Hockey 2010-2011

[smc]

Part 2 of an excellent article from today's Boston Globe, worthy of a read by all hockey fans:

Hesitant to change rules
Tweaking the rules produces countermeasures as players find ways to adapt to restrictions. When the NHL began enforcing obstruction penalties to cut down on the clutching, grabbing, and hooking that was bogging down the game, defenders put more emphasis on playing the body. Comper?s analysis found that only a quarter of the concussed players had the puck when they were hit and that nearly half of them had just released it.

?When you get the puck and you know you?re going to be targeted, you?re braced because you know the hit is coming,?? says Cantu. ?Once you?ve passed it, your antennae aren?t quite as heightened.??

While banning north-south head shots clearly would reduce the number of concussions, it also would skew the time-tested equilibrium between offense and defense. As long as a player can see who?s coming at him, he?s fair game.

?From the time you?re 8 years old, you?re taught to keep your head up, and that if you get labeled, it?s your fault,?? says Kings general manager Dean Lombardi.

Even after he has released the puck, the offensive player has to expect to be taken out of the equation.

?Ever since I?ve been involved in the sport, you?ve been taught to finish your check,?? says Chiarelli. ?If you don?t, the guy knows you?re not finishing the check, so he has that much more freedom.??

Any change to the rulebook changes the game, which is why both management and players tend to react hesitantly to proposed alterations. While the general managers will deal with the concussion issue at their meeting next month and likely will talk about north-south hits, their sense is that Rule 48 should be given more time to work before more changes are made.

?Whenever you?re going to change a playing rule and people don?t have a degree of confidence in what the result will be, they?re going to be cautious about it,?? says Donald Fehr, executive director of the NHL Players Association. ?The uncertainty is one of the reasons for the caution.??

There is universal agreement that Rule 48 was necessary and that cheap shots to the head clearly diminished this season with only six penalties (four suspensions and two fines) assessed under the rule and players are more mindful about how they play the body.

?Definitely, guys are thinking a bit more,?? says Lucic. ?If you look at tapes of games where those hits could have happened, guys let up this year. So you can see somewhat of an improvement when it comes to that.??

But the NHL has never been an ice ballet, not since the Montreal Wanderers and Toronto Arenas first had at each other in 1917. Hockey is by its nature a concussive game, and the risks are obvious to everyone who pulls on a sweater.

?I say to people, these guys are all volunteers,?? says Burke. ?There?s no one out there who was conscripted. They signed on for a game that?s dangerous at times. We have to make it as safe as we can while preserving the fabric of the game.??

[shadows]

I can't say that I agree with Burke. The fabric of the game doesn't include dirty hits that concuss players. The majority of the concussions this season have happened from either dirty or borderline-dirty hits. They need to start punishing the offenders with REAL suspensions rather than the mickey-mouse ones that Campbell is so fond of handing out.

Getting rid of Campbell(and Bettman, as he obviously has a say in this regardless of what his "official" role is) would be a good step in the right direction.

[shadows]

Woohooooooooo! Toronto won 5-4 over Montreal. Sorry Ila, but Toronto needed this win.

They are now only 4 points out of a playoff spot(something that I honestly thought they would never attain a few weeks ago!), having passed an idle Atlanta to claim 10th place. They are only 1 point behind Buffalo(I hope Ottawa beats them tomorrow!) and 4 points behind Carolina. Boy, I haven't been this excited to be a Leafs fan in quite some time!

Go Leafs GOOOOOOOOOO!

[smc]

Originally Posted by shadows

I can't say that I agree with Burke. The fabric of the game doesn't include dirty hits that concuss players. The majority of the concussions this season have happened from either dirty or borderline-dirty hits. They need to start punishing the offenders with REAL suspensions rather than the mickey-mouse ones that Campbell is so fond of handing out.

Getting rid of Campbell(and Bettman, as he obviously has a say in this regardless of what his "official" role is) would be a good step in the right direction.

I agree with you. None of this will change until there is some radical action. Andrew Ference of the Bruins spoke out against one of his teammates doing to a player what happened to Mark Savard, and broadcasters like Don Cherry and Mike Milbury went out of their way to excoriate Ference as some kind of traitor. That shows how deeply ingrained is the culture of excessive violence in hockey. They put the "sport" over the life of players who may be scarred forever.

[shadows]

Originally Posted by smc

I agree with you. None of this will change until there is some radical action. Andrew Ference of the Bruins spoke out against one of his teammates doing to a player what happened to Mark Savard, and broadcasters like Don Cherry and Mike Milbury went out of their way to excoriate Ference as some kind of traitor. That shows how deeply ingrained is the culture of excessive violence in hockey. They put the "sport" over the life of players who may be scarred forever.

I think more people would have listened to Mario Lemieux's rant the other day if he didn't have Matt Cooke on his team. Cooke is one of the dirtiest players in the NHL today. He is a guy that should have been punted a long time ago.

[dauls]

Our eight-game winning streak ended by two Bolts' goals in 54 mad, 2nd period seconds.

...11pts behind 8th in the East.

[transjen]

Originally Posted by dauls

Our eight-game winning streak ended by two Bolts' goals in 54 mad, 2nd period seconds.

...11pts behind 8th in the East.

It's always a sad event when Tampa wins, a team that shouldn't be in the NHL to start with they have no true fan base when the played the Redwings awhile back in Tampa it was a sea of red jerseys as it looked more like a Redwings home game

Flyersfan Jen

[k.sucks.you]

Originally Posted by transjen

It's always a sad event when Tampa wins, a team that shouldn't be in the NHL to start with they have no true fan base when the played the Redwings awhile back in Tampa it was a sea of red jerseys as it looked more like a Redwings home game

:-) More than 450 Sharks fans went on the last road trip to Anaheim. The quote was "maybe we'll finally help them get a sellout down there". 17562 every game in the tank.

Sharks just swept a three game road trip. Red Wings, Pens, then Calgary. Nice! Niemi is playing on his head. Most of February was on the road, but we now have fewer road games left of any NHL team.

Wings game was a heart stopper both ways all night. Great game.

Marleau dropped the Pens with 4 seconds left in OT. Take your point east. The west needs two. Another great game.

The Calgary game was reffed pretty poorly, but was still pretty exciting, back and forth. Clowe gets some kind of modern Gordie Howe hat-trick, 4-minute minor, KO of Jackman (who didn't return), the game tying goal late in the third, then the OT shootout winner WITH HIS FOREHAND!

The west is still very tight, but Sharks are starting to separate a bit. You can't watch all the combinations of other teams helping out, just win your own games.

-K

[shadows]

Originally Posted by dauls

Our eight-game winning streak ended by two Bolts' goals in 54 mad, 2nd period seconds.

...11pts behind 8th in the East.

The amazing part of their winning streak was the fact that Hedberg is now the #1 goalie! Brodeur has now been relegated to backup! I didn't think I would see that this season.

Pittsburgh and Ottawa did not do either of our teams a favour. Ottawa lost to Buffalo 4-2 and Pittsburgh lost 4-1 to Carolina. Some bad news for Carolina, that being Eric Staal left with an injury(the whispers saying that it could be a concussion).

That is bad news for Carolina. You never want to see a player get hurt even one from an opposing team. If it is a concussion, something NEEDS to be done! How many freaking stars have we lost this season to CONCUSSIONS?!?!

------------

At least Florida beat Atlanta 2-1 in a shootout to keep Toronto ahead of them.

[ila]

Originally Posted by shadows

...Pittsburgh and Ottawa did not do either of our teams a favour. Ottawa lost to Buffalo 4-2 and Pittsburgh lost 4-1 to Carolina. Some bad news for Carolina, that being Eric Staal left with an injury(the whispers saying that it could be a concussion).

That is bad news for Carolina. You never want to see a player get hurt even one from an opposing team. If it is a concussion, something NEEDS to be done! How many freaking stars have we lost this season to CONCUSSIONS?!?!

The NHL paid only slightly more than lip service to the problems of concussions until Crosbie got hurt. Now it's all the talk with Lemieux doing a public whine about it. The problem of concussions should have been dealt with long ago. I think it's interesting that concussions became more common after hockey introduced all the safety equipment such as helmets and thicker padding all over. I think all this equipment gave players a false sense of security that has resulted in more dirty hits; or perhaps it's the bonus that goons receive not for playing hockey but for eliminating good players on the opposing teams.

Originally Posted by shadows

At least Florida beat Atlanta 2-1 in a shootout to keep Toronto ahead of them.

You realize, shadows, that if Toronto makes the playoffs this year that they will be eliminated in the first round, unless they meet Montreal in which case it becomes completely unpredictable.