toby91_ca

I wouldn't call it a nomination, he's on the ballot, along with 100 or so other guys. The reason he is on there is simple, we won the cup 2 years ago (and had awesome numbers during those playoffs). Do I think he deserves to make the all star team this year....NO, do I think he will make the team this year....NO. I don't care if he's on the ballot or not, he won't make the team, so what's the big deal? There is no question he has s*** the bed pretty big early in the season, but he is 8-0-1 in his last 9 games with a 1.64GAA and .944SV%. This is why you have guys like Toews and Keith high up there in votes as well, bit of a spill over from the cup winning season last year....which again, I don't have a problem with. Why would you select an allstar team based on how guys do 20 games into a season? What about the 40+ games they played the year before after last year's all star game, shouldnt' that count for something? But it wasn't because no Wings made the team.

http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=342527 EDIT: sorry about the ALL CAPS in the title, I just cut and pasted from the article....it was easier. Media can blow everything out of proportion. I can understand Boudreau being pissed and I can understand that it probably shouldn't have been happening within earshot of the press conference, but come on, it's not really that big of a deal. If it were Kovalchuk that had just been blown out, maybe I'd make a bigger deal out of it, because he seems like more of a "me" guy first than Ovechkin. I think Ovechkin cares a lot about winning and losing, so that's why I don't think it's that big of a deal. They were probably laughing about how much money Kovalchuk is getting paid to do next to nothing anyway.

Like I said, I can understand the coach being pissed and ripping into him privately, but it's a bit much for the media to blow it up like they have.

Philly puts 7 on the board....and is losing

He smashed his stick over the crossbar and then threw the broken stick across the ice. You expect no call to be made there?

Very, very unlikely. Betmman is a lawyer, and an extremely good one at that. He'll know enough to know that if he writes something in an email, expect it to last forever and go to everyone, so I suspect he's very careful about what he sends via email.

No, that's not how it works. The list is put together, largely based on how players played since last year's all star game up to now. You do see some funny inclusions and some questionable omissions because they want representation from all teams. If you think about it, if a guy plays on a crappy team, he's not going to look that good compared to a guy that plays on a great team, he might look better by benefiting from playing with better players. Anyway, the fans will vote the top 6 and the remaining players will be selected from the other 650 or so players in the league. This list of 100 has nothing really to do with who will ultimately get selected.

They don't just get to pick anyone, they can only choose from the pool of 42 (40 I guess if you eliminate himself and the other captain) that were already selected as allstars.

True, I guess you can't say that it was a completely invalid question, since there was a "small" change there, but you can certainly say it was a stupid question and a demonstration of the lack of any real interest and investment into the sport.

This isn't about team announcers, but it is kinda related. I was driving home last night (live in Toronto) and was listening to the Fan 590 and they were playing a quick interview with Bryan McCabe (Florida feed, questions from Florida media). Anyway, one person wanted to ask him his thoughts on the new all star game selection process. She says "what do you think about what the GMs decided yesterday, only 6 players will be picked by the fans, the rest by hockey operations." Come on!!! Seriously??? This persons JOB is to know the sport and what goes on and she completely has no clue on the change they have proposed with the allstar game. The fans only pick the starting line up today, the rest by hockey operations, that is not changing and that's the not the story everyone is talking about.

Possibly, but doubtful. I heard the 2 captains would be voted on by the group of 42 players selected to play in the game, those 2 will then draft their teams. It's an interesting concept, but not all that different for the fans. All the players in the game are selected the same way, the only difference is what side each player will be playing on. Seems like more fun for the players vs. anything else. Not sure why that would be all that more interesting to the fans than simply East vs. West.

Problem is that he is grossly unqualified.

It shouldn't be debatable to anyone that watched the video. I'd rephrase is to say "whether it was purely east west or slightly diagonal is debatable." Thornton practicly skated along the red line.

If that is the case, I think both Murph and Holik need to educate themselves on the rule:

I agree, there isn't a signficant difference in this his vs. the Cooke hit. There is a difference in that the Cooke hit was more clearly targetting the head and he started from behind, but he was in front of Savard before he turned to make that hit. The Cooke hit was worse, but I wouldn't call the Thornton hit completely different. Edit - I should clarify that I agree to an extent. Blindside isn't really about where you are looking. Example, if you have your head down and a guy comes north south and hits you straight on, you won't see it, but it's not a blind side. I think blindside assumes that you are looking in the direction you are skating and if you wouldn't see the hit coming, or only see it at the last minute, that's blindside. In the Thornton case, Perron definately should have saw it if his head was up, but he only would have saw it at the last minute becuase Thornton came from the side = blindside hit. Everyone also has to remember that blindside hits are not illegal, it's only those that target the head.

That's true, but it wasn't a north south hit, not even close. FYI, a disciplenary hearing has been scheduled with Mr. Thornton.

Has it gotten to the point that people on this form dislike the guy so much logic thought can not be processed when it comes to him? For the record, Niskanen is BIGGER than Crosby. Crosby picks his spots and doesn't fight guys with more fighting experience? Come on, Crosby isn't a fighter, why would he pick fights with fighters. People are acting as it Crosby singles out the weakest player in every game and goes out and picks a fight with them. He's been in 4 or 5 fights in his career and has fought guys in and around his size.....is there really anything wrong with that? There is because it's Crosby of course, I must be an idiot, that's the one variable I did not consider.

I don't think it's an elbow, but I also don't think that matters. I was clearly a headshot and it was clearly an east to west hit. Not sure how people are seeing it as North/South. I think the rule is going to cause wrong calls being made by officials, but let's be honest, we've have super slow mo video here and we're still arguing about it. All the officials have is real time, full speed and not necessarily the best angle. But when it comes down to it, maybe it just causes bad calls, some growing pains, but I doubt it will take hitting out of the game....unless you start seeing guys get suspended when they really shouldn't. In this case, I think he should be suspended. This isn't a matter of being tough, we're talking about guys heads here. And it's not a matter of potentially ending someone's career, it's much worse than that, the players quality of life is on the line. If the player has his head down (yes, Perron did), that's his own fault, but in this case, Thornton also came from the side, which is the no no now, which I agree with.

Gotta feel bad for the guy, up until this season, he hadn't missed a single game due to injury. He gets that freak laceration on his foot in the playoffs that requires a few surgeries over the summer due to infection (otherwise, there is no reason why he wouldn't have been ready to go for the start of training camp). Just when he just about ready to make his debut this season, he breaks his hand or something in practice and is gone another 6 weeks. That's gotta be the worst luck for a guy who has seemed to have the best luck around as far as injuries go....maybe he was due?

With that in mind, I don't know how someone could see this as a clean hit, it is very clearly boarding. I'd have no problem with such a hit if it was at centre ice, but when a guy is in a vulnerable position like that, you need to let up. Someone could get seriously injured on a hit like that.

Just to compound the mental lapse, the Richard you originally thought was being referenced died over 10 years ago.

I think it was interference, or at a minimum, incidental contact that would have waived off the goal, but not resulted in a penalty. That said, the goalie took a dive, like all goalies do. More often than not, they get the call, in this case, he didn't. Refs make bad goalie interference calls all the time and also miss some....like this one. The Leafs even admitted that it should have been called.

Aren't all hits from behind "blindside" hits? A blindside hit isn't the problem, it's blindside hits that target the head. Hitting a player in the middle of the numbers in open ice is fine. I don't know why they can't just have it like anything else and call it a minor penalty if it looks like a head shot and call a major if it is clearly obvious. Any further punishment if a true headshot can be dealt with through suspensions after the fact. That way, when refs get it wrong, which I'm fine with because it will be very difficult to assess, which is clear as day since you still have people arguing over slow mo replays. That way, if the ref got it wrong, all you have is a 2 min minor, not 5 and a game.

If he hadn't have taken the shot, the hit probably would have been more shoulder to chest, rather than to the back as you suggest. Not that it matters though, there is nothing wrong with hitting someone from behind in open ice, it's a problem when you hit them from behind into the boards. Video isn't good enough, but the first one looked like it could have been an elbow.

I think a couple guys might not have noticed that they are replying to posts that were made 5 years ago.