WorkingOvertime

Leino just tripped Schenn on an icing, sending him in to the boards. I thought the league was trying to come down on this dangerous play a few years ago. There will be no suspension or anything (shouldn't be IMO) but the play is easily as dangerous as Gillies. The difference is no one here would call for a suspension because Leino is a "skill player". The Gillies hit was dirty, there is no arguing that. My problem is that he will get a big suspension from it while similar hits will happen with no league intervention. This is targeting the name on the sweater and not the offense. This is evidenced by Cal getting the benefit of the doubt for his hit from behind. If anyone sees any homerism in my posts, please point it out. This situation is similar to Malkin having his instigator recinded in the playoffs a couple years ago. People complained because they thought the league recinded the penalty because Malkin is a star player. To me this falls under the same argument but posters here are less likely to support a lesser suspension because Gillies is an enforcer.

What is the point of this? Because he isn't a good player means that he should be held to a higher standard than better players?

Your comparison is off-base. If anything it is lime a reformed murderer calling for new murderers to get the maximum penalty. As I said, it was a dirty play. Anyone can see that. However, calling for a player to be removed from the league for this incident is an overreaction. I expect Milbury to understand the intensity of the game more because of his incident. If Milbury says that he should have been removed from the league, I would have more respect for his comments. I'll play the devils advocate here a bit. IMO hits from behind are as likely to cause injury as a hit like Gillies. If Gillies does this once to Cal and it causes Cal to not hit from behind anymore against the Isles (or other teams) does the game get cleaner? I like Cal a lot but this is the argument that many pro-enforcers give (personally I'm in the middle- we need players to police themselves and the league to punish).

I agree. It was a stupid play throughout. If the Isles player were seriously injured would we be having this discussion? The hit was certainly dirty but I think there are similar hits almost nightly in the NHL. There are a lot of players leaving their feet to hit high in many games. I think anything more than 5 games is unfair and based on Gillies' reputation more than the hit. Gillies is an old-school enforcer that gives retribution to the offending player. I think he went about it in the wrong way (again) but I can see his intention.

Milbury's comments were off base last night. He went into the stands to beat a fan with a shoe during his NHL career. Granted the NHL has progressed from incidents like this, but I don't see how he can call for Gillies to be out of the league when today Milbury would be banned from the league and likely wouldn't be employed by Versus. The game has progressed but I hate seeing ex-players calling for these long suspensions when they did much worse during their NHL careers. Did you watch both videos? Gillies came in within seconds of Cal hitting an Isles player from behind. I would hardly call the incident premeditated. Dirty? Yes, but not premeditated.

Personally, I don't think there should be a big suspension here. Cooke is a repeat offender and his last suspended hit was much worse IMO and I believe he only got four games. I don't like seeing suspensions levied on players because of their skill level. Plenty of people on here complain when skill players aren't given as big of suspensions, but giving bad players longer suspensions only perpetuates the cycle. Anything more than four games is too much and less is better. It was a dirty hit, but he has already sat out a game and worse hits have gone unpunished.

.

While Abby hasn't been playing great, I don't like seeing him scratched against the Ducks. They're a tough team that likes the try to push the Wings around.

Why does the best player have to be captain? Z is having a good year and I think he should be the next captain. Getting the C is about leadership. None of us know who the lockeroom leaders are. Also, the captain has many media responsibilities that Z seems better prepared for than Dats.

I agree. This is a fair deal. Like other posters, I would have liked to see the number a bit lower but he would have easily gotten this much on the open market.

I wouldn't mind seeing this line in the regular season to see if they can produce offensively and defensively. However, putting them together starting in the playoffs would to too risky IMO. It could be a great offensive line though.

Huds and Homer together would be a pretty weak defensively.

Hopefully Huds can create some chemistry with Modano and Cleary. Unfortunately, if they can't Bert or Huds has to move down a line.

Zetterberg - Datsyuk - Holmstrom Franzen - Filppula - Bert Abby - Modano - Cleary Huds - Helm - Eaves Sit: Draper- plays if there is a deserved loss Miller Defense: Lidstrom - Rafalski Stuart - Kronwall Salei - Ericsson Sit: Kindl Smith Goalies: Howard Osgood - although the second howard falters i wanna see if he can spark some playoff magic. I'd like them to try Abby with Modano and Cleary again. This line was hot earlier in the season and hopefully they can continue the trend. Huds should be playing on a higher line, but hopefully he can bring some scoring to the fourth. I would also have Huds play the PP to get more ice-time.

Good to see CBJ win again. I would rather them make the playoffs than most of the other teams contending for the last spot.

Putting them on the radio depends on the other material you have lined-up. If it would otherwise be a slow day, I think having them on for a few minutes to talk about the game would be entertaining. However, it would be a bit of a sideshow to the normal hockey news.

Homer has been a weak player the past few years when not playing with Pavs and Z. I still think he is worth his cap hit, but I would like to see the ZDH reunited when the Wings get healthy. Flip can center the Bert, Franzen line just fine.

As I said on the last page, the actions taken by Martin aren't as dangerous as the actions taken by Cooke. Gillies hit was very similar to Godard's hit, and I don't think the ensuing 'fight' (jumping) was the cause of the concussion. Why does it matter that Cooke is a 35-point player? I don't know why fans, let alone the league, believe that points are important when it comes to discipline. IMO you compare incidents based on the severity of the rule broken only, not on who the player is.

.

.

.

Because the Isles aren't a good team means that can't stick up for themselves? If you watch the video again, you can clearly see Martin try to spin Talbot towards him (facing Martin) just before/as he punches. Gillies has been a regular this year with the Isles (if you watch any of their game) and has played 32 games this season. I think it was more in response to Tangradi pushing the Isles around earlier in the game, and that Flower and Johnson laughed after DiPietro was hurt last game.

After rewatching the clip a few times I don't think Martin was trying to blindside punch Talbot. If you watch closely Martin drops his gloves, grabs Talbot, tries to spin Talbot around (toward him), and then throws the punch. While it is still cheap, I believe the intent was to make Talbot face him and immediately punch him.

We need to remember that the statement was more seen by more than just the Penguins. In an interview on TSN, Konopka said that they want teams to know that their star players are going to be protected. I liked what I saw from the Isles last night. Did Martin and Gillies go over the line? Yes. However, I don't believe either of them should be suspended longer than Godard (10 game minimum for leaving the bench). Also, Haley was okay in going after Johnson. Johnson was clearly willing to fight and it looked like he was expecting it. The next game between these two teams will be over-hyped IMO. It is right before the playoffs and I don't think the Penguins will want to expose their players to another game like this in April.

I read on another site that Konopka said the game was in response to Fleury and Johnson laughing/smiling after DiPietro was knocked out last game.