haroldsnepsts

Leftwinger beat me to it. OT goals is one thing, but gamewinners doesn't mean what it sounds like.

It's a very different situation when you're dealing with a union that represents elite entertainers. Hockey is entertainment and fans pay to go see the best in the world play against one another. It's not the same as most other unions where the union employee is much easier to replace with a scab. There's not a lot of guys out there like Datsyuk, Giroux, Stamkos, Thomas, etc. And I think it's safe to say fans won't pay as much to pay a bunch of AHL or college players, so the business model is affected. The Screen Actors Guild is probably a more appropriate union. Studios sure as hell don't want to pay them as much as they do, but the reality is the big names put people in the seats. Here's a pretty good take on it, from ESPN of all places. http://espn.go.com/nhl/story/_/id/7434633/nhlpa-refusal-approve-new-alignment-first-collective-bargaining-salvo The union made huge concessions in the new CBA, and it does seem like since then instead of the league treating them like a partner, it's attitude is "you're our ***** now." The thing Bettman apparently forgets is that fans boo his weasel ass every time he's in public. They cheer for the players, not the organization of the NHL. The bolded section is the key point. Even if the player's union has no legal right to engage in the discussion, as a practical matter and heading into a new CBA it's idiotic not to include the ******* players in talks about realigning their teams!

It is definitely not all Bettman's fault. I just wanted to point out that it's not the NHLPA's fault either. The league didn't involve them until very late in the game, so now they're in the position of holding things up. It's just s***ty all around. From day one this should've been a discussion with the owners, league, AND PLAYERS. It's not rocket science to figure out that you need to include the people fans actually pay to go see. If there is another lockout though, I put almost all the blame on Bettman. Like I said before, his divisive condescending tone makes negotiations hostile from the get go. It'd be nice to have a commissioner who didn't view the players union as the enemy.

Possibly. But Bettman and the NHL made this move much more likely by not involving the NHLPA in the process until now. A while back in an interview about the realignment, Bettman was openly condescending towards the union and about how they'll check with them but don't really have to be consulted. The league went ahead with this process and by not involving the NHLPA from the start put them in the position of having to put the brakes on this if they didn't agree. Now they're painting the union as the bad guy for delaying things, which is idiotic. If there's a massive reorganization like that, doesn't it seem like they should have involved the people who actually play the hockey games BEFORE they decided to go ahead with the plan? The posturing has definitely begun, but it's not like it's only come from the NHLPA. Bettman has nothing but open disdain for the players union and sets a very divisive tone. If there is another lockout, he should absolutely be removed as commissioner. I understand he is representing the franchise owners but ultimately he represents the game, and sometimes his job means he needs to save a few idiot billionaires from themselves. A big part of his job is and should be diplomacy, which is where Bettman is the most lacking.

Franzen has really only had a couple good regular seasons and three great playoffs, and is injury prone. Perry has put up 54, 72, 76 and 98 point seasons. He basically had the Ducks strapped to his back the second half of last year. I'd be surprised if he were a flash in the pan. Don't get me wrong, I definitely agree it's certainly not a no-brainer. It would be a very bold trade. But it's a pretty interesting idea.

Franzen has 16 goals and 17 assists in 39 games on a very good Wings team. Perry has 15 goals and 15 assists in 38 games on a pretty awful Ducks team. I think saying Franzen is having a better year is a stretch. Selanne would be perfect, but there's no way he's coming here. Sounds like he wants to end his career with the Ducks, has a NMC, and seems to have a healthy dislike for Detroit. The Ducks were dangling Ryan earlier in the season, so maybe they'll start shopping him again.

You can't figure out why the Red Wings could benefit from having a guy who scored 50 goals last season (Franzens best is 34), is good for 70+ points even if he doesn't score 50 again (Franzens best is 59 points), is a big body not afraid to go to the net, performs well in the playoffs, and is a pain in the ass to play against? I hate Perry, but he would make the Wings a better team. I know that for Mule it's all about the playoffs, and I'm not saying I'd swap him for Perry. It's easy to sit back and crap all over ideas people suggest, but this one is not as insane as you make it out to be. You're right. They were all much bigger douchebags than Perry. Chelios and Samuellsson were much dirtier players than anything Perry has ever done. Perry doesn't even reach the level of Pronger. And Bert's not a dirty player overall, but he did end a player's career. You can also add to the list Dino Ciccarelli, and probably a few others I'm not thinking of right now. Perry's a d-bag because most of his antics are stuff like what Maltby used to do. Take little cheapshots and hide behind the ref. But he's an extremely talented player who has a ton of upside. Getzlaf I wouldn't be so excited about. I've liked elements of his play and he's often a Wings killer, but from what I've heard overall from Ducks fans, they're unhappy with his effort on a nightly basis.

Not really.

You're undermining your argument a little by confusing Subban with another black player who isn't even on the same team. Simmonds is a winger who plays for the Flyers. Subban is a defenseman who plays for Montreal. Agreed. Maybe it had some racial overtones, but it's certainly debatable. If anything this could been handled with just a warning to Barch about how this may have sounded. It certainly didn't warrant a suspension.

His suspension doesn't start until he's deemed healthy. http://espn.go.com/chicago/nhl/story/_/id/7425667/chicago-blackhawks-dan-carcillo-gets-7-games-third-ban-year It's his third suspension of the season. what a dirtbag.

Not enough. He was suspended just last month, and this one wasn't even a hockey play. This was a chicken wing to a guy's noggin. Want to protect player's heads? Suspend players 10 games for stuff like this. They're among the easiest to get out of the game because it's not like a borderline hit. A harsh suspension for this isn't going to keep a guy from throwing a hit, but it might keep him from throwing up his elbow at a guys' head.

I've been annoyed by the Wings lack of response when teams plays tough or dirty against them, but it still hasn't reached Canucks level. Until Kronwall bites someone's finger, Lidstrom gets poked with a stick and falls over like he's shot, and Datsyuk takes several punches to the face without swinging back, the Wings are not as gutless as the Nucks. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TEh53OWz0jU Sedin takes repeated jabs to the face, and all he does is get angry at the ref about it, as Marchand laughs at him.

DiPietro is on IR (big shock) so it would take more than repeated nut kicks at this point.

From what I could find online after poking around, which sounds like how I remember it at the time, is that Primeau was bitching about not getting an assist on a goal from the game the night before. So as a joke at practice someone shot the puck into the net and they had someone announce "Assist to Keith Primeau" on the PA. He was pissed and started going after people and Probert obliged.

That's the first thing I thought of. Primeau and Probert. I can't remember what started it, Probie making fun of Primeau about a goal or something? But overall I think the article is wrong in how often they make it sound like it happens, at least at the NHL level. Team chemistry aside, no GM wants their players injuring one another. Usually when a fight breaks out it's because the team has pretty big problems. And it's no surprise Subban was involved. He seems like a very immature player still.

Bad game for Jimmy. I'm glad the offense could bail him out, since he's bailed the team out a lot so far this season. They need to get Conklin between the pipes and give Jimmy a much needed rest. If Conks still doesn't look up to the job then they need to go get someone. As nice as it is for Jimmy to be piling up the wins, the Wings are going to need him for the playoffs.

Carcillo being Carcillo. He floats the puck into the corner and then goes right after Gilbert, shoving him into the boards, never attempting to retrieve or make any play on the puck. Suspension coming, hopefully a biggie. Moves like this are why I'd never want Carcillo on the Wings.

It's probably cumulative. Shanny should've gotten him earlier, but when he makes a borderline hit/headshot in three games in a row, it's good that the league gave him a timeout before he succeeded in braining somebody.

On one the head was the principal point of contact with no body contact at all. The other was a check to the body that caught the head with a shoulder. As I said in my earlier post, the NHL explicitly stated that a shoulder hit to the head can be legal as long as it isn't the principal point of contact. If you ignore the teams involved and just look at the hits, they're not similar at all. As Shanny says in the video "What no player should expect any longer is his head will be picked and be the principal point of contact, whether intentionally, or recklessly." You can try to say it's because it was a star player on the Jackman hit, but you're completely ignoring the biggest difference in the hits, which is PRINCIPAL POINT OF CONTACT.

About time. It only took what, the third dirty hit in three games before they finally suspended this headhunter?

More than that, just be excited and celebrate the goal. The salutes and pointing your stick like a gun and the like are all premeditated moves the player does to call attention to himself. I'd take a Patrick Eaves spontaneous excitement kind of celebration any day over that.

Disrespectful to who? Those who serve in the military? probably. As for Jagr, who cares. I've always thought it was a stupid post goal celebration. Good on Rupp for mocking him for it.

The replays don't back that up. In Shanny's explanation he clearly says and shows on the replay that Abby's body and head didn't make any significant change in direction or speed just before the hit. Cole may not have had the opportunity to see the replay before he spoke and at the speed at which it happens I can't expect him to know exactly how it played out. You're also omitting the part where Shanny says a player has to expect a good hard body check. Then goes on to say they should not have to expect a deliberate a reckless blow to the head. With the direction Cole is moving, it's the textbook hit the league is trying to remove. If you're going to try a risky hit like that, the responsibility is on the player making the hit to contact the body. I think the suspension was a little long given Shanny's current standard (at the beginning of the season this would've been in line), but his explanation as to why Cole was suspended is pretty clear. As for a shoulder to the head being okay as long as you get the body, actually, that is the case, especially on north-south hits. The head can't just be targeted or the principal point of contact. NHL rules video on illegal checks to the head About 2:53 into the video when they start talking about legal hits, they specifically show a legal shoulder check to the head. In the video shown it looks like the elbow contacts the head as well, but it's tucked and the player's head was down, much like Datsyuk's hit, which is why it was legal. Datsyuk's hit looked worse than it was because his shoulder did contact Jackman's head, and then Jackman acted like a little ***** about it.

Yes but the hit on Abby the head was the principal (and pretty much only) point of contact. I think that's the biggest difference resulting in the suspension. Though honestly 3 games seems a bit stiff. That's more like the standard Shanny was using in the preseason and early season. I was expecting 1-2 games.

Honestly, this. The site is going through another phase low on good hockey talk, unfortunately. Add to that the cheerleaders who only want positive posts about the team and the trolls, and it's just not as interesting of a community here lately.