Ducks respond on hit.....

[Kp-Wings 3]

Because once again, you're insulting a visiting fan from another team.

While I am perfectly aware of the fact that you're not the only one doing it in this thread and that, at times, such a response is "necessary" I've seen you do it multiple times throughout the playoffs. Enough is enough.

I don't have it "in" for fans of other teams. I was nice to the San Jose fans, because they didn't give me a reason to make comments like I have been to Ducks fans. It's not because their fans of other teams. It's because of the things they say, and the horrible logic they have behind their posts.

[GiantRobot 0]

Here's a nice article

FOX SPORTS

If the National Hockey League is serious about cutting down on head-hunting  and you can make a good case that it isn't  then a one-game suspension for Anaheim's Chris Pronger is simply not enough.

Pronger attempted to perform an on-ice lobotomy on Detroit's Tomas Holmstrom by slamming his head into the glass with a cross-check to the neck. Is it mere coincidence that Holmstrom just happens to be the key to power-play success for the Red Wings, and that by the time the infraction occurred, the game was out of reach?

Ducks general manager Brian Burke, who used to be the NHL's disciplinarian before the job was handed over to somebody who could do it capably, said that he conceded Pronger delivered a head shot, but added that he "can't and won't" agree that there should have been a suspension. He reached this conclusion, he said, because while a head shot had been delivered, "I don't think that's how it started out."

So let's see how Burke's logic works. If it starts as a bar fight and ends up as mass murder, Burke thinks it should still be viewed as nothing more than a mere punch-up. No wonder NHL jurisprudence had its curious moments in his day.

Colin Campbell, who does the job these days, isn't perfect. Who is? But he comes a lot closer to the mark than his predecessor.

In fact, the biggest problem Campbell faces is the type of precedent that was established in Burke's day.

Look at it this way. If you get a speeding ticket and go to court, you won't be very happy if the judge says, "I've decided to crack down on speeding. Normally, I'd issue a fine, but I've decided you should go to jail for two years." In the past, shots like the one Pronger delivered have typically earned something in the range of the one-game suspension that he received.

But until the NHL's competition committee makes it clear that it has had enough of hits of this nature, then there's little that Campbell can do. He's bound by precedent.

When the subject of head shots was raised as a result of a flurry of incidents at the end of the regular season, commissioner Gary Bettman pointed out that it's a very difficult aspect to control.

If you totally eliminate hits to the head, tall players like Pronger will never be able to deliver a clean shoulder check to shorter players like Chris Drury.

But, as usual, Bettman was looking at it like the lawyer that he is. Lawyers see head shots as head shots. Period. End of discussion  or at least, end of definition.

But hockey people know that there are degrees of head shots. There's a big difference between a solid open-ice shoulder check that hits a player who had his head down and a cross check that drives a player's forehead into the glass.

All this might sound like a condemnation of Pronger and that's not meant to be the case. He's a superb player and an asset to the game. His hit on Holmstrom, while an infraction, is no different than hundreds that have gone before and, in comparison to some, quite mild.

But this hit just happens to be the most recent and the most visible  unless of course, you're trying to watch the playoffs in the United States where Bettman's genius has made the broadcasts virtually inaccessible.

Even in most of Anaheim, you can't watch the Ducks in the playoffs. What a wonderful way to promote a league. But we digress.

Back to the competition committee which has done an excellent job of returning the game to the skilled players. It established enforcement standards, and the on-ice officials, under the supervision of Stephen Walkom, have stuck to their guns and enforced those interpretations.

Now, this summer, the competition committee has to find a way to deal with gratuitous head shots and apply the same strict standards of enforcement that apply to hooking and holding.

It won't be easy because, as noted above, there are degrees of head shots. But there are certain guidelines that can be established, and it shouldn't be impossible to find a way to say that if you drive a defenseless player's head into the glass from behind, you're going to get suspended for at least five games. Or maybe 10, depending on what the committee decides.

Once the standards have been established, you send a memo to every team before training camp.

Then, as has been the case in the past with matters like this, you make every captain return a signed copy. Then, no one can say he wasn't expecting a crackdown. If you didn't know it was coming, blame your captain, not the league.

This much is clear. Most hockey fans like the game to be tough. Most players like the game to be tough. Every effort must be made to keep it that way.

But there have been far too many indications that certain potentially dangerous infractions are becoming increasingly commonplace. The NHL does not need a Darryl Stingley ... or worse.

It's not that the Pronger incident is any worse than many others. But that, in itself, is the problem.

The league has to seriously crack down on hits of this nature before it finds itself trying to rationalize a tragedy.

[WingNut199 0]

I don't think that's what he meant, but w/e. There's no point in putting in my thoughts because I get told it's biased and BS.

Duckette, I apolagize on behalf of all the ******* people on this forum that don't give you the respect you deserve.. you are one of the few educated Duck hockey fans and whether I disagree with your posts or not I always respect them because it is clear you know what you're talking about, not just talking out of you ***

So, Thank YOu

[Mudvayneowns91 0]

yeah but you cant compare Schneider and Pronger. No offense to matt but hes got nothing on Pronger and i say that as an unbiased opinion. I actually really like Matt back from his days when he was a Duck killer on the Queens

I may be a bit of a homer and am definitely a big Schneids fan, but I would rather have Matt on the PP than Pronger. I realize Pronger's shot isn't chopped liver, but Matt has a freakin rocket.

[detroitdan 0]

the Ducks response shouldn't surprise anyone...Brian Burke has to be the biggest whiner in all of hockey...anyone else remember the press conference he had during the Wings-Canucks series in 2002? It was unforgettable...he went off on the way the refs were calling the series and he got a fine for it too if I remember correctly...he'll have a lot more to whine about on Sunday night after his team is eliminated

[Yemack 1]

I love seeing B.B's face turning red and dejected when we hand his team solid ass kicking time and time again. I think he should just say 'ahhh f*ck it, it's em Red Wings, I give up, here you go take the series and please don't mess with my temper'

joking aside he is pretty good at what he does, although i don't like his style. He is a lawyer and that should say alot about his ability to BS

[donfishmaster 62]

The Fox article about sums it up...

AND Carlyle's still a big greasy ******...

[ZAMBONI 0]

The Fox article about sums it up...

AND Carlyle's still a big greasy ******...

Babcocks hair must have rubbed off on him. And what is with that spit in the side of babcocks mouth. Get rid of that already Mike.

[donfishmaster 62]

Babcocks hair must have rubbed off on him. And what is with that spit in the side of babcocks mouth. Get rid of that already Mike.

IS NOT, IS NOT! Nyah, nyah, nyah, nyah, nyah.

Good Lord, you're more fun to screw with than a stuttering auctioneer with a hair-lip!

Edited May 18, 2007 by donfishmaster

[EuroTwinLove40 0]

Babcocks hair must have rubbed off on him. And what is with that spit in the side of babcocks mouth. Get rid of that already Mike.

Not quite sure what you mean about the spit thing, but the fact that every game Babs wears a blue shirt with a tie that doesn't match sincerely drives me crazy! But he's a great coach, so i guess i can forgive him

[Normy P 0]

The thing is though, OUR players don't get caught in those situations. You won't see the Red Wings gooning people because we are having a bad game. Niedermayer should have stepped in before the obviously ticked Pronger took his cheap shot. It was obvious that Pronger was irritated by Holmstrom and a good leader takes him aside and gives him a pep talk! I have no respect for Pronger any longer!

[RedRockit 0]

I haven't seen this posted on the forum yet, think it's a good article:

http://www.thehockeynews.com/en/news/Detai...asp?xml=h05179A

Veterans wonder if NHL players still hold the same respect for each other

ANAHEIM (CP) - Veteran Anaheim Ducks defenceman Sean O'Donnell remembers a time when if one team got a big lead in an NHL game, they eased off the hitting and just tried to get through the night without anyone getting hurt.

Not any more. "What I'm amazed at is a team can be up 6-0 and some of the players on the team that is up are still running guys and doing late hits," O'Donnell said shaking his head prior to the Ducks facing the Detroit Red Wings Thursday in Game 4 of the NHL Western Conference final.

"It's gotten bad in the last couple of years. . . . Head shots seem to be more common and late hits."

Detroit coach Mike Babcock raised the issue of players respecting each other Tuesday night when Red Wing forward Tomas Holmstrom needed 13 stitches to close a gash on his forehead. Holmstrom was slammed into the boards on a tag-team hit from the Ducks' Rob Niedermayer and Chris Pronger.

"I don't care how much is on the line at any time, you have to look after the other player," Babcock said at the time. "When he doesn't see you and you decide you're going to bury his head off the turn buckle, that's a decision you make."

Niedermayer received a five-minute boarding major and game misconduct for the hit. Pronger wasn't called for a penalty but on Wednesday the league announced he would be suspended for Thursday's game.

Brian Burke, the Ducks general manager, disagreed with the suspension. He argued Pronger's hit was legal and there was no intent to injure.

But Burke agreed some of the old standards players lived by seemed to have disappeared.

"I think there are instances where players don't show enough respect," he said.

On Thursday, Babcock seemed to back off a bit on his earlier comments.

"I think the respect among the players is at an all-time high," he said.

"Sometimes we react in a game in a way that, if you had a ton of time to think about it, that might not have been the best result. But I think the respect factor is there."

Detroit's Chris Chelios admits he's been no angel during his long career. But he's seen a shift in how the game has been played. He blames part of the trouble on the instigator rule.

"From what I remember there used to be an unwritten rule the tough guys fought the tough guys and the skill players played against each other," he said.

"The rules have changed that. It's like the judicial system where it protects the criminals."

O'Donnell said there are few players in the league who seem to take delight in delivering cheap shots.

"We all know when someone is vulnerable, if the bench door is open or they are in a awkward spot," he said. "There are certain guys that their eyes light up when they notice a guy is vulnerable.

"I don't agree with that at all."

Anaheim's Teemu Selanne said today's hockey players are bigger, faster, stronger.

"It's a very intense game and some bad things happen," he said. "It's a tough game but you have to be smart."

Selanne said respect among players has to be bred in the junior leagues.

"It has to start from junior hockey," he said. "The coaches have a lot of responsibilities in the lower league to tell them they can't hit from behind and the hits to the head are dangerous."

Anaheim's Ryan Getzlaf, who is playing in his second NHL season, believes there is respect among the younger players.

"Nobody wants to see anybody get hurt," he said. "If you're hitting a guy from behind you will hold up a little bit."

Ducks forward Brad May was suspended for three games earlier in the playoffs for punching Minnesota Wild defenceman Kim Johnsson in the back of the head.

May said hockey has turned more into a business and players are trying to protect their livelihoods at any cost.

"They (the league) have teams playing each other eight times trying to get these rivalries going," he said.

"Guys have livelihoods and it's a much larger business than it used to be so there is much more incentive to be in the moment."

[motorcitykid 42]

The thing is though, OUR players don't get caught in those situations. You won't see the Red Wings gooning people because we are having a bad game. Niedermayer should have stepped in before the obviously ticked Pronger took his cheap shot. It was obvious that Pronger was irritated by Holmstrom and a good leader takes him aside and gives him a pep talk! I have no respect for Pronger any longer!

Well said.

I'm so very proud of the type of players our organization signs, trades or drafts for.