freshy

Weak sauce call...

Two things: 1.Lids still has the hand-eye cordination of an 18 year old. He's phenomenal. 2. The Phoenix arena staff needs to put some pucks in the friggin freezer.

4-3 wings in OT(SO). Yotes will step up their game because it is the Wings and they will have a decent number of fans in the barn tonight(although a lot won't be cheering for the Home club Incidently, who are the programming genuises at NBCSN? Primetime Wings vs. Yotes in Phoenix? Is this the best matchup in the NHL tonight? Don't get me wrong, I'll take every televised Wing game I can, but it kinda seems like a waste. Save those national spots for when we play a serious rival!

I was flipping through the channels last night and happened to stop on the Wisconsin-St.Cloud State game. I had only caught about 5 minutes of the game when this thing of beauty occurred: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=yWVYug0nlw8#! Ramage recieved a 5min for "Blow to the head" and also was tossed from the game Needless to say Papa Eaves & the Wisconsin faithful were less then pleased, and the sport of hockey died a little last night.

Huh? Since when does not agreeing mean an unwillingness to listen? Who called anyone a moron?Doomsdayers and Goon have been thrown around, but not by me. How bout you post something about the thread topic or go back to lurking.......

Targeting would imply aiming or intent I would think. It may be stated as "targeting" but it seems to be enforced as incidental. Oliver curves into Ramage at the last second on that play. People are claiming this type hit to be exactly what should be stopped.(I know you are not saying that about this particular hit) I disagree with that. Who said I'm offended? You've stated your opinion and I've listened. I think we probably have more common ground than dissent, I would agree with a rule of video before ejection. Debate is cool. Throwing out an initial post telling people to relax and saying they are irrational instead of laying out why you disagree is dumb. The rule is new, and vague, hence the lack of understanding of what will happen to physicality in the game.

Reasonable? Tell me on what time stamp of the video Ramage's shoulder contacts Oliver's facemask and then you would have a reasonable argument for it being a blow to the head. To be honest I'm not really sure what your position is. On the one hand you agree with me that they should have erred on the side of Ramage, but then you feel the need to call me a reactionary doomsdayer when I say that's the type of hit that needs to be kept in the game. Correct. I disagree with a rule that penalizes a player for any incidental contact to the head. It's overkill and will change the physicality of the game in a negative way IMO. How much we don't know obviously, only time will tell. Like Harold commented the pendulumn has swung way over to the side of protection. If it is such an abberration why are the commentators talking about the need for a balance after the hit happenning? My initial post was "hockey died a little bit tonight". Sure it was a little hyperbole. So what? You're the one that has their panties in a bunch saying that it is doomsday talk, which I would hardly characterizes it as. The rule, by your own admission, will most likely curtail those open ice hits. Players will start to hesitate before they make any hit, just like they now hesitate before hooking or grabbing. Players will feel more comfortable going up the middle with their heads down because they will have that advantage. That Boston hit was an exciting hockey play. But I have to wonder, if he goes down hurt like Oliver or fakes an injury, would there have been a call?

I fixed it for you since you seemed to be watching some other incident. His entire body snapped back because it was a crushing body shot. I understand why the call was made too, and that is what worries me. You're right, we can't predict the exact future of how this will play out. We can only go by what we see happenning in the present. That call was horrendous. What slippery slope are you talking about? They threw the guy out for a perfectly clean bodycheck at center ice. You say they may get better, I say the trend is to call anything that appears to impact a player hard in the upper part of the body. Unfortunatly, with any bodycheck comes the inherent risk of sustaining a concussion. Fostering a culture of hypersensitivity of hard checking because of the off chance that a player will sustain one is dumb. No one is arguing against those obvious elbows up, 10 step stupid ass moves that people like Matt Cooke do. If the league were serious about concussion problems they should look at hard shelled equipment, no touch icing etc... Not start ordering the whistle when someone takes a hit that looks bad because they failed to keep their head up. What inherent risks haven't been known? That participating in ice hockey can lead to concussions? That's the whole reason you sign a liability waver anytime you play any sport. You are acknowledging and accepting the possibility your participation in it could cause bodily harm, even death. So what? Because hitting(especially the open-ice variety)is an integral part of the game of hockey. It is a unique skill that I enjoy watching. Most times it occurs because of the very fact a player gets caught with their head down. Inherent risk. Not sure where you are going with the NASCAR reference. I can only assume it was to try to hold yourself up as somehow superior to me in your fandom. Whatever.....I like all aspects of the game of hockey, solid checks being one of them. Back on your high horse again here I see. What evidence pray-tell is there that any of what I have posted could give you the impression I wanted to see Oliver get injured? Dude made a bad decision and paid the price. I feel bad for the kid, but it's an unfortunate part of hockey that if you skate across the middle with your head down you run the risk of getting rocked. Sure we do. Recurrent small brain injuries add up over the long run. This isn't new information. It's a balance of risk or reward. North-South hits where a player may/maynot have his head down and gets clocked err on the side of the hitter I say. Not blow the whistle and give a penalty if their is a hard check followed by a head jerking and a yard sale on the ice. You're correct in players will try to push the rules. How long until they figure out that turning their back or dropping their head at the last second will result in a penalty for the opposition?

I get where you're coming from Harold, but I think you're comparing a bit of apples to oranges here. (Apples)Clutching, grabbing, and hooking are considered universaly to be undesirable aspects in a hockey game. Dats shouldn't have to fight through hooks, and neither should have Gretzky. To call that tighter opens up the game making it better. You're right that the players did adapt and we see less of that god-awful clutching & grabbing now because of the rules being enforced. (Oranges)Bodychecks on the other hand are a desirable aspect of the game(IMHO). No one wants to see someone get injured obviously, but the game of hockey comes with inherent risks. Concussions being one of them. When calls like this are even in the refs conciousness because of the current climate, it is going to cause that same adaptation we saw with clutching & grabbing occur with hitting. I think the game should err on the side of no call in these instances. Kronner's type of hits I see as OK. He is always North-South and isn't taking 10 steps(Pronger) before laying into someone. If they don't want to get hit they need to keep their head up(I'm looking at you Havlat). Making the call of feet being on ice before or after contact being made is way to difficult in game speed for refs to determine so shouldn't be a factor IMO. Again, err on the side of the hitter.

Great insights Zetts is a chucker, which in hockey, unlike hoops is a good thing. Unfortunately for Hank he has the 4'9''pocket Czech on his wing instead of someone that can screen out the goaltender. Look next to the word "intangibles" in the dictionary and you see a picture of Z. His value to this club is immeasurable.

Hockey is always changing. It's never the same as we "knew it". Apparently it is changing for the better in your opinion, which is cool. I like how someone like Kronwall plays and don't want to have to worry if every big check he makes will end up in a suspension along with a 5 on 5 scrum. Personally I enjoy a nice solid body check as part of the game and don't think it should be legislated out of the sport. How many of these "bad calls" would we have seen 10 years ago? Buppy said he would have given the hitter a pass. No s***, because it was clearly a horrible call. One that no ref would have even contemplated anytime before 2 years ago. That is the entire point.......

Not sure how you see Ramage's shoulder going into the Oliver's face, looks clearly to be hitting him in the shoulder on all the replays. Major point of impact is low causing the guy's stick to snap like a twig. Ramage doesn't leave his feet at all or charge leading up to the hit in any way. The check couldn't have been any cleaner. When I saw Ramage getting a penalty I was shaking my head in disbelief. Then, after a 5 minute discussion by the officials, they tossed him. It was absolutely jaw dropping. Like Newfy commented, hockey used to be a contact sport. Anyone that played hockey from Bantam level on needed to learn that if you come through the neutral zone with your head down like Oliver did you had a good chance of getting flattened. These type of calls you feel are "questionable" are on the rise. The more calls made like this, the more players will pull up from making a body check to avoid a possible penalty, and the more players with feel comfortable skating through the middle with their heads down. The sport of hockey, just like anything in life, adapts to the constructs of the environment it is in.

The players should be embarassed to cash their paychecks for tonights game, save maybe for Helm & Pavs. I don't think it is possible for a player to be caught more out of position then Erickson has been tonight. He is pure garbage......

I just caught that hit on youtube. HOLY HELL! Kesler got absolutely destroyed by that thing of beauty That plastering looked even harder than the beating Havlat took, if that's even possible. I think the funniest part was Raymond getting bulldozed by Franzen after he knocked off Nick's helmet and then Kesler falling over his teammate onto his face trying to get after Kronner. What a friggen clown. As far as Kronner answering the bell, when exactly was that going to happen? Kesler looked like a ****** charging at him when the refs had them both basically tied up. What, is Kronner suppose to shake off the ref, drop his gloves, and fight Kesler because of a perfectly awesome, clean hit? Nick's expression of WTF guy? said it all. Keep your head up next time and go sit the F down!!!!!

Kind of reminds me of the situation we had down here in Orlando with the whole Grant Hill saga. I can feel Isle fan's pain. By like the 6th year of him watching games, not being able to go with the bum ankle, and failed surgery after failed surgery we just wanted him to retire so we could get that piano of a contract off our backs. Then he finally fixes himself and skips town. Talk about a kick in the balls. Anyway, profession athletes in their early-mid thirties are NOT going to retire and leave money on the table. It's not even about the money. It's about WANTING to do what you love. Frustrating for us fans at times, but I understand where these players are coming from.

Your rational post filled with truth & logic does not belong here. This is LGW for God's sake. Malkin is one step below Bantam level and he was owned by Conner & Mursak last night. Oh, and by the way Crosby is a *****, notice he was invisible on the ice last night.

Punched in the gut. That is what I felt when I started reading this thread. I usually check LGW a couple of times a week is all in the off-season, and then a few times a day once the season starts. The last time I checked a couple of days ago I read about Belak, which was awful enough. Then today I log on to get my hockey update and get blasted in the gut with this tragic news. My mind immediately went back to one of the last posts I read on the Belak thread. Someone commented on all of the deaths so far and mentioned that it seemed the Wings organization was due for a tragedy. I feel sick. RIP Men.....

Holy sheet this is intense! Win or lose, what a great game!

Jesus Christ my pits are sweaty.......

Decent start in the visitors house. Keep bashing Clowe. Jimmy getting some touches to start is good.

Missed the 1st 3 games when my cable was out. Caught the 3 Wings' win and am now in the my traditional position in front of the tv for a history making victory. Make it so. LGW!!!

Give Coture's goofy ass a beatdown Stuart

Let the Octopie rain!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Feel the pressure SJ!

Get.it.done.now.

f*** YES KRONNERRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!