esteef

Get ready for Crosby's LGW body guards to come in here and call you guys haters. Legitimate points be damned. esteef

And once again, the "you don't have to actually play to get out of the suspension" part was not known to anyone in the league until Crosby made his call, which was way too late for anyone to reasonably change plans. That's the issue here. The "apparent" last minute clarification of the rule for one player, which only served to villify perennial ambassadors of the sport who had already accepted and acted on what they were told was "the rule". esteef

Or they could have the ASG at the end of the season and avoid ALL of this. esteef

What document? If that's true then why was the call to Bettman necessary? I mean if it's clearly in print and has been all along? esteef

See, once again, any criticism involving the name Crosby is instant "LGW blind hate for Crosby" fodder. I will repeat, as I have many times here, I have no personal vendetta against Crosby. I dislike the preferential treatment he receives from the media and the league as a whole. This incident is direct proof of what I'm talking about. The rule was set, everyone understood it and was prepared to accept the consequences, then Crosby makes a phone call and is able to wiggle around the punishment. Dance around that all you want with innuendo about other players could've done the same thing but that's not what happened. What happened was a rule was changed at the last minute because Crosby wanted to play his next game back, not because he had this burning desire in his heart to represent the league properly to all the fans. Give me a f***in' break. The only reason he called and ultimately showed up was because he was worried about playing the next regular season game, and that's the only reason. Talk about looking at it "one-sided". esteef

You should read all 20 pages.

Datsyuk should show up for the photo ops in a wheelchair! Cheers! esteef

That's exactly the point. Rules SHOULDN'T be open for interpretation, regardless of who's on the phone. Had Sean Avery been in Crosby's shoes, would he have gotten the exception? Absolutely not! It boils down to Crosby being able to take advantage of a rule change/work out/clarification, without the rest of the league (Dats and Lids in this case) being able to even know about in time to take advantage of. The end result is public embarrassment for two top ambassadors of the league. Everyone should've either been held to the rule as it's written, or they all get a warning this year and it's certainly clarified for next year. That way, nobody looks like an ass in the media and everybody understands how the "rule" will be enforced. Letting Crosby weasel around it f***ed it up for everybody in more ways than one. Bettman is dumb. esteef

The point is, there's nothing to "work out", it's a rule and every GM knows about it and has agreed to it. Why would anyone think they could just make a phone call and start changing rules to fit their situation? So is every rule up for interpretation now? Bettman should have just said that in light of the apparent confusion surrounding the rule no players will sit out this year and clarifications will be made for next year so this doesn't happen again. Singling out Dats and Lids is ridiculous and everyone knows it. esteef

No attempt needed to be made, the rule was clear. Until the Crosby call of course... esteef

Why would they call? They knew the rule and were expecting not to play against the Jackets, until Crosby got the "show up, shake hands and you can still play" exception. Now that makes them look like a-holes. esteef

You guys are both off the mark and it's been repeated here a million times. Everyone knows they will miss a game and for the most part know why and are fine with it. The problem is the apparent "clarification" of the rule which Crosby received personally, whereas everyone else (our 2 players), had to get that later through the media mill, probably after it was too late to reasonably change their plans. Fair? All this has done is make Lids and Dats look like they are a couple of selfish a-holes who could care less about the league and it's fashion show, which is the farthest thing from the truth as evidenced by their previous attendence at many, many league functions. All this while Crosby comes out smelling clean because he had the advantage of the late "clarification" of the rule! THAT'S the point that's got people pissed! esteef

Look in the video areas on this subject on ESPN, TSN, NHL websites. He admits it in an interview. esteef

So, any new believers in the notion that Crosby gets special treatment? esteef

So has the guy ever had seizures before? Does he have a known medical condition? Was the fight the cause of the seizure? I mean there's a lot they don't tell you here. It's just, they were big, they fought, one had a seizure, end of story. Like they WANT that connection to be there between the actual fight and the seizure. Typical media, fanning the flames. esteef

Downey, HUT! :beerbuddy: esteef

Keep it simple yet effective: The All-Star Game SUCKS! Be sure to be wearing a Wings jersey while holding it up to really hammer the point home. esteef

Look on the bright side, if it weren't for this thread, we'd all be arguing about fighting in hockey! esteef

No s***! How Babs fields that question (which you KNOW will be asked quite a few times) is reason enough for me to watch now. Bettman is brilliant! esteef

Hell no! He should certainly go now and hammer this decision in the media every chance he gets. esteef

...and what team historically won't "put up a fight", why the Red Wings of course... esteef

Datsyuk's on a mean streak this year. He's picked his hitting up and now he's suspended! What's next, a scrap?!! esteef

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