Big Brawl in Buffalo (vs Ottawa)

[Guest GordieSid&Ted]

An apology is supposed to mean something? He was probably just trying to avoid a fine!

NN- this isnt the first time we've went back and forth on a fighting issue. I definitely feel you're anti-fighting, so obviously any time its showcased like this you arent going to like it no matter what.

And what if you dont respond AT ALL? Wouldnt that be, as you like to say, rather chickens***?

Do you attack the Wings in a similar fashion when they dont do ANYTHING?

Lou, i've been reading all your posts and I agree with you that you have to respond. However, NN has it right that there is a correct way and a wrong way to do so.

The correct way would've been for Peters to wait for the third period and challenge Neil to a fight which he would've been obligated to accept anyway. The correct way would've been for any of the Sabres, especially a guy like Mair to take a run at a Spezza or Alfredsson. Neil hits Drury so you go and hit Alfredsson. It's not Neil hits Drury so we go out and instigate fights with non-fighters. It isn't like Neil dropped his mits and KO'd drury. It was a hit. You answer it with a hit to their stars and a fight to Neil. You don't answer it by fighting Spezza. If you think that's the correct response then I think you are sadly mistaken my friend. The Sabres could've and should've taken runs at the Sens stars all night and let Peters get his opportunity to hold Neil personally accountable whenever the opportunity presented itself. Beating up Spezza because Drury got hit?? That's not the code. No way, no how.

[haroldsnepsts 4,826]

Lou, i've been reading all your posts and I agree with you that you have to respond. However, NN has it right that there is a correct way and a wrong way to do so.

The correct way would've been for Peters to wait for the third period and challenge Neil to a fight which he would've been obligated to accept anyway. The correct way would've been for any of the Sabres, especially a guy like Mair to take a run at a Spezza or Alfredsson. Neil hits Drury so you go and hit Alfredsson. It's not Neil hits Drury so we go out and instigate fights with non-fighters. It isn't like Neil dropped his mits and KO'd drury. It was a hit. You answer it with a hit to their stars and a fight to Neil. You don't answer it by fighting Spezza. If you think that's the correct response then I think you are sadly mistaken my friend. The Sabres could've and should've taken runs at the Sens stars all night and let Peters get his opportunity to hold Neil personally accountable whenever the opportunity presented itself. Beating up Spezza because Drury got hit?? That's not the code. No way, no how.

Well said Gordie.

[Guest GordieSid&Ted]

Dirty hit by Neil. It should have been a minor penalty, and as much as I hate Melrose, I agreed with what he said last night. Murray should have known that something was going to be done in response, and taken his skill players off the ice. Sure, Ruff could have thrown out Peters and Mair later on too, but you can't take out a star player and not expect some kind of answer for it. Buffalo did the right thing by sticking up for Drury. They could have tried to injure one of the Ottawa players, but didn't. Mair had ahold of Spezza, and both Comrie and Volchenkov skated over and got involved in that. They both could have gotten penalties for being a 3rd man in, even though it wasn't really a fight. If you're already tied up with one guy, you don't expect 2 other players to come over and try to jump you.

I loved seeing that brawl as a hockey fan, and should be interesting to see if anything happens tomorrow night. Hopefully no one will get injured during the game though.

WOW. I guess you missed the part where Mair drilled Spezza in the side of the face with a bare-knuckle punch. In case you missed that that happened before any of the Sens jumped in. I love how you say the Sabres could have tried to injure the Sens players but didn't. Like that makes what they did ok. Mair could've KO'd Spezza. Let's say that that happened. Would Neil knocking Drury out with a hit be the same as Mair knocking Spezza out with a punch to the face??? I don't think so.

[ladybugblue 0]

I really wanted to avoid posting on this subject as I am a Sens fan...but here is my take. What Neil did was his job. He is supposed to hit their top players when an opportunity arises, maybe it was late and a bit high, but the officials and the NHL have not agreed. Can't take it back now so it is done IMO.

Now for the stuff that happened after that i.e., Spezza, Comrie and Heatley expected to fight their guys the next shift AFTER Neil already fought I think it was okay to a certain extent since no one really got hurt and it wasn't like there was an intent to injure. Even Peters going after Emery, while not ideal since Emery just fought and had a disadvantage due to the equipment, no injuries resulted and that was it.

As for Ruff and his antics and Mair apologizing. I heard Mair apologizing to Heatley had nothing to do with who he was fighting with but what he said to Heatley on the ice. I am guess it had something to do with the Snyder incident. Again, hearsay but someone posted on another board that Buffalo news indicated it had to due with something said to him and not the fight itself.

As for Ruff, he can complain and whine all he wants about the hit and what not. BUT if he complains about what may result tonight or that Neil should have been suspended he should just be quiet. He complains so much about everything and I know he is frustrated with all of the injuries but they happen to all of the really good teams. When you are the top team in the league all of teams will target your best players. This happened to Ottawa last year and we had a ton of injuries right before the playoffs. It is just how it works as others teams will not let up on them because they are good and they shouldn't. The world is not against the Sabres just that other teams want to win as well and will do anything to take them down.

END RANT

Hope tonights game is a good one.

Edited February 24, 2007 by ladybugblue

[Lou_Siffer 1]

Lou, i've been reading all your posts and I agree with you that you have to respond. However, NN has it right that there is a correct way and a wrong way to do so.

The correct way would've been for Peters to wait for the third period and challenge Neil to a fight which he would've been obligated to accept anyway. The correct way would've been for any of the Sabres, especially a guy like Mair to take a run at a Spezza or Alfredsson. Neil hits Drury so you go and hit Alfredsson. It's not Neil hits Drury so we go out and instigate fights with non-fighters. It isn't like Neil dropped his mits and KO'd drury. It was a hit. You answer it with a hit to their stars and a fight to Neil. You don't answer it by fighting Spezza. If you think that's the correct response then I think you are sadly mistaken my friend. The Sabres could've and should've taken runs at the Sens stars all night and let Peters get his opportunity to hold Neil personally accountable whenever the opportunity presented itself. Beating up Spezza because Drury got hit?? That's not the code. No way, no how.

But it wasnt just a hit Gordie, i dont think theres any question that if you're sitting on Buffalo's bench...you would see it as a dirty blow to your star by an opposing tough guy. This was not "just another hit". No, Neil didnt drop his gloves with Drury...however, isnt there actually a better chance of someone getting injured as a result of a dirty hit than in a fight? So in that respect, the two scenarios are not that far apart. And to Buffalo's credit, Mair (a somewhat comparable player to Neil) is the guy who went after Spezza and not Peters. What if you cant get any good runs on Alfreddson, do you go out of way and make it a dirty blow? Because you know eventually, someone would go that route. I just think its better to respond right away by throwing out your toughs...sends the message better. As others have said, thats just too bad on Murray's part he had those guys out there. He shouldve expected it.

[BlueMonk 102]

I'm really surprised Murray put those guys on the ice at that point. He should know better than that. Buffalo did have last line change in this game, but he really put his star players in a tough situation.

[Guest GordieSid&Ted]

But it wasnt just a hit Gordie, i dont think theres any question that if you're sitting on Buffalo's bench...you would see it as a dirty blow to your star by an opposing tough guy. This was not "just another hit". No, Neil didnt drop his gloves with Drury...however, isnt there actually a better chance of someone getting injured as a result of a dirty hit than in a fight? So in that respect, the two scenarios are not that far apart. And to Buffalo's credit, Mair (a somewhat comparable player to Neil) is the guy who went after Spezza and not Peters. What if you cant get any good runs on Alfreddson, do you go out of way and make it a dirty blow? Because you know eventually, someone would go that route. I just think its better to respond right away by throwing out your toughs...sends the message better. As others have said, thats just too bad on Murray's part he had those guys out there. He shouldve expected it.

It's jut not right. We'll have to disagree there. But you say yourself that maybe the Sabres would go out of their way to make it a dirty blow. Well, so what? If as you say, the sabres felt the Neil hit was a dirty blow, then an eye for an eye. That' my point right there. You run our guy, we run your guy. You beat up our star, we'll beat up your star. It really isn't that complicated.

TSN has an brief clip with Rob Ray discussing the events. Wow, like I didn't think he was a knucklehead already. That was about the most biased, homerism i've ever seen. He goes so far as to say Neil didn't have to hit Drury that hard. WTF? He says the hit is dirty, its late and that Ruff sending his guys out to beat up the Sens stars is ok. What's funny is he goes on this rant about how Neil crossed the line and if you are going to be that kind of player you have to expect that your personally are going to receive retribution. He then goes on to say that Heatley and Spetz had to suffer the retribution because of what Neil did and he think that's ok? Talk about contradicting yourself. So who is supposed to receive the retribution? Neil or Spetz and Heatley? Ray is a ******* dolt. Ahh, whatever, we all like to see some chippiness and a rivalry develop but we're all friends here so we'll just agree to disagree. Personally, I won't ever view a hit on somebody equating to a fight against a non-related party as being justice. You run us, we run you. Your tough guy picks a fight with a non fighter, our tough guy picks a fight with your non-fighter. It's very, very black and white to me.

[johnnyoski 0]

I wish CBC would show this game tonight instead of Toronto or Montreal.

[russianswede919293 95]

Here is my take on it. The hit was borderline. Has been deemed legal multiple times this year, though I do feel it should be illegal. The Sabres response of sending their goons after Ottawa's best players was just as bad if not worse than the hit and follows up on typical Buffalo Sabres style. I recall being at a Sabres Wings game in Buffalo where we were winning 6-1 and hearing the fans yell PUT OUT THE GOONS while guys like Fedorov were on the ice, in response they did put the goons out. THey haven't changed at all. If they wanted to settle the score they go after Neil or another fighter I'm okay with that but sending Mair, Peters, (2 guys that should be in the AHL in my opinion) after both Heatly AND Spezza shows less class than Neil's hit on Drury.

[esteef 2,679]

What's funny is he goes on this rant about how Neil crossed the line and if you are going to be that kind of player you have to expect that your personally are going to receive retribution. He then goes on to say that Heatley and Spetz had to suffer the retribution because of what Neil did and he think that's ok? Talk about contradicting yourself. So who is supposed to receive the retribution? Neil or Spetz and Heatley? Ray is a ******* dolt.

I watched the same thing and I think his point was that Murray was stupid in putting his stars out there IMMEDIATELY after all this went down. Maybe should've put his third or fourth line out until he was sure things had calmed down. That's all...

Oh and the hit on Drury was high and cheap. Neil knows it, and he probably wasn't surprised at all by Buffalo's reaction.

esteef

[evilmrt 636]

So the League fines Ruff for playing good ol' rough and tumble hockey. The excitement and interest generated by the brawl was just too much for the NHL, so they said "Hey, whats with all the new interest? Whats he think this is...Wings Vs. Avs in the 90s? Damn that Ruff...lets fine him $10,000."

And so our hero Gary Bettman went to bed and slept like a baby, confident in his ability to eternally keep the NHL america's 4th pro league.

[norrisnick 1]

An apology is supposed to mean something? He was probably just trying to avoid a fine!

NN- this isnt the first time we've went back and forth on a fighting issue. I definitely feel you're anti-fighting, so obviously any time its showcased like this you arent going to like it no matter what.

And what if you dont respond AT ALL? Wouldnt that be, as you like to say, rather chickens***?

Do you attack the Wings in a similar fashion when they dont do ANYTHING?

Why would he get fined if he did nothing wrong?

I'm anti goonery and pointless fighting. I like a good fight as much as anyone, but fighting for fighting's sake (see Norton) or a team blowing its stack and lashing out at anyone in reach (Sabres here, Blues from a couple years ago) I don't see anything redeeming in that. I like that Stafford (was it Stafford?) went right after Neil. But the following shift was bulls***. If anything more needed to be done, Peters knew where to find Chris later in the game (or a following game).

Depends on what the intial act is. Clean hit? Hit them back. Cheap hit? Hit them back, maybe fight the hitter. Etc... The Wings really haven't been subject to many blatant cheapshots that I can recall. Why throw a fit over a normal hit? It's ridiculous.

[OsGOD 3]

So is everyone ready for round 2?

[SouthernWingsFan 854]

http://msn.foxsports.com/nhl/story/6501498

Buffalo coach Lindy Ruff fined $10,000 for sending out tough guys/goons on the shift after all the ruckus happened.

[ladybugblue 0]

I just heard on Team1200 radio that CBC will now be showing this game Nationally on CBC. So for those that want to catch this game and you are close enough to the border to get CBC you might be able to catch this game.

[Michigansportsfan 0]

Not here, showing Toronto/Philly. WTG CBC.

[wingslogo19 281]

Not here, showing Toronto/Philly. WTG CBC.

same here too and im in canada on the west coast it sucks the big one

[BlueMonk 102]

My CBC feed is Toronto-Philadelphia, so I'm watching on Center Ice.

[ladybugblue 0]

My CBC feed is Toronto-Philadelphia, so I'm watching on Center Ice.

Sorry guys, I guess they were wrong on the radio.

[FinWing 26]

myp2p.eu has a SopCast link for the game, just watching it. Mair just took a cheap run at Spezza, almost led to the first fight.

[ladybugblue 0]

Two big fights so far...Peters and McGratton score was 1-1. The Sens scored three more goals and now it is even more chippy. Neil and Mair just fought score is 4-1 Sens.