled [Jason] Spezza for Colton Orr, the Rangers enforcer who might actually have been the worst full-time NHLer in the league this year. Orr managed just one goal and five points despite appearing in all 82 regular season games. And while he didn't see a lot of ice time (6:29 per game), he still had one of the worst plus-minus ratings in the league (minus-15). --Sam McCaig, "Anti-Awards Full Of Stars", page 14 of The Hockey News, May 11, 09/Vol. 62 No. 24.

That was actually published in the bible of hockey, which I was reading on the way home from work just now. It made me a bit ... frustrated so I decided to submit a letter to the editor in response when I got home and figured I would share in here as well:

I understand that The Hockey News doesn't hold much regard for fighting in hockey (in it's current state at least) but for the top hockey publication to summarily dismiss the contributions of one of the top pugilists - even in a column - is irresponsible.
In the Anti-Awards piece of the May 11th issue, Sam McCaig said that New York Ranger Colton Orr "might actually have been the worst full-time NHLer in the league this year." He followed up the claim with some statistics, all of the offensive variety (points, ice time and +/-).
Mr. McCaig neglected to point out that New York was among the league leaders in fewest games lost to injury, something that has a lot to do with luck and a lot to do with Colton Orr's presence. Having one of the top enforcers in the game helped dissuade opposing teams from borderline or outright illicit actions against its players. Case in point: Orr was taken out of the lineup for two playoff games and one of the opposition players felt he had the license to take out a Ranger. Would Orr's presence have stopped Donald Brashear from breaking Blair Betts' face? Not necessarily. But would Brashear have had other things to concern himself with while out on the ice had Orr been there? Certainly.
Just because a player couldn't positively contribute to Mr. McCaig's fantasy hockey team shouldn't give him the right to slur one of the unsung heroes of the game.
Thank you for your time.

So, what are your opinions? Was Colton Orr the worst player in hockey? As many of you are Ranger fans I can guess your answer so feel free to express who you think was the worst player in the game was. And no, you can't use DP as an answer as the Islander goalie really wasn't in the game at all. Five games, franchise goaltender, 12 more years to go. Ha ha!

Blueshirt Brawlers

Talk about limiting and even eliminating fighting is everywhere nowadays and I am not about to get into just how stupid I see it (very, very stupid). Instead, I wanted to take a look at a half dozen of the top tough guys in Ranger history. These are guys who made sure that the other team stayed in line - no, Aaron Voros didn't make the cut. I know you are shocked. It wouldn't be right to rank them, as one could hardly compare Ching Johnson to Tie Domi as they played in two entirely different eras and had different roles.

There are some players well worthy of consideration that I omitted, I know - feel free to make their cases in the comments. I admittedly leaned upon the stellar writing of hockey historian Joe Pelletier for Johnson. Every Ranger fan should spend some time reading his profiles of Ranger legends - it is a wonderful history lesson about all of the guys that the franchise has undeservedly forgotten about (and some they haven't). It was a little surprising that Joe didn't have Lou Fontinato but Leapin' Louie made my list:

*Ching Johnson - Ching played defense in the early days of the Blueshirts and by all accounts was the best defensive defenseman in team history. Partnered first with Taffy Abel and then Earl Seibert, they gave the Rangers a shutdown pairing that has been unseen in the Garden henceforth and rarely rivaled around the NHL. Ching's real name was Ivan, and he earned his nickname "Ivan the Terrible" by being the toughest sonofabitch on the block (50th and 8th). He was the backbone of two Stanley Cup winners and assuredly would have won the Norris Trophy if it existed back then (the first was awarded in 1954). The closest players in recent history to compare to him that I can imagine would be a Scott Stevens or Zdeno Chara.

*Lou Fontinato - He may have looked like a frail old man a few weeks ago at Bathgate/Howell night but Fontinato was a big time tough guy. He fought everyone from Gordie Howe to Rocket Richard to Frank Mahovlich and apparently even the fans (2:05 mark).

*Nick Fotiu - Mr. X from the Blue Seats, who is admittedly older than dirt calls Fotiu a no talent clown (among other things) but there is no denying that he was one of the most popular Rangers. The fans loved him and he loved the fans - when it comes down to it, every player could learn something from that. The first ever New York born-and-bred Ranger, Nicky kicked some serious ass and even had legendary goon Dave "The Hammer" Schultz scared to fight him. While I don't think his number should go in the rafters, I still think the team should honour him (among others).

*Tie Domi - Domi's battles with Bob Probert, the arguable best fighter in NHL history, were legendary and deservedly so. Domi had cement for a skull and took his share of beatings but he won a few despite having a size disadvantage most of the time.

*Joey Kocur - Here is a quick disclaimer: Joey is one of my five favourite players of all time so this has just a little bit of hero worship. Kocur's poor knuckles were completely abused as he beat the living hell out of any and all comers. While guys like Adam Graves and Mark Messier were certainly capable of defending themselves, Kocur rode shotgun to make sure they didn't have to. He dressed for 20 games in '94 and earned his first Cup ring. You just didn't mess with him.

*Colton Orr - Ridiculous pick? Perhaps right now, but we'll see. Orr already has a career high in points and is two minutes off his high in penalty minutes. He went from a one dimensional punching bag who with a decent right hand to one of the most dangerous and exciting heavyweights in the NHL. And he learned how to skate too, playing a big role on the shut-down fourth line. Don't let the -14 fool you, most of the goals against haven't been his fault and, let's face it, neither he nor Blair Betts are goal scorers so there are few pluses to offset the opposition's tallies. Another summer like the last one and we may be talking full fledged grinder or even power forward (gotta work on that shot).

Other considerations - Ted Irvine, Phil Watson, Ed "The Turtle" Hospodar, George McPhee, Chris Nilan, Troy Mallette, Kris King, Rudy Poeschek, Darren Langdon, Matt Barnaby.

Killin' Time: Friday Night Edition

After staring blankly at my computer for a few hours trying not to write the same NHL-All-Star-Game-is-a-complete-waste-of-time piece, I figured I would revive the Killin' Time feature from this summer, which featured some random ramblings. So here are five thoughts on this late Friday night:

*On the All Star Game, with the suspensions (or non suspensions depending on where you read it) of Pavel Datsyuk and Nick Lidstrom do you think this was a calculated move? Ken Holland is a well acknowledged hockey genius and before the season started had to know that some of his top guns would be selected to the ASG. So you think that he petitioned the NHL at the time to schedule Detroit's first game after the break against a perceived softie of a team in Columbus? Let's face it, before the rise of Calder Trophy contender Steve Mason, the Jackets were a joke (even with the offseason additions, and especially compared to the Wings). Hmmm ...

*Here is a terrible thought: What would happen if Henrik Lundqvist got hurt this weekend in Montreal? If anyone is up to build a lynch mob to storm the NHL Store to find Bettman, lemme know. And doesn't the pic of Gary to the right just say it all? Smug SOB.

*Even though it was not important enough to make the game story in the local paper, the Canadian rags are jumping all over the Klotz story from Philadelphia where an AHL player suffered seizures after being knocked out during a fight. The subject of fisticuffs in hockey has been a hot topic of late and with the big guns congregating in Montreal, Klotz going down certainly does not bode well for us fight fans. And that is especially so since it comes days before a game that, no matter how bad it really is, the NHL will hail as a complete success. And you can be sure that the heartless display of the league's greed will pass without a single bout. So if you can have such a 'successful' game without any fighting, why should they allow fighting regularly??

*While a lot of eyes in Montreal will be on West Islip's Mike Komisarek, I randomly came across a news tidbit about another Long Island native - goaltender Bobby Goepfert. Goepfert, a goaltender from Kings Park, has apparently left the toil of the North American minor leagues to join the Red Bulls in Salzburg, Austria. Yes, there is a hockey team named after the energy drink and yes, it is a professional organization. Best of luck to Bobby in his new world.

*And if any of you are betting folks, and are really hard up for stuff to lay your money on in this disgrace of a hockey game, take a look at the experienced mid-level stars for your MVP. Taking a look at prior MVPs - aside from Wayne and Mario - many of the players to take the honour came into the game with little to no expectations. The big stars usually have a ton of press commitments so the game is an after-thought and the young players are in too much awe to play their best, leaving quality players with some experience under their belts to rise up - guys like Briere and Staal the last two years, and Bill Guerin, Mark Recchi and Vinny Damphousse among others in years past. That being said, since I would hedge my bets, my picks are Shane Doan from the West and Marc Savard from the East ... enjoy the festivities!

Reviving My Faith In Fisticuffs

After watching a boring MMA-esque hugfest on Long Island between Mitch Fritz and Eric Godard, it is utterly fantastic to come home and see an outright battle in Columbus between one of my favourite players in Dan Carcillo and upstart Derek Dorsett. One of the comments on that one said it was a candidate for Fight of the Year and I would have to agree. What do you think?

10-2-1: A Win Is A Win

The New York Rangers played the woeful Atlanta Thrashers tonight and like they always do, they played down to the level of their opponent. It was a miserably close game against a sub-par game but as I put in the title, a win is a win. The Rangers pulled out a 3-2 victory despite playing far below their capability and being outhustled and outworked by a glorified AHL team. I mean, look at the pic above, even Scott Gomez wasn't thrilled with the game.

*Things started off on a great note with the Blueshirts swarming the Atlanta net in the first few minutes but Colton Orr had to go mess it all up. As my friend Greg mentioned, Colton had been pretty good of late avoiding the goonery but tonight he let Eric Boulton goad him into a fight and it turned the game around - at least in the short term. The bout was pretty damn impressive but there was absolutely no reason for it and the bombs that landed on Colton's head ignited the Thrasher offense and they scored just a few minutes later. I have always been for fighting in hockey but I do not subscribe to goonery for goonery's sake. It is stupid, pointless and it justifies most of the negative comments that non-hockey fans have for our fair sport.

*And MSG, we get it, you guys can't sell tickets to the Calzaghe/Jones fight. I don't need to be inundated with promos all game long. It was funny when you played it right after the Orr/Boulton idiocy, but after a while enough was enough.

*MSG Network, you guys weren't much better. Whoever cut Rangers in 60 did a bad job; they repeated the first period segment where Kovy hit the post. Moron. Oh yeah, and Joe Micheletti still sucks.

*The Rangers did get a power play goal in the game thanks to the singular effort of Nik Zherdev, As a unit, the power play was a complete and utter joke - and one that is so not funny. They are playing like the special unit they were last year with Jagr; they stand still, try to make cute passes and lose the puck. Shot selection is poor, the personnel don't seem to have any chemistry and the defense has trouble keeping the puck in the zone. This must change and fast since next month they have a stretch of five games against Jersey, Boston, Vancouver and Ottawa - twice. It's all well and good when you blow chances against bottom dwellers but teams with talent will jump all over you.

*Nik Zherdev has talent and a freaking ton of it. We knew that when we traded for him but inconsistency plagued him in Columbus. To date he has been the only consistent offensive threat on the team over the last six. seven games. And he has made a few stellar plays defensively as well - including one tonight where he broke up a Todd White breakaway.

*That Henrik Lundqvist guy? He is good. Really, really good. It he doesn't fall into a midseason slump from dubious injuries or family issues, he should, should get himself that elusive Vezina Trophy and if the Rangers make it past the second round of the playoffs, the Hart Trophy as MVP (Don't bother telling me the Hart is for regular season MVP, that is utter and complete BS. When was the last time a nonplayoff team had a Hart winner?). On this night he saved the Rangers' bacon on several occasions and even managed to cover up for his own insane wanderings from the crease. Dude should never, ever leave the paint - every trip turns into an adventure.

*Yes Potvin sucks. We get it. Let's watch the Rangers play the Atlanta Thrashers now, ok? Thanks.

*Watching Hank leave the crease makes me cringe only a little less than watching any play with Dmitri Malik Kalinin in it but this game was by far his best in a Blueshirt. His positioning was pretty solid, his passing was smart and he wasn't beat physically. I don't even blame him for the power play goal by Little since it was the other defenseman he was covering for and Drury didn't come down to help out. All in all, I was seriously impressed and honestly hope that he can keep it up.

*Atlanta was just woeful. It looked like a bunch of guys playing pickup hockey. They worked really hard but couldn't get much of any flow, their passing was off, their stickhandling weak and overall play was just disjointed. Kari Lehtonen was surprisingly steady but everyone has always said he is capable of wonders when he is healthy, which is rare.

*We should expect it by now but Tom Renney's constant juggling of the lines is just getting annoying. No one seems to have any real chemistry with anyone at this point. Even the reunited Playstation line didn't seem to click tonight with either Voros or Zherdev being left out to dry.

*The more we are seeing Nigel Dawes play, the more aggravated I am getting. The Rangers sent Korpikoski to Hartford to find his game so when will they send out a search party to help Dawes to find his? He has been completely useless and I find it hard to believe he is a better asset than Brendan Shanahan - or even Petr Prucha. Dawes gets beat to loose pucks, loses his coverage, can't carry the puck for more than two strides and seems to have lost his shot. Shanny brings intangibles and defensive acumen and even Prucha battles in the trenches. Dawes ... I am not sure what he does now.

*Dubi took another bad penalty and needs to get his head back in the game because the tools are all there, he just has to use them. The same goes for Freddie Sjostrom who may just be the fastest guy on the team right now. I take back what I said in the last bit about no one having chemistry together: Sjostrom worked fantastically with Cally on the penalty kill tonight, they were all over the ice - I loved it. While they may not be able to block shots like Bettsy and Drury, they pressure the puck handlers well and are a shorthanded threat to break loose.

*Dan Fritshe? Meh. He showed a lot of effort but just doesn't work well on a scoring line. However, credit does go to him for staying out for his full shift despite losing his helmet in the early seconds. It didn't stop him from charging into the boards and getting in the mix, which takes moxie in today's game.

*Maybe Glen Sather was right and a change of scenery was all Markus Naslund needed to find his game. His goal tonight was classic Naslund: come in on the wing wide footed to hold off the defensemen and snap off a beautiful shot far side.

*Slightly on the same topic, the Rangers traded forward Huge Mistake Hugh Jessiman to the Nashville Predators for future considerations before the game. He was big, he was slow, he couldn't fight and drafting him was a big gaffe. At least they got something back for him after he contributed so little for so long.

*PHW Three Stars
3-Paul Mara - two assists.
2-Henrik Lundqvist - 27 saves.
1-Nik Zherdev - one goal and one assist.

Scotty Hockey Three Stars
3-Dan Girardi - I almost gave this to Malik Kalinin but Girardi was more physical and did net himself a nice goal - even if it was just knocking a puck into an virtually empty net past a clueless keeper. Todd White also deserves honourable mention for pressing the action deep into the Ranger end and skating away with two assists.
2-Hank - They say that the team's best penalty killer is its goaltender but with the Rangers power play being what it is, Hank is the best on that unit as well. The King came through time and time again when bad passes and lazy turnovers got the Thrashers in deep.
1-Big Z - What can you say? Zherdev was a constant threat, he made a great defensive play and his power play goal was simply stunning. Walking in to the crease and flipping his wrists to top shelf the puck? Wow. And even the penalty he took after setting up the Girardi goal was fun ... well, funny at least.

Penalizing Based On Prestige

The great band Thin Lizzy released a classic song called "Bad Reputation" back in the '70s that is quite relevant to the current situation in the NHL - the lyrics are below, and music video here.

You got a bad reputation
That's the word out on the town
It gives a certain fascination
But it can only bring you down

You better turn yourself around
Turn yourself around
Turn it upside down
Turn yourself around

You had bad breaks well that's tough luck
You play too hard too much rough stuff
You're too sly so cold
That bad reputation has made you old

Turn yourself around
Turn yourself around
Turn it upside down
Turn yourself around

Penalizing players based on their reputation is a topic that recently was debated when Chris Pronger was awarded a paltry eight game suspension compared to Chris Simon's 30, as they both committed the heinous sin of stomping. To be honest, I didn't address it as there is no way justice would be served - Pronger deserved to be thrown out of the playoffs for elbowing but got one game because he is Chris Pronger, EA Sports coverboy and a Hart and Norris Trophy winner. And as for Simon, well I felt he should have been banned from hockey for being a barbarian.

So why bring it up?

Because tonight the Rangers are facing the Flyers and Ryan Hollweg will make his return to the lineup. Hollweg, who was on Gary Bettman's hit-to-hurt list along with Jordin Tootoo and Derek Boogaard, was getting penalized pretty much whether or not he actually did something wrong. Earlier this season he was elbowed by Alex Kovalev and the refs did nothing, setting up his outrageous hit on Sergei Kostitsyn. So what happens? Hollweg gets physically hurt and his reputation gets hurt yet again. Meanwhile, it was his reputation that averted the refs eyes in the first place.

Holly isn't the only one - Dan Carcillo, the NHL's penalty minute leader, is in the same situation, except the refs have a no tolerance policy - as in, they can't tolerate him so the second he does anything, he gets slapped with a 10 minute misconduct in addition to the initial penalty. He has eight 10 minute misconducts and four game misconducts in 50 games. The officiating has done well to slow the development of what could be a solid NHLer (he has eight goals and nine assists to go with his 299 pims). He isn't the only one; the Flyers Steve Downie has slowly gotten more and more irrelevant as he learned the officials were out to get him (and with some cause, as he did this and this).

But what about Colton Orr? He carries around the goon label (and rightly so) but got the same penalty as Andrew Peters when Peters hit him from the bench. Orr stood up for himself when Peters reached out from the bench and instigated with a punch amd they both got 10 minute misconducts. That is just inconceivable!

There is a distinct difference between inconsistent officiating, and incompetent officiating. The former has been prevalent since we got out of the lockout, and the latter seems to be sticking its ugly head out more and more in recent months. Now I do not think this is purely the fault of the NHL's on-ice officials, it goes up the administration through director of officiating Stephen Walkom and even Colin Campbell to none other than your friend and mine, Gary Bettman.

In his role as owners' pet, Bettman has come out and publicly admonished excessive violence in the league. While he gives lip service to allowing fighting, its clear that he will eventually call for its banishment. Rather than come out and make the bold move of eliminating fisticuffs outright, he works behind the curtain. He sets the ball rolling to smash 'smaller' players like Hollweg, Carcillo and Orr while steering it clear of guys like Pronger. Pronger is marketable, so he is allowed to do whatever he wants. Hell, Cindy Crosby hooks and harasses players constantly, but since he is the poster boy, he has been given all of 37 pim in 49 games.

Bettman plays the part of Animal Farm's Napoleon and he maintains the same dictum that "all animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others." George Orwell's book was an allegory of Soviet communism and the NHL's commissioner acts the underhanded pig. Unfortunately, just like the Soviets, his communist commune will fall but hopefully it won't take the entire sport down with him when it does.

All Stars And Stuff

Just a quick note on the ASG - I've been asked of my opinion of the starters or who the reserves should be by a few people but I am going to hold off until the full rosters are released.

Two quick notes though:
1 - As they try to get every team represented in the ASG, the Rangers rep is highly likely going to be Hank, despite his recent struggles. However, I wouldn't be shocked if Rozy got a spot due to his 11 goals and the East's weak defensive corps.

2 - West starting goaltender Roberto Luongo opted not to play to be with his pregnant wife. Mirtle, who already picked his All Stars, gives Luongo's spot to Chris Osgood of the Wings. He had already picked Nabokov and Bryzgalov. As much as I am a fan of Bryzgalov's, I think the nod has to go to Pascal Leclaire of the Blue Jackets. He is day-to-day with a knee injury but he has seven shutouts ... for the Blue Jackets!!

Oh, and before I crash for the night, Mirtle also pointed out a bench-clearing brawl in Russia (which I am embedding below). I think A- its good to see that kind of hatred between two teams, B- you will never see that in the NHL ever again and C- I thought that some of the camera positions in the NHL are bad ... it looks like they are trying to catch the action from Siberia. Check it out:

Right Outta Slap Shot ...

You gotta see this:



The entire video is here, you just have to click on Junior A hockey brawl. And the details on the ensuing suspensions are here. Friggin wild.

Much thanks to Mirtle for discovering it.

The Two Sides Of Hockey Violence

If you haven't seen the Jesse Boulerice/Ryan Kesler incident, you have to take a look. Here it is:

Now, hmmm, what does that remind you of?? Maybe Simon The Barbarian? At least Boulerice was a man about it, immediately saying, "I reacted in a bad way — the wrong way" where Simon initially made no comment. Eventually The Barbarian was forced to talk to the media by his team after the suspension was handed out by the league saying "There is absolutely no place in hockey for what I did" in a clearly prepared statement (although it was clearly not written by him). Boulerice is sure to get 20 games, and likely more than Simon as Boulerice is a young player and Simon a member of the old guard. EDIT - Boulerice got 25 games, the same as Simon so I guess that's fair ...

Between this and the Steve Downie incident, the league is getting horribly bad PR just as it is trying to make waves with the games in London and the opening of its midtown Manhattan store. So what should they do? Listen to me. But whatever ...

On the other side of the coin from the above hooliganism, watch the below fight between D.J. King and Darcy Hordichuk; it shows a lot of why I love this sport.

Guy makes big, slightly dirty hit on weaker skill player, teammate of said skill player steps in to defend him, hitter accepts the fight as retribution, guys duke it out, teammate figher (who won I think) taps the other guy for a fight well fought (watch for it with 38 seconds left in the clip), crowd goes wild. It wasn't premeditated, it was good hockey and shows the class and respect of some of the players in the league. A Scotty Hockey attaboy goes out to D.J. King. Of course the FSN got the wrong guy in the fight in their graphic, but the broadcasters for this league are a joke.

It is for players like King that violence should never be removed from the game, just the meathead goons that turn it into something barbaric.

A Little Of This, A Little Of That

Random thoughts right now as I am at work:

*The Rangers are suing the NHL for violating antitrust laws. Read about it here. To cut down to the basics, the Rangers are the last team to have their own individual website - the rest have the same template. The NHL wants them to change and they don't want to. Wow, Gary Bettman trying to force boring conformity, who woulda thunk it?

*Rangers won last night against the Isles. I didn't get to see it because my girlfriend forgot to DVR it. Apparently there were a bunch of fights even though the recent rivalry primaries didn't play. As they say folks: its about the name on the front of the jersey, not the name on the back. If MSG replays it this afternoon, I will post some observations.

*Even though the Rangers are still in preseason (they play the Flyers tonight in an untelevised game), the regular season started today. Kings beat on the Ducks who clearly are suffering post-Cup depression. The crowd was filled with people wearing random NHL jerseys which was neat to see there, but highly aggravating when it happens in America. I don't get why a person would wear a Dallas Stars jersey to a Rangers Flyers game or something like that. Whatever, I'm just happy hockey season has officially started.

*And finally for now, Mirtle posted an in-depth team-by-team breakdown of the goaltending situations heading into the season. Definitely a good read.

More later!

Enough Of This Garbage

Ok, as I said, people around the NHL are vilifying Steve Downie for his hit on Dean McAmmond.

The league has yet to announce its ruling on the matter, but pundits in Canada think it won't be all that serious and I happen to agree. They are saying it will take a death on the ice to curb this behavior and force the NHL to increase the penalties/suspensions for head shots. Personally I don't think that harsher penalties will curb the headhunting ...

You know what will? Getting rid of that ridiculous instigator penalty.

Now I've been railing against the stupid penalty since it was put into effect. The 'new' NHL is a speed game that pretty much requires a team to have four capable lines so keeping a slow-ass goon in the lineup is a detriment. But with expansion, let's face it, there aren't that many tough power forwards to go around (like Jarome Iginla) so a good goon is still required, but just one that can skate.

Guys like Pete Worrell and Krzysztof Oliwa are gone, and have been replaced by the Andrew Peters and that piece of garbage Donald Brashear.

With super pests like Ben Eager and Downie hitting everything that moves and other guys taking liberties with their sticks, now is the time to drop the instigator and allow for the players to stand up for their teammates without costing their team.

First Monday Of Preseason

First off, as you can see, pain-in-the-ass Cam Janssen got his ass kicked, turtling to useless deadbeat Jesse Boulerice. While preseason box scores are often totally screwed up, especially those from non-franchise cities (this game was in Trenton), this game apparently had a nice five fights in five minutes of play. Now as much as I love the fisticuffs, I can admit that that is a bit much. But with the league's clear anti-fighting stance, I love the hockey glove in the face that rivalry games like this provide as the fans go wild for brawls. Fighting shouldn't get to the point where it is manufactured, but when two franchises genuinely dislike each other and play dictates it, why not? The passion-less, bland game that Bettman seems to wish would come true (c'mon; I submit the boring division names, instigator rule and meek marketing as just some of my evidence) doesn't drive new fans to the sport, it drives the old ones away. Bad blood brings ratings, that simple.

Also making me smile this evening, the Islanders traveled all the way to North Bay, Ontario just to lose in overtime to the Thrashers. Granted they had their triple backup Joey MacDonald in, and didn't dress Bil Guerin (or Miro Satan, or Mike Comrie) while Atlanta had Ilya Kovalchuk in the lineup (but no Hossa) but still, I always take heart in the Islanders losing.

But the game was not all good news in my eyes: even though Simon the Barbarian still has time left on his suspension after losing his mind across Ryan Hollweg's face, he played and was an alternate captain! Yeah, that's the kind of class I want leading my team. A real role model for a franchise of just so much integrity. I know that its a exhibition game and Simon will sit out the first games that count, but much like I ranted when he was playing cheerleader at the end of last season, I think his suspension should keep him away from the game. That simple. He should have to train on his own and watch the games on tv. Yes he got docked some pay but he shouldn't still be allowed to enjoy the benefits of being a NHL player after he soiled the virtue of the profession. Disgraceful.