RW77 Rant: All Star Games, Head Shots, Physicality in Hockey and Crosby

Ok, it's been quite a while since I've had a good rant to get the blood boiling and commenters telling me how wrong I am/have a personal vendetta/etc.

So, here we go.

All Star Games: Who needs them anyways?

I was watching the AHL All Star game noticing, like the ECHL, that they're just as completely disorganized in their media coverage as the NHL as I was never quite able to find an up to date roster on who was actually on the teams. During the broadcast, they didn't seem to care about updating the player movements or rotation as well. They waxed poetic about the days of yore and bubbled nonsensically on how awesome the AHL is almost to the same effect that the NHL commentators had during the NHL All Star game. Nothing like watching meaningless hockey, showcasing a lot of stickhandling skills and the commentators not even caring provided no one scored. Instead, we watched a hockey game going on in the background of a Ron Francis interview. Whoopdedoo. I was shocked that the commentators even knew who scored at the end of the interview... or maybe the goal ended the interview. I wonder if no one scored for the rest of the second period, would the interview gone on the entire time? HEH. The NHL wants us to believe that this is not a meaningless game despite no points being awarded nor any advantage to either side winning. Yup. Keep dreaming, Bettman you pathetic loser.

Oh, and it was amazing to listen to the AHL people talk up their league. They talked about how the AHLers were every bit as good as the NHLers. Oh my goodness, that was choke on the soft drink laughing good! Do you know what you call the best AHLers? NHL players. There is no such thing as a player who is as good as the average NHL player that plays in the AHL. The AHL is a developmental pro league. Somewhere where the NHL sends players that aren't ready for the NHL yet but snatches them up when they are. Get over yourselves.

To wrap up this portion, I'll say this: The NHL All Stars Skills Competition is good. The Young Guns or Young Stars game is good. The All Star Game is a joke. Be that as it may, the NHL All Star game is still less of a joke than the Pro Bowl. As bad as the MLB All Star Game is, at least MLB is trying to find ways to make it meaningful.

Anyways, Physicality and the reason for this post. (I warned you this was a rant, right?)... During one of the intermissions, they interviewed Brian Burke about the new NHL Rule Changes. He made right to the contact to the head rule and what he said was awesome.

To paraphrase (as I can't seem to find the interview nor can I find a transcript), he said that physical play is an integral part of the sport of hockey. He favored the new head contact rule provided that's as far as it goes. He said that, though no one likes it, injuries happen in a physical sport like hockey. It's the job of the coaches and GMs to put players on the ice who can play the game right and play it safely and the role of the NHL and its officials to enforce the rules and punish improper or unsafe play.

I agree 100%. Physical play is a vital part of the game. Don't believe me? Watch a men's hockey game and then watch a women's game. Both are hockey. Both can be fun, but when you watch a hockey player deliver a great hip check and then get called 2 minutes for "checking" and realize that you are watching a young lady skating to the penalty box and wonder why you're wasting your time. Now, I am a staunch supporter of women's hockey being changed to allow checking as I believe that women can do everything just like men can... but that's a different rant.

Then he talked about Sidney Crosby's concussion. He basically said, you can have the identical hit Crosby got from Dave Steckel on ANY other NHL player and it wouldn't garner the media attention that it is getting. You know what? He's RIGHT THE EFF ON!

The media attention on Crosby's injury is INSANE. People rail me here on why I'm so anti-Crosby and this is exactly it! The media could give a flying fart about ANYONE provided that person getting injured isn't Sidney Crosby. Sure, some players (like Sean Avery, Daniel Carcillo, etc.) garner their share of dislike... but why would I want them injured? Would Sean Avery garner the same disdain if he were injured the same as Crosby is?

Look, I'm not belittling the fact that Crosby got injured. I dislike Crosby, obviously, but I don't think injury is the answer. I would rather he played his entire career injury free but that's not possible. However, I don't think we should sacrifice an integral part of the game just to protect him. Sidney isn't an idiot. He knows damn well that Hockey is a physical game. People get hit...hard. Injury is a potential every time he steps onto the ice.

The truth is that the league's media is set up to be just a circus surrounding Crosby, the Penguins, and Ovechkin (in that order). Everyone else is just supporting cast members. And, like a broken record, I'll say this isn't necessarily Crosby's fault. Sure, he whines to the media on occasion, but I can understand that. He's simply playing to the media's adoration of him. The NHL uses him as a money maker and he certainly obliges their every whim. And I admit that his ability is pretty much epic.