Paul Martin's High-Sticking Penalty, Malkin Embellishment

First, I want to be clear, this was a legitimate high-sticking penalty. The thing that upsets me is the embellishment by Pittsburgh Penguins forward Evgeni Malkin. Notice, after San Jose Shark's defenseman Paul Martin's stick makes contact with Malkin, in a delayed reaction, he snaps his head back to make sure that he's drawn the penalty. That's unnecessary in my opinion.

Evgeni Malkin Gets Elbowed in the Face by Braydon Coburn

If this was the regular season, this hit might get a look by the NHL's Department of Player Safety. During the playoffs, the DPOS tends to overlook unnecessary, dirty hits like this. Unless, the player on the receiving end is injured.

All series long, the Tampa Bay Lightning have been all over the Penguins, especially Evgeni Malkin. This time, the Lightning defenseman Braydon Coburn connected with Malkin's face.  The Pens forward looked like was a bit shaken up on the play. Malkin would return to the ice.

Malkin Hurt in Bruins Game

Pittsburgh Penguins All-World forward Evgeni Malkin was hurt on this check by Chris Kelly.

HCMJ on Malkin: "With Geno, I saw the hit in the game. Then he tried to come back after that. Just couldn’t come back."
— Jason Mackey (@Mackey_Trib) March 14, 2015

Russia - Finland WC 2014, Malkin breaks Haula jaw with dirty cross-check

If you haven't seen it, this is worth a look. In the championship game of the World Championship, Russian forward Evgeni Malkin's cross-checked  Finland's Erik Haula in the face and injured him. I think this is one of the dirtiest cross-checks that I have seen this season. It was blatant, and one could make that argument that it was an attempt to injure. Uh-yeah, obviously. Malkin broke Haula's jaw with that bush league move.

According to Michael Russo of the Star and Tribune, Haula will not need surgery, that is very good news. The Russian ended up winning the game.  As you can see from the video the reffing was very suspect. 

Russo's Rants -- Some Wild news: Center Erik Haula, who left the day after the playoffs to represent Finland in the world championships, broke his jaw in the gold-medal game against Russia when he was cross-checked in the face by superstar Evgeni Malkin. No penalty was called. Haula sustained a nondisplaced fracture that will not require surgery. The injury will take three to four weeks to heal, the Wild says.

Pens to fire head coach Dan Bylsma?

#487310797 / gettyimages.com

First, I think that Dan Bylsma is a very good hockey coach. I find it puzzling that the Pens ownership is going to blame the head coach for Sidney Crosby scoring (1g-8a—9pts) in 13 Stanley Cup Playoff games. I find that troubling that the head coach is always to blame when a team loses. Bylsma did win a Stanley Cup during the 2008-09 season.

If Bylsma is fired, and he probably will be, he will get a new coaching job very quickly. Some  ownership group is going to want him to be their next head coach. I think the biggest issue is that the Penguins don't have a tough guy to protect Crosby and  Evgeni Malkin from all of the extra bravo sierra that they have had deal with on the ice. Like I mentioned earlier this week, if Wayne Gretzky had to put up with this garbage Crosby has during the Stanley Cup Playoffs, there would have been blood on the ice.

Rob Rossi, Trib Live --- Those questions already were being asked by majority co-owners Mario Lemieux and Ron Burkle and CEO David Morehouse.

Penguins ownership will consider a sweeping overhaul that could include terminating general manager Ray Shero in addition to Dan Bylsma and the members of the coaching staff, multiple sources told the Tribune-Review. Ownership specifically is concerned about a perceived lack of accountability for players, overall team toughness and unproductive drafts, the sources said.

The sources also said Penguins ownership might not want to undergo a complete front-office shakeup with only about a month before the NHL Entry Draft.

No decisions have been made, and they will not be rushed, the sources said.

Shero and Bylsma have two years remaining on their contracts. Shero signed Bylsma and top assistants Tony Granato and Todd Reirden to extensions a few days after the Penguins were swept from the conference final by Boston last June

I am not a Penguins fan, but I have been taken back by how many fans are calling for his head. This past season Bylsma lead the Penguins went 51-24-7 record and finished first in the Metropolitan Division. That's a very respectable finish and it's very hard to win in the NHL playoffs.

Pittsburgh Penguins: James Neal goal against the New York Rangers (Video)

I am not sure why New Yorks Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist was upset? After watching the video, it was obvious that Evgeni Malkin never touched the puck with his stick. Pens forward James Neal was credited with the goal.

Maple Leafs toughest test for Bruins?

Toronto Maple Leafs (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I can't believe that someone would write this article. A loss, is a loss. Every series is different. It was like the Boston Bruins were a different team after they were done playing the Leafs as well. For what ever reason.

Kevin McGran, Sports reporter -- Leaf Nation must look at how the Boston Bruins manhandled the New York Rangers and Pittsburgh Penguins and wonder what might have been . . . if only the Maple Leafs had held on to that Game 7 lead.

The Leafs, however, aren’t wondering any such thing.

“We lost,” head coach Randy Carlyle said emphatically, putting the notion to rest.

“You can look at it and hypothesize we would have had success, but that’s far from guaranteed,” added goalie Ben Scrivens. “And I’m sure if you would have asked the Rangers (about the possibility of) playing Toronto, they probably would have thought they’d have had a pretty good shot against us.

“There’s a lot of speculation. I don’t know if I would go so far as to say we would have had as much success. Obviously we have a lot of faith within our group that we can get the job done.”

In a surprising twist given the one-sided Boston-Toronto matchup the past few seasons, the Leafs had more playoff success against the Bruins than did the playoff-experienced Rangers and talent-loaded Penguins.

And figure this out: Phil Kessel’s four post-season goals vs. Boston are more than Rick Nash (2), Brad Richards (1), Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin (zeroes) combined.

What did the Leafs do that Pittsburgh should have?

Sounds like Maple Leafs are still smarting from their game seven collapse to the Boston Bruins.

More Penguins Humor

Eastern Conference Finals: If only the refs called more penalties

Boston Bruins (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I am seeing a theme emerge this morning, the non-call that led to the game winning goal in game three in overtime, the uncalled interference call on Crosby in game four.

 You would have thought that the Penguins were totally hosed in the Eastern Conference finals against the Boston Bruins. I guess the Penguins fans didn't see any of the numerous infractions that went uncalled against the Bruins that could have led to another power play in their favor.

 All that I heard after game one was Crosby whining about the officiating and how the Bruins were getting away with bloody murder. Did he see Jonathan Toews getting mugged on the ice against the Detroit Red Wings? It’s not just him.

Ken Campbell, The Hockey News -- There is not enough space in this column or any other to chronicle the litany of blown calls and shoddy work done by the supposed best officials in the world during these playoffs. But wouldn’t you like to, just once, see an important game that is officiated to the same standard as one in the regular season? And it all comes down to one of two things: Either the officials are making up their minds to be far more lax during the playoffs in the name of “letting the players decide it” or the league is mandating they change their approach. Neither one of them, quite frankly, is very appealing.

Case in point was Wednesday night in Game 3 of the Boston-Pittsburgh series. Had referees Marc Joannette and Dan O’Rourke called all the violations of the rulebook, there probably wouldn’t have been enough players to play 5-on-5 at some points in the game. Then again, had they called the fragrant fouls early, perhaps the players would not have gone through the game thinking they could get away with pretty much anything.

Instead, the two of them made it very clear that they were going to call next to nothing. Then what happened? Well, Jaromir Jagr clearly hooked Evgeni Malkin in the neutral zone and scooped the puck from him, a play that ultimately resulted in Patrice Bergeron scoring the game-winner in double overtime. Basically, Joannette and O’Rourke set the standard and the players responded to it and the game was decided in large part by a restraining foul that clearly should have been called.

Here’s my question, did Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins have the mindset that they were entitled to a Stanley Cup? It seems like the Penguins were never in this series. I almost think that the Bruins were the one team that they didn’t want to play from the start.

During the series, the Bruins took away the Penguins time and space and made it tough sledding for the Penguins offensive players. The Penguins never really seemed to make the necessary adjustments until game three and by then it was too late.

On the other side of the ice, the Bruins players got to the dirty areas to score goals and do the little things that they had to do to push their team over the top. Hockey is about making adjustments; the Boston Bruins made the adjustments and did what they had to do to win this series, the Penguins did not.

What if? What If the refs “had” called more penalties and called the games more tightly? Does anyone think that it would have really would have made much of a difference? I don’t… Both teams combined were 0-26 on the powerless play. Maybe the refs were saving us the agony of having to watch the Bruins and the Penguins suffer on the power play.

Here’s some numbers for you; “0” – here’s how it looks; Evgeni Malkin (0g-0a—0pts) -5 Sidney Crosby (0g-0a—0pts) -2 Jarome Iginla (0g-0a—0pts) -4. Tuukka Rask was the first goalie to have two shutouts in a series since Phiadelphia Flyers goalie Michael Leighton in 2010 Eastern Conference finals versus the Montreal Canadiens.

Now that the Boston Bruins have swept the Penguins, and they're going back to the Stanley Cup Finals - for a second time in three seasons - we can finally give the Bruins their due.

(Video) Game Four: final minute and a half of Bruins and Penguins and then the Handshake

Wow! What a mad finish to the end of a great game. This was a hard nosed series. Hard fought series. The Boston Bruins are going back to the Stanley Cup Finals for the second time in three years.

Against the Bruins in the ECF, Evgeni Malkin (0g-0a—0pts) -5 Sidney Crosby (0g-0a—0pts) -2 Jarome Iginla (0g-0a—0pts) -4
— Eric J. Burton (@goon48) June 8, 2013

Tuuka Rask goes 4-0, 0.44, .986 in the series.
— Mike McMahon (@MikeMcMahonCHN) June 8, 2013

Incredible to think that the Bruins never trailed the Penguins at any point in their sweep. #domination #hockeynight
— MoniKa Platek (@MonikaPlatek) June 8, 2013

More Chara and Crosby Humor....

Pick a caption...  Mine, I must break you Crosby...

(Video) Boston Bruins goals against Penguins

Boston Bruins forward David Krejci scored two goals in game one against the Pittsburgh Penguins and now leads the NHL in points during the Stanley Cup Playoffs. This was Krejci's first goal of the game and also the  first scored in the series, by either team. True to form, Krejci has been big during the 2013 Stanley Cup Playoffs and leads all players in scoring with (7g-12a—19pts).



This was Krejci's second goal of the game.


Fellow line mate Nathan Horton is also having a good 2013 Stanley Cup Playoffs as well and is tied for fourth with Sidney Crosby (6g-9a—15pts). This was the goal by Horton that sent the Penguins fans to the exits.

Last night, the Top line was big for the Boston Bruins; Krejci had (2g-0a—2pts) and Horton had a three point night for the Bruins (1g-2a—3pts).

Marchand boards James Neal: Dust up at the end of the period, Malkin vs Bergeron fight

I thought that Boston Bruins forward Brad Marchand was lucky to remain in the game after his hit on Penguins forward James Neal. This could have been a five minute major. There could be two suspensions coming from this game, when it's all said and done. Probably not though. This was not a good hit, dangerous hit. Marchand is a repeat offender as well.

Video of dust up at the end of the period included as well.

Malkin and Bergeron fighting is why the playoffs are rad. Also, I like fighting.
— Ryan Kennedy (@THNRyanKennedy) June 2, 2013

Sorry but Crosby has no right to go after Rask, Crosby cut into Rask's path and gave him a bit of an elbow
— Erik Erlendsson (@erlendssonTBO) June 2, 2013

Marchand takes a bad penalty. Not worse than Cooke but still a stupid penalty, only gets 2 minutes, luckily #DailyLive
— Bruins Daily (@BruinsDaily) June 2, 2013

The Pens to make push for Parise and Suter

Apparently, the Pens have cleared a bunch of cap space and are going to take a serious run at signing Ryan Suter and Zach Parise.

This is an emerging story line that I first heard  on XM Home Ice today. 

I really hope that this does not come to fruition - the Pens with Evgeni Malkin, Zach Parise, Sidney Crosby and Ryan Suter would be the nucleus of a pretty solid hockey team. Adding Parise would give the Pens a legitimate shot at winning a Stanley Cup.

Rob Rossi, Tribune-Review Sports --- Their plan is to pursue the two top players on the market, Nashville defenseman Ryan Suter and New Jersey winger Zach Parise, sources told the Tribune-Review this weekend at the NHL Entry Draft.

Team sources said Crosby soon will sign a new contract in the range of 10 to 13 years with an average annual salary of between $9 million and $10 million and will try to recruit Parise, his longtime friend, and Suter.

The Penguins’ pitch will focus on the standard set by Crosby with his current deal, which is set to expire after the upcoming season. Crosby took less than market value — for him, the league maximum (20 percent of the salary cap) — to provide the Penguins room to build a championship nucleus.

That worked once, with the Penguins winning the Stanley Cup in 2009. They will try to make it work again by using Crosby’s willingness not to max out on salary as a benchmark for future contracts.

In the wake of the Jordan Staal trade Friday, the Penguins have identified their nucleus as Crosby, reigning league MVP and scoring champ Evgeni Malkin, goalie Marc-Andre Fleury, winger James Neal and defenseman Kris Letang.

The State of the NHL Officiating Corps.

English: NHL Commisioner Gary Bettman in 2007. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I have to be the guy to agree with a lot of what has been said regarding officiating but I also am going to be the guy to pose a theory to the masses for public consumption.

And, yeah, it is going to sound a lot like an apology for Brenden Shanahan but it isn't.

Brenden Shanahan is in a position no one wants to have but everyone has an opinion of what should be done by a person in such a position.  However, he's not done a good job or even an ok job with the position.  He has been inconsistent and unsatisfying in his performance.  It's just presented all glitzy with videos and bulleted lists.  But looking at it from afar, there's a lot that doesn't add up.

Look at the inconsistency and the double standards of Shanahan's actions doesn't appear to me that the decisions regarding whether or not to suspend players was actually being made by Shanahan.  His actions this year seemed almost identical to that of Colin Campbell's Wheel of Justice system.  There were a few times during Campbell's administration of this position and during Shanahan's administration where they went against the trend (such as suspending Ovechkin and perhaps you can argue that it was the case for Giroux and Backstrom but I'll get to that shortly) but that may only be to prevent appearance to the players that they are playing favors.

Add onto the fact that no matter what, when a fanbase sees their guys suspended for a hit they get mad and point out flaws in previous decisions and also when a fanbase sees their guys get hit and even injured they point to it as justification for the hitting player to get pummeled with the book.

It becomes a mess.

So where does Shanahan come in?  He comes in having never served in such a level of authority.  He only comes in as a face.  People know who he is.  That's about it.  So, when thrust into the limelight like this you have to sink or swim.  And here's where it gets interesting:

Can you improve the quality of a weakness when the primary weakness are the people above you on the chain of command?

Can Shanahan even suspend players like Malkin even if he wants to?  There is no secret that Bettman and Campbell's love children are Malkin, Crosby, and the Pittsburgh Penguins (to a certain extent).  Bettman has certain placed the emphasis on the PR marking campaign on the shoulders of Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin by extension.  So would it do for the NHL to see either suspended?  I'm sure not.  So, I doubt Campbell would allow Shanahan to suspend either player (even though Crosby really has yet to administer an illegal or even questionable hit). 

As for Giroux and Backstrom being exceptions, I argue not so much.  I truly don't think that anyone other than Malkin and Crosby are truly exempt from suspension if the situation is right. 

But in the end, all it comes down to is Shanahan's bosses.  They truly do seem to be calling the shots and simply use Shanahan's player profile to deflect all the criticism away from Campbell and onto Shanahan.  Therefore, if it does fail (which it appears that it is so) Bettman can step forward and say "Look, we listened to you and we tried your idea and it failed.  Campbell knows what he's doing and we're just going to go back to the old way and try to hammer out some of the troubles through traditional channels."  Bettman still doesn't look bad that way and the only harm done is Shanahan's image being obliterated.  Shanahan never was a Crosby type so why would Bettman care. 

If this season was a first run test and next year is the real test for Shanahan, I'm betting he fails again because I don't think Shanahan truly has the autonomy necessary for Shanahan to live up to what he talks about.  He can suspend anyone with impunity (provided the situation and circumstances warrant it). 

I claim that Shanahan is nothing more than lipstick on a pig when it comes to the NHL Front Office.  It looks nice and he tries hard but in the end, you're not going to improve on officiating and Shanahan's job description with the likes of Gary Bettman and Colin Campbell still in positions of power.

What says you?

Malkin's hat trick...

You have to wonder if Finnish goalie Petri Vehanen is going to see Evgeni Malkin in his nightmares, talk about being lit up like a pinball machine. Malkin and the Russian beat the defending champion Finland 6-2 to advance to the World Championship final against the winner of the Czech Republic and Slovakia game.

I think by watching the video you can see why Malkin is one of the best forward'sin the world right now. With one game remaining, Malkin is tied for second in scoring with Henrik Zetterberg with 15 points.

Related articles

• Malkin tears Finland apart

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NHL Suspends Claude Giroux for one game

The NHL Department of Player Safety has finally gotten it right, although late to the party the NHL has finally suspended a "star" player for committing a dirty hit to the head. Flyers forward Claude Giroux will miss the all important game five against the New Jersey Devils for his hit to the head on Dainius Zubrus.

I know that there are many Philadelphia Flyers fans that are upset with Shanahan's ruling, I don't blame them because Brendan Shanahan has been very inconsistent, but the fact remains that this was an illegal hit and a violation of Rule 48. Don't break the rules if you don't want to get suspended, it's that simple.

The fact that Flyers fans are defending this dirty hit is puzzling, especially since Giroux missed four games for a concussion earlier in the season. Since the Flyers forward Claude Giroux is not an "Uber Star" like Evgeni Malkin, Alexander Ovechkin the NHL used this instance to made an example out of Giroux for his hit on .

Here is an example of some of the anger that has been focused on Brendan Shanahan.

Related articles

• NHL suspends Claude Giroux for Game 5
• Claude Giroux Suspended One Game for Hit on Dainius Zubrus in Game 4 of Flyers-Devils Series (Video)
• Flyers' Giroux suspended one game for high hit
• Philadelphia Flyers' Claude Giroux suspended for Game 5 for hit on Dainius Zubrus
• Flyers' Claude Giroux suspended 1 game for head hit

Flyers Grossman out with concussion, no hearing for Malkin?

Pro Hockey Talk

As you saw from the video in the previous post; a sneaky elbow by Penguins super star forward Evgeni Malkin on the Flyers defenseman Nicklas Grossman has landed the Flyers defenseman on the shelf and he will be unable to play in tonight's game five between the Flyers and Penguins. What puzzles me is that the NHL has been silent on the hit and it doesn’t appear that there is going to be a supplemental disciplinary hearing for the Malkin.

PITTSBURGH (AP) - Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Nicklas Grossman will miss Friday night's Game 5 against Pittsburgh with a concussion. Grossman sustained the injury in the second period of a 10-3 loss in Game 4 on Wednesday and could be out indefinitely.

Grossman did not travel with the team to Pittsburgh. Erik Gustafsson will take Grossman's spot in the lineup. The Flyers are already without Marc-Andre Bourdon, who went down with an upper body injury in Game 1.

The Penguins will be without defenseman Paul Martin, who will miss his second straight game with an undisclosed injury. Pittsburgh coach Dan Bylsma says Martin's ice time will be split between Simon Despres and Brian Strait.

It’s event’s like this that make people stop and scratch their heads. Why isn’t Malkin going to have a hearing on this hit? There seems to be one set of rules for super stars and one set of rules for tough guys and goons.

As you can see by the picture on the right and the video that this was a blatant and sneaky vicious and unnecessary elbow by Malkin to the head of Grossman.

Flyers beat writer Sam Carchidi from Philly.com when asked about the Malkin hit said, “what I'm told, the league did not investigate.”

Nicklas Grossman injured by Malkin Elbow.

Check out this sneaky elbow by Penguins forward Evgeni Malking on the Flyers defenseman Nicklas Grossman was injured in this collision with Evgeni Malkin. Don't count on Penguins forward Evgeni Malkin getting any form of supplemental discipline from the NHL. It's not going to happen, NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman is a big fan of the Penguins and there is no way that the NHL is going to suspend the Penguins bread and butter winner.

Per Flyers CSN Reporter Tim Pannacio, it appears that Grossman is out with a concussion.

Nicklas Grossmann, who took two shots to the head in Game 4 -- one from Tyler Kennedy and a sneaky elbow from Evgeni Malkin -- did not practice on Thursday. He has a suspected concussion, though the Flyers won't confirm the injury.

"I'm not sure whether he's in or out of the lineup," Matt Carle said. "I'm not sure what his injury is. Gross is a good stay at home defenseman. It's no secret he is back there for us and brings a physical presence."

So much for cleaning up the head shots in the NHL eh? If this had been Matt Cooke or Raffi Torres we would be ready to throw them out of the NHL for the rest of their lives but since a star players performed this questionable sneaky elbow, nothing is going to happen to Malkin. 

Related articles

• Going Down Fighting or Quitting?
• Pittsburgh Staves Off Elimination with Emphatic, 10-3 Win
• Penguins Hammer Flyers In Game 4, 10-3
• Flyers Push Penguins to the Brink
• Penguins Hammer Flyers In Game 4, 10-3

Don Cherry gives Sidney Crosby some free advice

The conversation in question starts at about 4:27 of the video. No one questions that Sidney Crosby is an awesome hockey player, but John Tortorella is right, Crosby and Evgeni Malkin are two of the biggest whiners in the NHL. There is more than enough evidence to prove that point.

Ok! Granted, it's no mystery that Torts was upset with Penguins defenseman Brooks Orpik for his dirty, bush-league knee on knee hit on Rangers forward Derek Stephan, last Thursday night. I think Tortorella is right, can you imagine if that hit had been put on Malkin or Crosby, there would be a lot of complaining and whining coming out of the Penguins locker room and you would expect a maximum fine and or suspension handed out by the NHL.

Frankly, I would like to see Don Cherry give the Sedin twins in Vancouver the same lectures as well as these two super stars spend a lot of time diving, flailing and flopping around on the ice a throwing their heads back whenever they're hit.

ProSportsDaily Staff ---- Don Cherry joined a growing number of hockey personalities who are publicly taking issue with Sidney Crosby.

After New York Rangers coach John Tortorella labeled Crosby a whiner, Cherry spoke out against the Pittsburgh Penguins captain during his weekly "Coach's Corner" segment on CBC's Hockey Night in Canada.

"A long time ago when Crosby was coming out, I tried to warn him (to) 'quit diving, quit whining.' (Then) I was the worst guy in the world ... and all I was trying to do was help him," Cherry said.

"All I said was stop whining, stop diving and snapping the head back."

Related articles

• Don Cherry tells superstar Sidney Crosby to 'stop whining' (thestar.com)
• Don Cherry offers Sidney Crosby advice (cbc.ca)
• Don Cherry criticizes Crosby's hockey playing style (ctv.ca)
• Cherry criticizes Crosby, says Penguins star has to change style of play (thehockeynews.com)
• Don Cherry the latest to blast Sidney Crosby (theglobeandmail.com)