Time for the NHL to Embarass the Divers

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s/t Pro hockey talk... I really like the idea of exposing and publically humiliating the divers in the NHL. I am all in on that idea. In fact, let's have a wall of shame and expose the frauds weekly that cheapen the game of hockey.


I have a great idea. Let's have an end of the season dishonor award for the frauds that get caught diving and embellishing the most. I would suppose the players union won't let this happen, but if you don't want to get called out and publically humiliated, stop flopping and diving all over the ice. It's really that simple.

Dan Rosen - NHL.com -- The players in the session, including Ottawa Senators center Jason Spezza, Vancouver Canucks defenseman Kevin Bieksa and Toronto Maple Leafs defenseman John-Michael Liles, led an impassioned discussion on enforcing the diving/embellishment rule (Rule 64.1), [Colin] Campbell told NHL.com. He said the players want to distribute a list of divers around the League so it can be posted in all 30 dressing rooms and be delivered to the on-ice officials.

“They want to get [the list] out there,” Campbell said. “They want the player to be caught, whether it’s on the ice by the referee or by us on video. They are all tired of diving. The object is to make them stop eventually and, by doing that, they can get it out there around the League, embarrass them. The referees will know it, too, so the divers don’t get the benefit of the doubt.”

According to Elliott Freedman of SportsNet.ca the NHL seems to be moving away from exposing the divers and frauds. Again, diving to draw a penalty is cheating and poor sportsmanship.

The first example the NHL showed in its diving video was Tomas Plekanec’s head-snap in the Eastern Conference Final. The league wasn’t so sure about publicly naming those warned or fined, but the players pressed for it. Montreal’s centre is going to be closely watched at the start of the season

Related articles

• Enforcing the NHL's New Diving Rule

Shawn Thornton vs Tony Gallagher

If you haven't seen this video it's funnier than heck. Talk about being PWND. Shawn Thornton has a point too, he had like six or seven guys on him after Alex Burrows chopped/speared him with his stick.

Here's NESN's Michael Hurley's take on the exchange. This is some good stuff, nice thing about Thornton he held his own and put Gallagher in his place.

he Province columnist Tony Gallagher from Vancouver. The writer was explaining to the host some of the finer points of fighting, and he claimed that to try to fight a player in the same period he's already fought is not OK, that it crosses some sort of line. In this case, the player was Dale Weise, who had already fought Nathan Horton but looked ready to dance with Thornton later that period. Once Thornton dropped his gloves, though, Weise backed out.

Little did Gallagher know that Thornton was waiting in the wings, ready to be the third man in, so to speak.

"You think it was easier fighting seven guys for a minute than fighting one guy?" Thornton said with his opening jab.

He was, of course, referring to the pile of Canucks players that toppled him in the first period on Saturday, including one player getting in on the action from the bench. One of the players in that 5- or 6-on-1 was Weise, and once Thornton had the chance to square off with him face-to-face, the B's tough guy was ready and willing. Weise? Not so much. He backed away and offered a wry smile as Thornton was escorted to the penalty box. That smirk quickly disappeared, though, when Weise himself was ushered to the sin bin for unsportsmanlike conduct.

Related articles

• Watch Shawn Thornton own a Vancouver columnist (prohockeytalk.nbcsports.com)
• Thornton On Canucks: 'I Got Jumped By Seven Guys' (boston.cbslocal.com)
• Toucher & Rich: Thornton Vs. Vancouver Writer (boston.cbslocal.com)

Canucks wait the winner of Bruins and Bolts...

What a horrible way to end a terrific game. I think this game was an instant classic, unfortunately the Vancouver Canucks won... Don't get me wrong the best team won. Honestly, I really thought the San Jose Sharks were going to win tonight and return the series to San Jose, but it wasn't to be. I don't think we can tag the Canucks as a team of destiny, just yet. There is a lot of hockey left.

On the Vancouver Canucks, they are the most unlikeable hockey team in the NHL next to the "Les Habitants," personally, I can't stand them, they're extremely cocky, they run their mouths continuously, and some hockey fans and media pundits have already penciled them in as the Stanley Cup Champions.You shouldn't, they haven't won nothing yet. If the Canucks want to be Stanley Cup Champions they are going to have to earn Lord Stanley's Cup, because whoever wins the Eastern Conference final is going to bring it, both Tampa Bay and Boston are going to give the Canucks everything they can handle.


That being said, the Vancouver Canucks are a pretty  very good hockey team, they have decent defensive corps; just think, Keith Ballard is their 7th defenseman, that's how deep they are. They Canucks are deep up front and the Sedin Twins are very dangerous and you must be aware where they are on the ice at all times. 


Jumbo Joe one tough guy.

It was revealed after the game tonight that San Jose Forward Joe Thornton was playing with a separated shoulder in game five. Ouch.... I can't imagine playing a contact sport like hockey with a separated shoulders, Joe Thornton must have a high pain threshold to be able to play with that injury.

Hacks, agitators and goons; men of dishonor...

There has been a discussion over on Sioux Sports and Hockey Wilderness about players that you hate to play against because they play on the edge, are seen as agitators or even players that are cheap and commit disgusting acts. I have also seen the argument where you’d love to have these players on your team but don’t like them when they play against your team. That’s up for debate and usually seems to be a never ending discussion that takes place from year to year.

I would not cheer for the Boston Bruins or the Minnesota Wild if they signed a hack like Matt Cooke, Todd Bertuzzi or Daniel Carcillo, they would no longer be my favorite teams. There is no way. I would also hope that my favorite team would not challenge my loyalties by signing a questionable player like this. There is too many good players out there to even entertain signing one of these morons.

here are some phrases that get tossed around in sports debate so often that we come to simply over look them. It goes beyond cliche to simply being a part of the vernacular, to being generally accepted as fact. These phrases are sometimes over simplified reaction to a complicated topic, or they are used to simply brush off the opinion of someone you really don't have an argument against.

One of those phrases is, "You would love him if he were on your team." this is almost always in response to the outcry over a player such as Derek Boogaard, Patrik Kaleta, Todd Bertuzzi, Jarkko Ruttu, or in the case of this post, Matt Cooke.

Make the jump and let's discuss, shall we. You really don't have anything better to do, right?

All of this stems from a link that came across Twitter via @Tepherguy. In the upcoming Hockey News issue is a cover story about the top 12 free agents, and Matt Cooke appears to be at the top of that list. The cover of the issue even reads "Matt Cooke is Hockey's Biggest $*&#!... and You'd Love Him if he Played for Your Team."

This phrase is pervasive. It is said about every pest in the NHL, and it is said about every guy who has ever been suspended. Even friend of the blog Greg Wyshynski has said it about Daniel Carcillo.[Read the whole article here]

The players name changes but their brutal gutless cheap acts remain the same. I am sure you can come up with a list of your own, my list includes thugs, players/hacks like Daniel Carcillo, Todd Bertuzzi, Scott Hartnell, Alex Burroughs, Matt Cooke, just to name a few. They're thugs players that are all cut from the same thread. These players lack honor ussualy hide behind a half shield and is no limit to the cheap acts they will commit.

Also, I would include players from the past like Uber Hacks Ulfie "the Turtle" Samuelsson and Claude "the Fraud" Lemieux. Eventually these players get what is coming to them, the hockey code demands it, live by the sword die by the sword. You might even cheer when you see it happen. Matt Cooke got what was coming to him in these three incidents [Kane becomes an instant hero] and [Duncan Keith gives it back to Cooke] and finally [Dustin Brown smokes Matt Cooke]. Lastly, how many people in Boston wanted to give Tie Domi a medal after he smoked Ulfie Samelsson.