Bettman suspends Lidstrom, Datsyuk 1-game each

[Ms_Hockey 0]

EDIT: Ms. H knows what the fook is up!

Fixed it for you.

[PenaltyShot 96 521]

Beyond the suspensions and the last minute changes/exceptions, what it all boils down to is the fact that this was a stupid rule to make in the first place. I'm a little bit glad that this fubar happened in the rule's first application, just because it proves how utterly useless it is.

However, what makes me mad is the way Lidstrom and Datsyuk are being portrayed. Just because this damned new rule is in place this year, the media is making them the poster boys for sports figures with bad attitudes. I could maybe handle it if they were just the victims of this new rule, but to make it sound like they are selfish superstar divas who don't care about the sport and the fans is unfair to them. If a non-hockey fan reads one of these articles about the Red Wings stars "refusing" to attend ASG fan events, they are going to assume the players and league have bad character. Every year there were on average a couple players who declined to attend the ASG, and these sorts of accusations were never placed on them, why is it any different this year? Especially since Lidstrom and Datsyuk both have legitimate reasons to decline, when in the past, some players did not.

Edited January 25, 2009 by PenaltyShot 96

[egroen 384]

Those are facts and facts don't lie, I'm not making up those stat

People get on him because he was the commissioner during the lockouts? Well guess what, if you were the commissioner, there still would have been a lockout......or else you would be out of a job. The league is a business and needs to be run like a business, and not all customers are going to get what they want.

I didn't question the stats, I questioned how much of it had to do with Bettman, especially when he was not even the NBA commissioner. How often do businesses lose an entire year due to a labor dispute?

[wingschamps 0]

Theo obviously didn't pay attention last year.

Dumbass.

I'm loving the comments under the article.

[ChicksDigScars 0]

However, what makes me mad is the way Lidstrom and Datsyuk are being portrayed. Just because this damned new rule is in place this year, the media is making them the poster boys for sports figures with bad attitudes. I could maybe handle it if they were just the victims of this new rule, but to make it sound like they are selfish superstar divas who don't care about the sport and the fans is unfair to them. If a non-hockey fan reads one of these articles about the Red Wings stars "refusing" to attend ASG fan events, they are going to assume the players and league have bad character. Every year there were on average a couple players who declined to attend the ASG, and these sorts of accusations were never placed on them, why is it any different this year? Especially since Lidstrom and Datsyuk both have legitimate reasons to decline, when in the past, some players did not.

Wonder what the ratings for the All Star Farce will be in the State of Michigan? It started an hour and 40 minutes ago and I haven't even looked, once.

You know, if it were anyone else but Nick Lidstrom, MAYBE this wouldn't sound like such a petty, vindictive ruling by a dickless little man with a Napoleon complex. But it's Nick Lidstrom. Like Keith Tkachuk said, the man is all class and can do whatever the f*** he wants. Even TRYING to say that he's behaving like a spoiled brat is laughable and makes any columnist who even TRIES to insinuate such a thing, a joke.

I hope the Red Wings are so insulted by the double disrespect (the ballot stuffing AND the suspensions) that they play the rest of the season with a chip on their shoulders and kick everyone's ass. And then I want Ferret Face Bettman to have to march onto the ice at Joe Louis Arena to a cascade of boos and have to say the words, "Nicklas Lidstrom, come get the Stanley Cup.....AGAIN."

Edited January 26, 2009 by ChicksDigScars