Colin Campbell feels the Pen's Pain

The NHL front office is not happy that their linesmen blew a pretty obvious call last night. I suppose that means that the NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman is probably worried that the face of the NHL, Sidney Crosby's team will get eliminated in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The Flyers can expect the games to be called closer from here on out.

TORONTO - Colin Campbell feels the pain of the Pittsburgh Penguins.

The NHL's senior executive vice-president of hockey operations acknowledged Thursday that linesman Tony Sericolo erred in not whistling the play dead prior to Danny Briere's first goal in the opening game of the Penguins-Flyers series.

"There's no other way to explain it but a missed call," Campbell told The Canadian Press in an interview. "We're as upset as Pittsburgh almost. It's a mistake."

Briere scored Philadelphia's first goal on Wednesday night after being sent in on a breakaway by teammate Brayden Schenn. The long pass came immediately after a neutral zone turnover and replays showed that Briere was a couple feet offside.

First off lets be clear, the refs blew this call, it's pretty obvious even to the untrained eye. I am also going to agree with the Penguins head coach. ''That's not why we [Penguins] lost the game,'' coach Dan Bylsma said immediately afterward. The Penguins lost the game because they stopped playing after going up by three goals.

Daniel Briere goal - offsides

The Penguins announcer and the Pens fans aren't very happy about Flyers forward Danny Briere as you can see by the video he was clearly off-sides. It's a true fact, the video evidence proves that point.

Danny Briere was off-sides and he was in fact over the blue line before the puck crossed said blue line. That being said, the Pens lost the game because they stopped moving their feet and the Flyers keep clawing away and chipped away at the Penguins 3 goal lead and scored three more goals. The Pittsburgh Penguins had no answer for the Flyers tonight.

Related articles

• Penguins Prepare for Battle with Familiar Foe (insidehockey.com)
• Pens-Flyers Rivalry Heats Up in Likely Playoff Preview (insidehockey.com)
• Flyers rough up the Pens (ndgoon.blogspot.com)

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)

Flyers rough up the Pens

Thomas Vanek with a good bounce

Check out this weird goal by former Gopher and current Buffalo Sabre Thomas Vanek. Talk about a gift goal, the Penguins attempt to clear the puck out of the zone, the puck bounces off a stanchion and right on the stick of Vanek who shots the puck past Brent Johnson.

You got to love Rick Generett  and his call of the Buffalo Sabre's goals. 

Visa Hockey Love Hurts

A person sent me this in an email today and I found this commercial to be very funny. Watching your favorite team either not make the playoffs or lose in the playoffs is tough to handle and sometimes it takes a few days to get over the sting of losing.

As a fan of the NHL's Boston Bruins, I had this same feeling for a very long time until they won it all last season.  Enjoy the video.

Malkin hit on Boychuck

The powers that be in the NHL gives us lip service on how they want to take these types of dirty and unnecesarry hits out of the game of hockey.

In fact the powers that be want to take these types of hits out of all levels of hockey, but then the officials let a super star player off of the hook by only giving them a two minute minor.

I guess it's okay to make these types of dirty and dangerous hits that if your star player like Evgeni Malkin. It would appear that you're not going to the get the five minute major and the game misconduct, if you're a star player like Malkin.

After the game, the head coach of the Boston Bruins Claude Julien didn't seem to like the Malkin hit on defenseman Johnny Boychuk.

"My opinion doesn't matter," Julien said. "We'll have to wait to see what happens from that. But it was Malkin that hit, right? It wasn't [Matt] Cooke? It was Malkin. We'll see. The league will have to look at it. It was a hit from behind. They're the ones who make those decisions. We don't like those hits.

"My job is tough enough as it is. I don't want to do his, because his job is pretty tough as well," Julien added of NHL disciplinarian Brendan Shanahan. "I'm talking about Shanny. So we'll let Shanny do his job and I'll do mine and we'll just move on. You've just got to look at it that way. For different reasons they make their assessments and they decide. So we as coaches have to do our jobs and work with the guys we have." [NESN.COM]

More fuel for the fire is, why was Johnny Boychuk allowed to return to the game after he just got hit with a questionable check and it looked as if he was dazed after the hit. Boychuk had just returned to the Boston Bruins line up after being out a two games with a concussion. 

A "Dirty" Hit that wasn't (RW77)

Last night, I watched the Dallas vs. Pittsburgh game (unfortunately, Pittsburgh won in a shootout). However, during the game, there was a hit that got everyone talking.

I do not know how to embed but: Here is the video.

The Stars (and former Michigan star) Eric Nystrom hits Pens Defenseman Kris Letang high-ish.

Mike Milbury (aka the idiot in this post) and Jeremy Roenick (who usually is the idiot but in this case was right on) had an on air argument over this hit.

Here's the pros and cons on it being a dirty hit:

1. Pro: Nystrom makes no move to get the puck.
2. Con: If Nystrom made head contact, it was the brushing of his shoulder on Letang's chin.
3. Pro: Injury to the head occurred.
4. Con: Injury was more to the effect of the big hit rather than the shoulder.
5. Con: Main impact area is Letang's shoulder/collarbone. He got rocked and the impact alone would have knocked most guys out of the game anyways, imo.
6. Con: Letang was coming out of the corner and his head was down.
7. Con: Letang was away from the boards and his back was not turned to Nystrom at the time of impact.

In the end, Milbury ended up having a stroke on air (exaggeration) because even incidental or the brushing of the head should be a suspendable offense. Roenick correctly stated that if there is fault for the hit, it rests on Letang. Nystrom did not leave his skates nor made any distinguishable upward motion of the shoulders to attempt to headhunt.

Milbury went on to rant that hits like these should be eliminated from the game. This was NOT a head shot! It was whiplash due to the extreme and sudden change in direction of Letang's right shoulder exaggerated by the helmet hitting the ice.

This hit cannot be made illegal or the slippery slope will become a cliff.

Evgeni Malkin's goal...

This doesn't require a lot of narration but check out this sweet goal by Evgeni Malkin. This is a classic end to end rush blowing by everyone on the ice and then he fakes the Tampa Bay goalie Dwayne Roloson out of his jock.

Related articles

• Malkin's hat trick leads Pens past Lightning 8-1 (seattletimes.nwsource.com)
• Pens Pull Plug On Lightning, Win 8-1 (pittsburgh.cbslocal.com)
• Malkin hat trick powers Penguins past Lightning (theglobeandmail.com)

Brooks Orpik hammers Daniel Paille

Disclosure: I am a Boston Bruins fans, but this is an awesome hit, this is a text book legal check by former B.C. Eagle and Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Brooks Orpik on Boston Bruins forward Daniel Paille. I also like the fact that a hard hit didn't cause an immediate fight or retaliation by someone on the opposition team.

Alex Ovechkin suspended three games...

Nice to see that the NHL Senior VP Player Safety - Brendan Shanahan have the guts to suspend one of it's  star players like Alex Ovechkin for his actions on the ice, this is the right call and thank God Shanny didn't waiver and decided that Ovechkin needed to be suspended for this reckless hit.

Related articles

• Alex Ovechkin Makes Appearance, Raps In Russian Music Video (tracking.si.com)
• If he isn't named an All-Star, Ovechkin is going on vacation (prohockeytalk.nbcsports.com)
• Derek Dorsett Accuses Alex Ovechkin Of Spitting; Ovechkin Denies Everything (sbnation.com)
• You: Alexander Ovechkin Video: Washington Capitals Superstar Unleashs Rap Skills (bleacherreport.com)
• Alex Ovechkin Won't Be Bummed If He's Not An All-Star (dc.sbnation.com)

Penguins' Goon Engelland suspended for three games

NHL Senior Vice President of Player Safety Brendan Shanahan threw the book at Deryk Engelland. I think this is the right decision and yesterday I said, "In my opinion you can expect a 2-4 game suspension would be the proper call." Shanahan had no choice in this case, you can not leave your feet to check a player and hit them in the head.

NEW YORK -- Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Deryk Engelland has been suspended, without pay, for three games for an illegal check to the head of Chicago Blackhawks forward Marcus Kruger during NHL Game #488 in Pittsburgh on Tuesday, Dec. 20, the National Hockey League's Department of Player Safety announced today.

Under the terms of the Collective Bargaining Agreement, and based on his average annual salary, Engelland will forfeit $9,189.18. The money goes to the Players' Emergency Assistance Fund.

The incident occurred at 8:55 of the first period. No penalty was assessed on the play.

Engelland will miss games Dec. 23 at Winnipeg, Dec. 27 vs. Carolina and Dec. 29 vs. Philadelphia. He will be eligible to return Dec. 31 at New Jersey.

Related articles

• Penguins' Deryk Engelland Suspended Three Games For Illegal Hit On Blackhawks' Marcus Kruger (tracking.si.com)
• Pens' Engelland handed three-game ban (canada.com)
• Deryk Engelland will get a call from Shanny (mvn.com)

Deryk Engelland will get a call from Shanny

This is why I like the NHL; a player dishes out what I would classify as a dirty bush league check on an opposing player. His teammate who happens to be trailing the play takes issue with the questionable hit and challenges the offending player to a fight.

In this case Blackhawks heavy weight John Scott, reacted appropriately to the questionable hit; Scott came to his teammates aid and immediately challenged the perpetrator Deryk Engelland's to a Fight. per the hockey code, Engelland immediately paid for his dirty check on Markus Kruger by getting the tar beat out of him. 

After watching this display, the Pittsburgh Pengiuns have no room to complain about head shots, while most of us know that the league's top player in on the shelf  with a concussion, one of his teammates is out there hitting other players in the head with a dirty checks like this, which in my opinion is definitely a violation of rule 48.

Per NHL.COM  Pittsburgh's Deryk Engelland faces a supplemental discipline hearing with the NHL's Department of Player Safety on Thursday morning. In my opinion you can expect a 2-4 game suspension would be the proper call.

Related articles

• Watch: Penguins' Deryk Engelland goes high on Blackhawks' Marcus Kruger (aol.sportingnews.com)
• Deryk Engelland delivers questionable hit, pays the price (prohockeytalk.nbcsports.com)
• Blackhawks recall C Pirri, place Carcillo on IR (espn.go.com)

Gregory Campbell and Pittsburgh's Joe Vitale fight

I think teams had better take notice around the NHL, this is what happens to you when, you take a run at the Boston Bruins goalie Tim Thomas. This is the correct response to said moment of stupidity by the Penguins Joe Vitale, hence the ensuing fight between Gregory Campbell and Joe Vitale.

Seriously, If players around the NHL think they are going to take a run at the Bruins net they're going to get the full wrath of angry bear. The Boston Bruins don't have to wait for the Brendan Shanahan and the NHL Department of Player Safety, they will take the matters into their own hands and settle it on the ice like men. This is one reason that I don't like the idea of taking fighting out of the game of hockey. It keeps players honest and the players will police the game via the hockey code.

I think that Pittsburgh's Joe Vitale will think twice before coming into the Bruins crease next time because Tim Thomas will also protect said crease.

John Carlson head-shot on Pen's Matt Cooke

s/t the Pensblog. I guess one “could” say that Karma has finally caught up with Penguins Matt Cooke. The hit is probably worthy of a two game suspension. The big question is, will the NHL suspend John Carlson for his hit on Matt Cooke. If you read this blog you will know that I am not a fan of Matt Cooke at all. Giving credit where credit is due, Cooke has behaved himself this season and only has eight minutes in penalties this season.

Max Pacioretty suspended three games

I am surprised that Max Pacioretty was suspended three games, I was thinking that the league would give him 1-2 game suspension in this case, personally I don’t have a problem with the the length of the suspension, these are the types of hits that the NHL is trying to do without.

I know there are going to be Hab’s fans that are unhappy with the ruling and will want to know why Ryan Malone wasn’t suspended for hitting Chris Campoli in the head, video is embedded below. Inconsistency, I don’t know, but it would appear so. What do you think?

Related articles

• Habs’ Pacioretty faces hearing for hit (theglobeandmail.com)
• Pens' Successful Week Ends with Focus on Headshots (insidehockey.com)
• No charges laid against Bruins' Chara for hit on Pacioretty (thestar.com)
• Bruins' Chara not charged for hit on Pacioretty (seattletimes.nwsource.com)

Max Pacioretty hits Kris Letang in the head.

Montreal Canadians forward Max Pacioretty has a phone call from Brendan Shanahan on Monday, I am going to say that Pacioretty gets a one - two game suspension for this hit on Letang. This is the type of hits that the NHL is trying to eliminate. The impressive fact was that Letang went to the locker room and had his nose set and then returned to the game to score the game winning goal in overtime.

Montreal forward Max Pacioretty will have a phone hearing with the NHL Monday morning for his hit on Pittsburgh defenseman Kris Letang during the third period of the Penguins' overtime win in Montreal Saturday night.[NHL.COM]

Here is what the Montreal Gazette has to say on the matter. Notice how the Montreal paper had to mention the Chara hit when bringing up this issue. I don't think that fact is going to help Pacioretty in this instance.

— Montreal Canadiens forward Max Pacioretty faces a phone hearing with NHL disciplinarian for a head hit that broke the nose of Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Kris Letang, according to NHL.com.

Letang, hurt in the third period, returned in overtime and scored the winning goal. He said after afterward that Pacioretty apologized to him.

Pacioretty returned this season after breaking a neck vertebra when Boston Bruins captain Zdeno Chara checked him into the end of a glass partition in March. That play didn’t draw a suspension.

Related articles

• Habs’ Pacioretty faces hearing for hit (theglobeandmail.com)
• Canadien Pacioretty faces hearing over hit on Pens' Letang (vancouversun.com)
• Canadien Pacioretty faces hearing over hit on Pens' Letang (canada.com)

He's back... Sid blows the door off of the Islanders

The face of the NHL is back and what a start for the Penguins Sidney Crosby; talk about coming back with a vengeance, two goals and two assists and eight shots on goal and Crosby logged 15:54 of ice time.

I think most of us will realize that the game of hockey is better off with Sidney Crosby in the line up. Crosby had been out of the lineup since January 5th, 2011 when he suffered a concussion after being driven hard into the boards by Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman Victor Hedman.

.

Are you confused yet?

I am wondering if anyone is confused yet? The hit above by Nashville Predators defenseman Shea Weber's hit is worth a $2,500 fine by the National Hockey League. Color my cynical but there just seems to be too many inconsistencies in the recent rulings by NHL Director of Player Safety Brendan Shanahan.




This hit by Kris Letang  on Alexander Burmistrov of the Winnipeg Jets, in my opinion isn't as bad of a hit as the one by Nashville Predators defenseman Shea Weber's on Jannik Hansen. Yet one hit is worth two game suspension while the other hit is worth a 2,500.00 fine which is really a drop in the bucket for someone that is making 4-5 million dollars a year to play hockey. WTF? I am really confused here.

Kris Letang suspended for two games for hit on Alex Burmistrov

I think that some of the ruling to come out of the Department of Player Safety have been puzzling and I just don't think that this hit warranted a two game suspension. It's not like Kris Letang is a dirty hockey players, and this isn't a Matt Cooke we are talking about.

Don't get me wrong I am glad that Colin Campbell is not spinning the Wheel of Justice anymore but do we really need to suspend every single players that commits a checking from behind penalty? I think it's a legitimate question. The NHL is throwing the book at players that don't have history of being dirty players.

NEW YORK – Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Kris Letang has been suspended, without pay, for two games for boarding Wiinnipeg forward Alex Burmistrov during NHL Game No. 66 Monday night in Winnipeg, the National Hockey League's Department of Player Safety announced today.

Under the terms of the Collective Bargaining Agreement, and based on his average annual salary, Letang will forfeit $37,837.84. The money goes to the Players' Emergency Assistance Fund.

At 13:08 of the third period, Letang hit Burmistrov from behind, driving him into the boards. Letang was assessed a minor penalty for boarding.

Letang will miss games tonight at Minnesota and Thursday, Oct. 20, vs. Montreal. He will be eligible to return Saturday, Oct. 22, vs. New Jersey.