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Word is Pronger has a hearing today (from nhl radio), though the reason has not been stated... hmmm, maybe they have finally decided to address his haircut?

Why wouldn't the NHL have access to that video though??? Sure, the public might not see it until much later, but I have a hard time believing it was not made available to the NHL.

Never forget Mac: Totally read that out of context... apologies. Anaheim view of the incident: http://mvn.com/nhl-ducks/2008/03/13/pronge...ersy-that-isnt/ Duck's fans are posting Pronger should sue TSN for attempting to villify him.

Holy crap -- I hadn't even seen this second video until now. It's even worse than I thought. Ok, you might be able to argue the first stomp was accidental, but the second? Can anyone watch this video and say it was not intentional?

Of course, go after him... send a message, deliver a brutal hit or even fight him. All legal in hockey. But it obviously does not pardon bringing your skate down on him. I don't care if Kesler gave Pronger a wet-willy right on the ice (I hate those)!

Campbell's statement on handing down the thirty-day suspension to Simon:

Asides from a better camera angle, I do not think this was "not as bad as Simon's stomping". Again, stomping a calf is ten times more dangerous than stomping a skate. Neither looked terribly malicious to me, but more of a "I am so annoyed with you, I'll just step on you a$$" -- but the fact is, despite your intent, that is an incredibly dangerous thing to do. Those blades are razor sharp and we have seen a few near-fatalaties from accidental cuts. The NHL came down hard on Simon and sent a message, despite there was no injury and despite that I really do not think Simon was hoping to slice of a foot or anything. Now we have almost the exact same situation and there is nothing? This is the type of incident that can lead to a Bertuzzi/Moore altercation. The league refuses to take any action so the players might. How do you get back at someone who literally tried to stomp a player?? ... I dunno, maybe someone will shank him out there in the middle of a scrum? But the point is, it could get ugly... I almost feel the league should have handed out something just to protect Pronger a bit... it's not like he is the most popular guy out there on the ice.

You could actually step on your bare skin with a skate (or knife, or whatever) and not draw a drop of blood... if there is no slashing/motion. I'd say this is a case where it was lucky that did not happen. It was a pretty up-and-down stomp, so that helped. Still incredibly dangerous though.

Ok, I was exaggerating a bit there... But the general consensus is "Kesler is a whiney b*tch" and "Good call NHL!" They are also discriminated against because they are not a canadian team. I'm curious if any of them actually knew who Pronger was before he came to Anaheim?

I was reading allducks.com -- unbelievable. The big deal is.... wait for it.... turns out Kesler may have actually been attempting to hold Pronger's leg in a scissor-lock!!! OMG! Pronger should have slit his throat from ear-to-ear for that. See if he ever tries that again!

Any chance Simon sues the NHL for his wages during the suspension based on this video? After looking at the video, I think Pronger's may have been worse.

Absolutely false. Though I am still scratching my head over why his number was retired in Colorado... after 1 1/4 seasons. Give me a break.

Happened behind the play - refs did not see it and there is no video. No penalty. I bet there is no suspension.

Remember how long it took for Fischer to develop? I think Ericksson will need even more time, especially considering he is so new to the position... but all the raw tools are there. He will best be served logging a ton o minutes in GR with regular call-ups.

It is weird. His shots have actually been finding their way to the net instead of some random pane of glass behind and he's actually been moving away from defenders instead of shooting right at them. I like it, but I feel a little dirty inside.

The big difference I notice is the announcers --> here they are joking and laughing it up while if something like this happened today you would hear: "Oh, this is a black eye for the sport of hockey." "This type pf behavior is just disgusting; I have never seen anything like this in my professional career."

I was just thinking that he will leave at the end of this season for sure, because the guy as a free agent was offered a contract from the Red Wings this past summer and passed it up to be in LA--- LA!!?? But then I remembered looking at the Kings on paper last summer and thinking they would be one of the teams to beat in the West -- very, very stacked. Great team with a good mix of youth and veterans. But it just didn't happen, obviously. So yes he turned down the Red Wings, but he turned them down for what looked a like a pretty damn good team (he didn't knowingly go to the worst team in the league just so he could be with his girlfriend). Just rambling..........

Yup, the Joe has become very tame. I am a rabid fan but the idea of spending $200 on my family for a game is too much. That said, I am always impressed with all the displaced Michiganders showing up in droves at away games... more so than any other team I bet. So -- Red Wings have a huge fanbase, great fans -- they just are not at the Joe.

There is something *different* about someone who really loses control in the "heat of the moment" like that. Three strikes of something like this and you should quite simply be out of the league. I am honestly afraid someone like Simon will kill another player out on the ice. I don't care how much therapy you go through, some people can not handle fierce competition.

Sort of strange he only had a one-year contract. Did he know LA would not be the place for him, despite family ties? Was he hoping for a breakout year and the big money?

I do wonder what crappy, low-ball offer we had for Fedorov that a 3rd round prospect trumped it? That was my biggest loss right there - that he could have been had for so cheap, and addresses a lot of our needs (and little loss if he did not pan out). Ruth is a good 3 years away from the NHL (if he ever makes it) and was pretty low on the defensive prospect depth chart for Washington.

If you take a look at assists, shots and turn overs you will quickly see Meech has been playing better than Ericksson, despite Ericksson's one goal. Ericksson made a lot of mistakes and looked lost at times. Not ready yet.

Uh, I was not critisizing your projections at all there... just giving my opinion. Anyways, I honestly feel carrying $5 million to the deadline does nothing for us. Sure, we could have afforded to sign Hossa, Fedorov and Blake at the deadline, but obviously the price in prospects and draft picks was too high for the Red Wings, who do not have a surplus of great prospects and those draft picks are close to dead last each year. Are you saying Detroit has to pay more to attract free agents??? Or are you confusing them with the Lions? Hindsight is 20/20 and I could certainly go back and say I would do this and that with this and that free agent, but that is pretty pointless. I do believe a lesson could be learned from this year though: Detroit carrying $5 million to the trade deadline is a mistake. Unless we are willing to trade away a lot of our future, it will go unused... just like it did this year. You disagree?

The Wings do not have the prospects or draft picks to make a splash at the trade deadline. This "saving cap space for the deadline" thing is for the birds. I'd like to see Holland spend up to $1 million of the cap at the beginning of next season. $1 million still allows the signing of a depth player at the trade deadline should the need arise, but for god's sake do not repeat this year's mistake. To have permission to spend to the cap and not do so is a mistake.

It is just apparent how much Detroit's offense is derived from it's defense. I'm not too worried. Lidstrom, Rafalski and Kronwall have just as much to do with our offense than they do with our defense. They are the foundation. Puck over glass is sort of a stupid penalty, thinking about it.