Why are we fucking the NHL? He received a 5 minute major and was thrown out of the game. What do you want, trial by combat? Isn't that why you have goons to skull fuck those that do that?Fuck the Capitals and fuck the NHL. When you're winning by hitting a guy in the head with a stick, that's not a real game.
This is what every reasonable person hates about hockey.
Why are we fucking the NHL? He received a 5 minute major and was thrown out of the game. What do you want, trial by combat? Isn't that why you have goons to skull fuck those that do that?Fuck the Capitals and fuck the NHL. When you're winning by hitting a guy in the head with a stick, that's not a real game.
This is what every reasonable person hates about hockey.
And this sort of thing can be seen in soccer too, but what else could be done in the game? Looks like the NHL didn't suspend the player for the hit.Why are we fucking the NHL? He received a 5 minute major and was thrown out of the game. What do you want, trial by combat? Isn't that why you have goons to skull fuck those that do that?
The hit on Crosby was pretty obviously pre-meditated. They dressed 7 defensemen.. it happened to Crosby, and it happened 2 minutes into the first after the Caps had gone down 2 games in the series.
Forgive me for not being acclimatized to the NHL's culture of violence yet, but I've only been paying attention to the league for a few months. From an outsider's perspective, when a team is winning a game with violence, and not trying to score and defend goals, then the game is no longer one of skill, and I might as well stop watching. Without Crosby in the series, it's not Pens/Capitals, it's Pens sans Crosby/Capitals, and that could have been prevented by the NHL exec giving a shit about the welfare of it's players.
I might sound dramatic, but this might be the first and last year I follow the NHL.
And this sort of thing can be seen in soccer too, but what else could be done in the game? Looks like the NHL didn't suspend the player for the hit.The hit on Crosby was pretty obviously pre-meditated. They dressed 7 defensemen.. it happened to Crosby, and it happened 2 minutes into the first after the Caps had gone down 2 games in the series.
Forgive me for not being acclimatized to the NHL's culture of violence yet, but I've only been paying attention to the league for a few months. From an outsider's perspective, when a team is winning a game with violence, and not trying to score and defend goals, then the game is no longer one of skill, and I might as well stop watching. Without Crosby in the series, it's not Pens/Capitals, it's Pens sans Crosby/Capitals, and that could have been prevented by the NHL exec giving a shit about the welfare of it's players.
I might sound dramatic, but this might be the first and last year I follow the NHL.
When seeing the play, I've seen worse and it wasn't entirely straight forward that it was an intentional dirty hit as Crosby was a bit off balance. I didn't see much follow through on the hit. But Crosby was knocked out of the game. What is odd about the hit was how little follow through there was (if that makes any sense). One article indicated it looked like the player was bracing for the hit, but Crosby wasn't barrelling in.
It really looks like the player attempted to knock Crosby out without it being obvious.
But here is the deal, it wasn't obvious. It was definitely suspicious, and honestly a match penalty should come with an automatic suspension. But the Capitals may have pulled off a coup, but it wasn't a two hand spear, an obvious boarding. If the NHL suspends additionally for it, they are creating a massive gray area for trying to equally enforce the rules down the road. Like I said, match penalty should be an auto suspension, but that isn't the rule and the NHL doesn't have much to go with.I recall watching the documentary 'Freakonomics' some years ago, where they described a flaw in the design of a sumo wrestling tournament. I don't remember exact details, but the way it went was that there was profit motive for some of the wrestlers to corroborate with their opponents to throw matches some of the time. If the outcome of the tournament went a certain way, all individuals involved would make more money. Eventually it was outed that this happening pretty rampantly, and was especially noticeable to wrestlers who had been in the sport for a long time. When you know the game, it's not hard to know when the match is being thrown.
In the same way, the Capitals were about to get crushed by the Penguins if they didn't do something, and removing Crosby from the series could have a huge impact. Not only is a cup on the line, but also the revenue involved in two more series, as well as whatever winning the cup would entail. And so there is massive profit motive for the Capitals to win this series.
And that's why I say fuck the capitals and fuck the NHL. It's a real shame because Crosby is one of the greatest hockey players in history, and he has to deal with people trying to give him concussions, to the point that his career could literally just end.
But here is the deal, it wasn't obvious. It was definitely suspicious, and honestly a match penalty should come with an automatic suspension. But the Capitals may have pulled off a coup, but it wasn't a two hand spear, an obvious boarding. If the NHL suspends additionally for it, they are creating a massive gray area for trying to equally enforce the rules down the road. Like I said, match penalty should be an auto suspension, but that isn't the rule and the NHL doesn't have much to go with.I recall watching the documentary 'Freakonomics' some years ago, where they described a flaw in the design of a sumo wrestling tournament. I don't remember exact details, but the way it went was that there was profit motive for some of the wrestlers to corroborate with their opponents to throw matches some of the time. If the outcome of the tournament went a certain way, all individuals involved would make more money. Eventually it was outed that this happening pretty rampantly, and was especially noticeable to wrestlers who had been in the sport for a long time. When you know the game, it's not hard to know when the match is being thrown.
In the same way, the Capitals were about to get crushed by the Penguins if they didn't do something, and removing Crosby from the series could have a huge impact. Not only is a cup on the line, but also the revenue involved in two more series, as well as whatever winning the cup would entail. And so there is massive profit motive for the Capitals to win this series.
And that's why I say fuck the capitals and fuck the NHL. It's a real shame because Crosby is one of the greatest hockey players in history, and he has to deal with people trying to give him concussions, to the point that his career could literally just end.
And please remember, the game used to be much more brutal.
The hitting (violence) isn't the problem. In this case, it was hitting a vulnerable person who had lost control. Only crap people condone that.But here is the deal, it wasn't obvious. It was definitely suspicious, and honestly a match penalty should come with an automatic suspension. But the Capitals may have pulled off a coup, but it wasn't a two hand spear, an obvious boarding. If the NHL suspends additionally for it, they are creating a massive gray area for trying to equally enforce the rules down the road. Like I said, match penalty should be an auto suspension, but that isn't the rule and the NHL doesn't have much to go with.
And please remember, the game used to be much more brutal.
Yea maybe to some degree their hands are tied, although I think there is still a lot more they could do to protect players. As you say, match penalty is an auto suspension, or straight up if you seriously injure someone that's an automatic suspension (and one that's actually punitive, rather than giving the appearance of punishment), unless it was a clear freak accident. If you give the players an incentive to actively avoid injuring each other, whether accidentally or not, the game will be much safer. At this point, I don't think the NHL is ready to take things that far, because fans love the violent aspect of the game.
It isn't quite that simple. The NHL for a while tried to cut back on the fighting, but hockey is an odd bird sport, and fighting is kind of a pressure release mechanism, that prevents wickedly cruel things from occurring.In reality I can't fault the NHL too much, because I think the integrity of most leagues is in serious question for one reason or another. I just wish, at some point in my lifetime, I'd see people put doing the right thing over profit.
The hitting (violence) isn't the problem. In this case, it was hitting a vulnerable person who had lost control. Only crap people condone that.Yea maybe to some degree their hands are tied, although I think there is still a lot more they could do to protect players. As you say, match penalty is an auto suspension, or straight up if you seriously injure someone that's an automatic suspension (and one that's actually punitive, rather than giving the appearance of punishment), unless it was a clear freak accident. If you give the players an incentive to actively avoid injuring each other, whether accidentally or not, the game will be much safer. At this point, I don't think the NHL is ready to take things that far, because fans love the violent aspect of the game.
It isn't quite that simple. The NHL for a while tried to cut back on the fighting, but hockey is an odd bird sport, and fighting is kind of a pressure release mechanism, that prevents wickedly cruel things from occurring.In reality I can't fault the NHL too much, because I think the integrity of most leagues is in serious question for one reason or another. I just wish, at some point in my lifetime, I'd see people put doing the right thing over profit.
What I find hilarious is that for the longest time, people complained about violence in hockey (and we are talking after the time when bench clearings were banned), yet violence in baseball (throwing a ball at 100 mph at someone's head!) is almost encouraged. Bench clearings happen quite often in baseball (relatively speaking), yet nothing. NASCAR celebrates crashes and driver to drive conflict, yet nothing.
But allow checking a sport or fighting, and it is barbarism.
A big asterisk on that "rookie winning the Conn Smythe" history thing.
The question is Guenztel another Jagr or just a Stevens?A big asterisk on that "rookie winning the Conn Smythe" history thing.
Agreed, although he's most certainly half of the equation. He's a natural goal scorer, and with two players with vision on the ice they easily feed each other, Guenztel always knows where to be. If he wasn't playing, along with Fleury and Murray, there are decent odds the Penguins wouldn't be where they're at.
The question is Guenztel another Jagr or just a Stevens?Agreed, although he's most certainly half of the equation. He's a natural goal scorer, and with two players with vision on the ice they easily feed each other, Guenztel always knows where to be. If he wasn't playing, along with Fleury and Murray, there are decent odds the Penguins wouldn't be where they're at.
During that run he averaged over 2 pts a game. In 83-84, he scored 1 in 4 shots.Also had to laugh while looking at Hart trophy winners. Gretzky had a clean sweep from 79-86, for eight consecutive league MVPs. That's ridiculous.
Lemieux really had it hard. I think some could argue he should have won being on a team that wasn't one of the best in the history of the sport. Now it should be noted that Even Stephane Richer scored over 50 goals, so goaltending wasn't the most effective at the time, but Gretzky's point totals were absurd. In 82-83, he had over 196 points. Second place less than 124. He had greater than 50% more points than 2nd place. The following year it would by 66% more!Then he was ousted by Lemieux, but won it again the next year. I really need to find some of his old games on youtube.
