kipwinger

Ah gotcha, I guess I wasn't paying good enough attention while that was on. Thanks for the clarification.

Well Neal got 5 games, but according to Shanny's video he wasn't considered a repeat offender for some reason even though he'd been suspended twice before. I don't really get it.

It's all over the place and it's been pissing me off all day. Orpik didn't do anything cheap, dirty, or borderline. Yet somehow he's got to respond to doing nothing or else get hauled to the ice from behind and punched in the face. I mean, it must be his fault. Obviously frequent goon and occasional hockey player Shawn Thornton couldn't have gotten carried away with his dumb ass retaliation.

Finally, here's a video of the hit in slow motion (please disregard the crappy music and text commentary). There's a slow mo of the hit at :46 seconds. Play attention to the puck, it pretty clearly changes directions after hitting Eriksson's stick about a fraction of a second before the hit. The only way this is a penalty is if someone wants to say that he targeted the head (but Eriksson's head and body moved right before the hit after Orpik had already committed) or that he charged (Orpik left his feet on the follow through). Other than that it's just a good, well timed hockey hit.

Of course he, did they show replays all the time on the big scoreboards. You constantly see players and coaches looking up at it during games. Thornton should have had a good view of it too, since he immediately went to the penalty box after the hit. Which brings me to my last point, Orpik hit Eriksson on the first shift of the game. Thornton got ejected at the 11:00 minute mark of the first. There was plenty of time for his team to look at the board, see that it wasn't a dirty hit, and lay off Orpik. Certainly nobody can say that Thornton was too emotional, or pissed off, or lost his cool. He had ten minutes to think on it. It was deliberate and dirty, there's no other way of looking at it.

Unquestionably Neal should get a huge suspension, and he probably will considering he's been suspended before. They're both hugely chickens*** attacks on defenseless targets. But I disagree about Orpik's hit being borderline dirty. In no way was that a dirty hit. He hit him in the chest, not high, and he was already too committed to the hit to pull up after Eriksson failed to play the puck (although it did hit him, so even then the hit is legal).

I'm not sure what you're "just saying".

Not really, I don't care when people misspell things. I do it all the time. It's just funny that he put the word in quotes, while misspelling it, while trying to take a jab at me, while trying to use a word that means "examine methodically and in detail".

Isn't it the point of a discussion forum to "analyse" what others say and respond? I suppose I could just say something, and then call people names when they disagree with me and tell them to watch another sport. p.s. Did you put "analyse" in quotes because you intentionally misspelled it, or was that just some sort of hilarious irony?

There are two problems with your argument and how you present it. First, fighting isn't part of the game, hence it's against the rules and is a penalty. Secondly, you repeatedly call anyone who disagrees with you "soccer moms and dads", and tell everyone else to go watch something else if they don't agree. Both are decidedly against the forum rules as well as piss poor ways of defending your point of view. Not withstanding that fact that you inexplicably get away with your baiting over and over and over again, one has to wonder why (if you're such a fan of something that isn't part of the game) you don't go watch MMA or boxing. Instead, you prefer to tell everyone else to watch something else whenever they suggest that perhaps the game they love shouldn't be turned into a dangerous freak show because of flagrant and repeated disregard for the rules of the sport.

You think you could knock off the baiting, it's obnoxious?

No you didn't. Here's what you said in May, 2012. Months after he'd been traded for, and while he was a free agent. "Offer him a 5 year $3M per contract. A bit less money, but more security and more money to make the team better. If he doesn't agree, then let him decide what he wants to do. Get the 1st and 3rd round draft picks if he signs for more that elsewhere...Win-Win situation." Here's where you said it: http://www.letsgowings.com/forums/topic/72457-will-the-wings-keep-kyle-quincey/?hl=%2Bquincey+%2Btrade#entry2299045. Apparently when you say you "soured soon after" what you really mean is that it would be a "win" if the Wings had re-signed him for FIVE years at 3 million dollars. Get real dude.

My god, I can't imagine the kind of mental gymnastics you have to go through to come to the conclusion that Thornton did nothing wrong and Orpik "shouldn't" be hurt. It's incredible. Forget about us taking your posts seriously, how do you even type this stuff with a straight face.

Oh, well you don't think he should be hurt so it's all good. Thank god it's as cut and dry as that. Do you have any idea how Orpik was actually injured, or were you just basing this assessment on your obviously profound medical knowledge? Thornton wasn't being a jackass, Orpik is just not tough enough. Right. Keep blaming the victim dude, that's always a good call.

Watch it again, Orpik didn't fall. Thornton tripped him with his foot, from behind, and began to punch him. It was dirty, cheap, and misdirected. What a puke.

I actually agree with that. I was trying to make a statement to those who defend fighting because of "the code", which is a joke. I've never thought it meant much, and when things like this happen it's even more obvious how silly it is. I don't think it's become worse, I think that nobody even pretends anymore.

I'm not sure what your point is here. That because Brooks Orpik is unlikeable he should be mugged for clean hits and seriously injured? Or that this is ok because it would have been worse in the 70's and 80's? It's a joke. They do it because they can. Hit him with a HUGE suspension and all the sudden his "bad mood" doesn't result in a hospital trip for soemeone else. Orpik didn't knee Marchand, Neal did. Maybe you should look it up.

Why should Orpik have to fight for a clean hit? He didn't cheap shot anyone.

This makes me want to puke. We should roll this into the "retaliation" thread just so everybody can get a good look at what the "code" has become. Hit a guy clean, and some mongoloid comes along and cripples you just for the sake of being a tough guy. Ugh, how can people even pretend that there's some sort of honor in NHL fighting these days?

So I just moved to Washington D.C. for a job and have found it difficult to watch games here. That is, until I found out that former Red Wing Brian "Bugsy" Watson has a hockey bar in Alexandria VA. The place is awesome, decked out in hockey regalia and full of Detroit faithful. If any of you should ever find yourself in the D.C. area and are looking for a game. I highly recommend checking it out.

I wish the refs didn't suck and/or hate the Red Wings so bad. How are we ever supposed to overcome such shoddy officiating? Oh wait, thanx guys!

I was having technical difficulties and didn't see Philly's fourth and fifth goal, what the hell happened?

Babs drives me f*cking crazy! I'm glad that Weiss is up with Franzen and Nyquist...but, if Weiss is the obvious choice to replace Zetterberg in this scenario then he clearly shouldn't be on the fourth line to begin with. If Weiss get's injured in practice today would he use Emmerton on the fourth line? Of course not, Emmerton doesn't have the skill to (even temporarily) center the first line, Weiss does, so get him off the fourth line (and away from the two millstones he's got hanging around his neck).

One could say the same about Quincey, Smith, and Lashoff, and none of them score as much as Kindl does. It's not like he's the only shaky d-man we've got, and it's not like he's the worst of them defensively either. But he scores more than they do, which is what he gets paid to do, and in that regard he's not missing the mark.

Quincey won't be re-signed, because why would he? Smith will be around for a while because he's young, and because he's getting better, and the Wings always give guys time to grow on defense. Finally, in the right package I would certainly move Kindl (or any of them really) but I disagree that Kindl has been bad. He's got 10 pts. a third of the way through the season. During which time most of our offense has struggled to score. If he ended the season with 30 pts. would anybody really be mad? He's not paid to be good defensively.