Rangers and Senators will keep Shanny Busy...

Here are a couple of incidents from the Ottawa Senators and the New York Rangers game that is going to get a look at by the department of players safety. Senators defenseman Matt Carkner should be suspended for his attack on Rangers forward Brian Boyle, Rangers forward Brandon Dubinsky comes to Boyle's aid. Both Carkner and Boyle were kicked out of the game.

2:15 OTT Matt Carkner served by Nick Foligno : Fighting (maj) - 5 min
02:15 NYR Brandon Dubinsky : Roughing - 2 min
02:15 OTT Matt Carkner : Instigator - 2 min
02:15 OTT Matt Carkner : Game misconduct - 0 min
02:15 NYR Brandon Dubinsky : Game misconduct - 0 min  [box score]

Rangers forward Carl Hagelin was given a five minute major for this elbow on Senators forward Daniel Alfredsson. Alfredsson would lave the game and not return. It will be interesting to see if Brendan Shanahan gives either player suspension, I think the the Carkner attack on Boyle is worthy of a 1-3 game suspension.

Related articles

• Did You See That: Carkner, Dubinsky tossed from Game 2 (cbc.ca)

Hakstol wins INCH Coach of the Year Honors..Hak haters go into Hibernation (RW77)

Another blow to the morale of the Hakstol Haters Club of the Midwest (HHCM). Inside College Hockey named Dave Hakstol their INCH Coach of the Year. (link goes to INCH's article)

Hard not to give it to Hakstol, though I think Spencer Penrose winner Coach Daniels of Ferris State would certainly qualify, perhaps Union's head coach as well.

Hakstol started the year off with one top notch recruit bolting for the CHL and two failing to pass the NCAA Clearinghouse. Then one by one players start to get injured starting with Rocco Grimaldi and ending with Taylor Dickin.

I love the Sioux with all my heart but all these injuries and the inability to put 18 skaters on the ice made my expectations for the Sioux diminish and just hoped that our walk ons and spot players can make the most of their opportunities.

What happened was nothing short of coaching genius. The players bought into the system and they simply willed victory after victory. On Ice Leadership steps up and the coaches coach a masterpiece.

I've always been pro-Hakstol so I'll probably be accused of being biased.

Max Lapierre does his best Greg Louganis impersonation

s/t bearcat2002... Wow!!! Some of these guys should try their hand at drama school. This dive was a thing of beauty, check out Max Lapierre's dive after Drew Doughty's love tap, and they wonder why they never get a call from the referees. You don't have to look far to figure it out.

Related articles

• Game 1 does nothing for Canucks' image, or cause (theprovince.com)

More evidence of Canucks Hate...

See, there is so much material with the Vancouver Canucks and so little time.

Todd Bertuzzi vs Shea Weber

How dare they! A fight in hockey, how unacceptable. As you can see from the reaction on the bench and in the stands, that no on approves of this thugish behavior. Seriously!!! I have never seen anyone get up during a fight and leave a hockey game. The fans love it.

This is how they settle difference in the game of hockey, this is per the "Hockey Code" last game Shea Weber drove Henrik Zetterberg head into the glass at the end of game one, it was an unneeded and unnecessary and dirty hit. So Redwings hack Todd Bertuzzi did the right thing, he challenged Weber to a fight and they settled their difference like men, on the ice.

Lately, we have seen a few of the hockey pundits, most who have never played the game of hockey, call for an all out fighting ban, in all levels of hockey, due to an epidemic of head injuries suffered by players in the NHL.

Of course most if not a majority of these head injuries were the result of illegal and dirty hits. If you don't believe me take a look at this list [click to view list]. You know the dirty hits in question, there are the ones where a guy plants his opponent head long into the boards, the victim lays crumpled up on the ice and refs and linesmen then rush in to rescue the offending player, before the opposition's teammates can get a chance to answer for said hit. [Example of hit] Many of these dirty hits were never properly disciplined. 

Related articles

• Shea Weber Fined for hit on Zetterberg (ndgoon.blogspot.com)

Video game one highlights, Krejci to play game two

Nice game winning goal by Boston Bruins forward Chris Kelly that was set up by former Wild forwards Benoit Pouliot and Brian Rolston. Let's hope that David Krejci is O.K. and will be able to play in game two after having a pain of glass fall on him at the end of the game. Krejci missed today's Bruins practice. Krejci says that he is ready to play in game two.

Related articles

• Bruins Breakdown: Third Line Production (insidehockey.com)

Canucks Hate - The hockey world really does hate them

I could spend a lot of time giving you reasons why I hate the Vancouver Canucks. If you read this blog during the 2011 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs, that hold the Canucks in a very low regard, but I am not alone. There is so many reasons why and so little space to cover all of the reasons. All you have to do is type Hate Vancouver Canucks on Google and you will get thousands of hits on webpages covering this subject.

I once compared the Canucks fan base to the fans of a college hockey team that resides in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

I am not a lone in my hate for the Canucks, there are thousands of hockey fans outside of the city of Vancouver that hate the Vancouver Canucks. This isn’t a small isolated case.

Let’s start with their players, the Vancouver Canucks have a conga line of buffoons and unlikeable characters.

First you have Kevin Bieksa; who is a player that played his college hockey at Bowling Green State University. Bieksa is a bully, who loves to beat up and fight the other teams skilled players and players that shy away from the fights, if you look at his Hockey Fights page you will see that he doesn’t fight the skilled fighters and heavy weights very often.

Then you have Max Lapierre this guy is an absolute clown. The former Hab, Lapierre is a perfect fit on the Canucks, he can dive with the best in the NHL and this guy also loves to run his mouth and he tends to turtle or hide behind the refs when someone that knows how to fight comes to collect.

Like his buddy Bieksa, if he does fight, Lapierre tends to fight the players not known for their fighting prowess. I will be honest with you as a Bruins fan, I would dislike this clown no matter what team he is on. There will also be many of us that will adopt whatever team is playing the Canucks during the Stanley Cup Playoffs, just because this clown is on the Canucks.

Another clown in the Canucks line-up is uber hack Alex Burrows, this guy is absolute disgrace and probably one of the “most” unlikable characters in the NHL. There are hours of video to back up my point and there is too little bandwidth available.

Like Lapierre, Kesler and the Sedin twins, he flails, throws his head back and dives up and down the ice with the best of them, this guy would also be a perfect Montreal Canadian. This is the same clown that pulled the hair of Chicago defenseman Duncan Keith during the 2009 season and of course we all saw him bite Boston Bruin’s forward Patrice Bergeron last year during the Stanley Cup Finals. I don’t understand how this guy doesn’t get his clock cleaned every game.

Then there is the Sedin Twins; Daniel and Henrik, these guys are world class athletes and probably the first pick in anyone's fantasy hockey draft, unfortunately, they are two of the biggest frauds in the NHL, the Sedin twins skate up and down the ice flopping and flailing all-over the ice. Some fans refer to them as the Sedin Sisters.

Then you have American born Ryan Kesler, this guy is officially dead to me, I can’t respect an American  hockey players that dives like he does. Everytime he is hit, Kesler throws his head back and flails up and down the ice and is only surpased by the Sedin twins in his antics. True to form, Kesler was already displaying this poor sportsmanship in game one of the Stanley Cup playoffs.

The American born and former Boston College Eagle goalie Cory Schneider doesn’t seem to understand why no one likes his team. I guess that Schneider must not read the papers.

"What's frustrating to us is when the national media and people outside the city parachute in and form these opinions," Schneider said. "They take things for facts that aren't really facts. If you talk to us and spend any time with us, you understand we're good guys. Dan Hamhuis, the twins, Manny [Malhotra], Sami Salo. They play the game the right way and do great things in the community." "You look around the league and people don't like us and Pittsburgh and we're two of the better teams," Schneider said. "You saw Darcy Hordichuk and Ben Eager in Edmonton. Nobody cares about Edmonton so nobody hates them. It's that simple." [CBS Sports]

But the “hate” isn’t only coming from the fans and media, the players also despise the Canucks as well. NHL writers Hosea Cheung and Ken Wiebe held a chat on this past Wednesday on the league's most hated team, the Vancouver Canucks. Hosea Cheung said this when replying to a fans comment.

CanuckPeg, players openly talk about hating the Canucks, how is the media hyping it up?? It's not exactly a secret

Ben Blood on playing for the Sioux

s/t to a Tradition of Excellence, who had this on his blog today. Blood’s statement is a good endorsement of college hockey and the Fighting Sioux hockey program and their development of talent.

"There's a number of reasons," Blood said as to why he stayed in school. "One, to get an education. Two, because North Dakota is such a special place. There's nothing like playing in Ralph Engelstad Arena. We have a coaching staff that's second to none there, and they certainly know what they're doing when it comes to developing hockey players and moving them on to the next level."

The rugged 6-foot-4, 226-pound defenseman has already played in two games with the B-Sens, but is happy to get an introduction to the city and building where he expects to start next season.

"The play is definitely faster," he said. "Guys are bigger, smarter ... you've got to be more positionally sound out there. I think I just need to play a bit more and get used to it. It helps getting out here, getting used to the lifestyle so it's not really a culture shock next fall." [Press Connects]

First off, I am a fan of both the CHL and the NCAA hockey route, I think both are very good ways to make the NHL. Traditionally, the CHL (WHL, OHL, QMJHL) has produced the most hockey players from Canada who are currently playing in the NHL, that is a fact none of us can deny. That being said the NCAA has done a good job developing both American and Canadian born players for the NHL. All you have to do is look at the NHL rosters around the NHL.

Speaking of player development, Let's Play Hockey has an interesting article on the development of American hockey players and compared the CHL vs. the NCAA.

• 30 players from Minnesota left the U.S. to play primarily in the OHL or WHL. Of these players, only four have made it to the NHL for at least 41 games – Dustin Byfugloen, Peter Mueller, Kurt Sauer and Mike Sauer. During this same period, 30 Minnesota players who played NCAA hockey made it to the NHL for at least 41 games – David Tanabe, Jordan Leopold, Jeff Taffe, Paul Martin, Andrew Alberts, Mark Stuart, Brandon Bochenski, Zach Parise, Keith Ballard, Ryan Carter, Tim Gilbert, David Backes, Colin Stuart, Tim Conboy, Matt NIskanen, Jack Hillen, Kyle Okposo, Brian Lee, Alex Goligoski, Erik Johnson, Steve Wagner, Mike Lundin, Matt Smaby, Blake Wheeler, Matt Hendricks, Dan Sexton, Jamie McBain, Ryan McDonagh, Derek Stepan and Justin Braun.

Shanahan throws book at Bitz, suspends him for two games

So the Vice President of the Department of Player Safety Brendan Shanahan  was very busy the day after the first night of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

First Shanahan fined Nashville Predators defenseman Shew Weber the NHL maximum of $2,500.00 and then suspended Canucks forward Bryon Bitz for two games for boarding Kyle Clifford, Bitz was assessed a major penalty and given game misconduct for boarding. Personally, the play in question, looked more like a hit to the head and an elbow.

At this pace, this season could end up setting records for fines and suspensions during the NHL Stanley Cup playoffs at this rate. Or not! At least Shanahan set a precedence that the league is not going to put up or tolerate dirty hits and questionable acts. 

Related articles

• 2012 Stanley Cup Playoffs: Western Conference Round One Preview (insidehockey.com)
• So does Shea Weber get suspended for slaming Zetterberg into the glass? (ndgoon.blogspot.com)

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.

The Tweet that some took issue with

Apparently the LA Kings have apologized for this witty tweet. I don't understand why they should. I like many other people, thought the tweet was funny and I agree with the tweet. I just hope the Kings can eliminate the Canucks so we don't have to watch their antics and their diving up and down the ice through out the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

David Shoalts, Globe and Mail --- The Los Angeles Kings have apologized for a flippant tweet from their official Twitter feed that mocked the Vancouver Canucks.

“We encourage our digital team to be creative, interactive and to apply a sense of humour whenever possible. To anyone who found it offensive we sincerely apologize,” Mike Altieri, the Kings’ vice-president, communications and content, said in an e-mail message Thursday afternoon.

Diver Down - Vancouver Canucks.

This is a perfect example why the Vancouver Canucks are one of the most hated teams in the NHL. I mean this is pathetic, there is no reason a North American Hockey player should be playing the game this way. This is not the Swedish Ice Hockey Federation, this is the NHL, the best hockey league in the world.

I want to be clear, diving in hockey to draw a penalty is poor sportsmanship, seriously, Ryan Kesler looks like a buffoon in this video, whether Kesler want to believe it or not, he's a role model to young kids and they look up to him.

I am being dead serious, I don't want to go to a high school hockey game and see this crap. Are we to believe that Kesler is that light on his skates and is so easily knocked off his skates? I disappointed than one of the better American forwards in the game of hockey has to resort to this type of crap?  I am not the only one that is less than impressed with this display.

Related articles

• Was this goalie interference? Burrow's goal (ndgoon.blogspot.com)
• Quest for the Cup: Bergeron, Lidstrom, Kesler, Richards Weigh In (insidehockey.com)
• Canucks Meet Defensive Kings in Round One (insidehockey.com)

Bryon Bitz faces hearing with Shanny and the Department of Player Safety

Former Cornell Big Red forward Bryon Bitz was given a five minute major and a game misconduct for this dirty elbow on Los Angeles Kings forward Kyle Clifford. This is an unnecessary and dangerous hit and needs to be taken from the game of hockey. I predict that since Bitz, who is a third or fourth line player, will end up serving a suspension of a game or two for this hit on Clifford because the league will want to send a message.

NHL.COM ---- Vancouver Canucks right wing Byron Bitz will face a disciplinary hearing with the National Hockey League's Department of Player Safety Thursday.

The hearing regards a boarding major Bitz received Wednesday night in Game 1 of the Western Conference Quarterfinals against Los Angeles when Bitz hit L.A.'s Kyle Clifford at 12:12 of the second period. Bitz was also assessed a game misconduct on the play.

Related articles

• Bits on Bitz (insidehockey.com)
• Kings Steal Home Ice By Beating Top-Ranked Canucks In Playoffs Opener (losangeles.cbslocal.com)
• Willes: No discipline or intelligence as Kings make Canucks pay for mistakes (theprovince.com)
• Kings Beat Canucks In Game One 4-2. Enjoy It & Get Back To Business On Friday (lakingsnews.com)

Shea Weber Fined for hit on Zetterberg

Nashville Predators forward Cody Franson prior to a National Hockey League game against the Calgary Flames. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Nashville Predators defenseman Shea Weber will not be suspended for his hint on Redwings forward Henrik Zetterberg. There were many that called for Weber to have the book thrown at him for this hit.

NEW YORK -- Nashville Predators defenseman Shea Weber has been fined $2,500, the maximum allowed under the Collective Bargaining Agreement, for delivering a blow to the head of Detroit forward Henrik Zetterberg in Game 1 of the teams' Western Conference Quarterfinal series in Nashville on Wednesday, April 11, the National Hockey League's Department of Player Safety announced today.

The incident occurred at 20:00 of the third period. Weber was assessed a minor penalty for roughing.

"This was a reckless and reactionary play on which Weber threw a glancing punch and then shoved Zetterberg's head into the glass," said NHL Senior Vice President of Player Safety and Hockey Operations Brendan Shanahan. "As is customary whenever Supplemental Discipline is being considered, we contacted Detroit following the game and were informed that Zetterberg did not suffer an apparent injury and should be in the lineup for Game 2.

Related articles

• So does Shea Weber get suspended for slaming Zetterberg into the glass? (ndgoon.blogspot.com)
• Video: Shea Weber Slams Henrik Zetterberg's Head Into The Glass (chicago.cbslocal.com)

Was this goalie interference? Burrow's goal

"They're back!" The most unlikable hockey team in the NHL is up to their antics already. This is the goalie by Canucks punk Alex Burrows, also watch Ryan Kesler throwing his head back and your waiting for him to start flailing about, like he had been shot.

If L.A. Kings goalie Jonathan Quick's stick made contact with Ryan Kesler, it was because Kesler made contact with Quick who was in the blue paint and the goalie was trying to make a save and or trying to find the puck. To me this appears to be a text book goalie interference and the goal should have been waived off. What do you think?

Related articles

• Quest for the Cup: Bergeron, Lidstrom, Kesler, Richards Weigh In (insidehockey.com)
• Canucks Meet Defensive Kings in Round One (insidehockey.com)

So does Shea Weber get suspended for slamming Zetterberg into the glass?

This play is the talk of the night. At the end of tonight's game between the Detroit Redwings and the Nashville Predators, Predators defenseman Shea Weber took Henrik Zetterberg's head and jammed it into the glass, I am not sure what led up to this play but this is not acceptable in any league.

Weber for his efforts was given a two minute minor for roughing, the length of the Weber's penalty is irrelevant, because the league can review played that didn't get penalized.

I imagine the NHL's Department of Players Safety will take a look at this play, but you never know with Brendan Shanahan, he has been so inconsistent this season, almost to the point of it being a joke in his ruling this season. Shannahan has let players off the hook with no fine or suspension and then has turned around and given a suspension for hits that were not as bad as hits where a player deserved a suspension and got nothing. So who knows in this situation?

Zetterberg did board Weber earlier in the game so this could be a retaliation for that earlier hit?

If your conspiracy theorist you would expect Weber to be given a lengthy suspension because Shannahan played for the Detroit Redwings from 1997-2006.

Related articles

• Round One Preview: Predators vs. Red Wings (insidehockey.com)

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)

Because It's the Cup - Boston Bruins

The Stanley Cup Playoffs are here. I have to admit that NBC Sports has come a long ways from the early days of Versus. This is the best time of year in my opinion, there is no other sport like NHL Hockey. Of Course I will be cheering on the defending Stanley Cup Champions the Boston Bruins.

A few good articles on the NCAA

National Collegiate Athletic Association (Philippines) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Someone posted these articles on Sioux Sports in the nickname section and they are worth a read if you haven’t seen them. There seems to be an emerging re-occurring theme of an Anti-NCAA sentiment by fans and journalists.

Dennis Dodd, CBSSports.com --- "Do we really want the NCAA to be the moral police?" one college administrator said last week.
-----------[ Snip ]-----------
Some thought NCAA president Mark Emmert overstepped his authority when he warned Penn State it might be investigated for lack of institutional control in the Jerry Sandusky case.

Former NCAA president Myles Brand started the fight to eliminate offensive team nicknames. While some schools acquiesced quietly, the battle over University of North Dakota's "Fighting Sioux" nickname rages. All of it still doesn't explain why Notre Dame's "Fighting Irish" nickname isn't offensive and stereotypical.

"The NCAA drifts into social policy every now and again," said a source who has had business dealings with the NCAA. The source did not want to be identified. "Is that organization, by design, supposed to lead our moral fabric, be engaged in social policy?"

Here is another one that asks the question The NCAA: Is Membership Worth It? That's a good question... Do we really need the NCAA to monitor college athletics anymore? Some would say no. In some cases they have over stepped their bounds.

Frank Deford NPR --- Trust me: It's only 10 days since Kentucky took the title, but the NCAA is safely again where it likes to be, flying under the ethical radar, tucked away on the sports pages and in the warm embrace of ESPN.

So far as the college media and fans are concerned, we're already back to the only issue of real consequence: how to more properly conduct the football championship so that the big-conference schools can make more money, even as the poor players continue to make none.

But before we all put the NCAA out of our mind again, here is my question: Why do so many honorable colleges continue to let their good names be associated with such an un-American conglomerate? Oh, I can understand why the big-time colleges, like Kentucky — or like Alabama, the football champion — need a cartel. It's the same reason Saudi Arabia and Venezuela belong to OPEC.

But why, in particular, do Division III colleges feel a need to align themselves with such a big-foot organization? At the very least, the NCAA is just so unbalanced. Do schools like Williams and Johns Hopkins and Oberlin and Cal Tech really need NCAA oversight just for their students to leave the classrooms and play games?

Related articles

• They aren't listening - Fighting Sioux nickname (ndgoon.blogspot.com)
• Letter from the NCAA to UND (ndgoon.blogspot.com)

Comparing Brock Nelson and Chris Kreider's deals

Chris Kreider's Cap Geek page  

 I was perusing the Cap Geek numbers for former Fighting Sioux forward Brock Nelson and for former Boston College Eagles Chris Kreider and I was a bit shocked at the difference in numbers. It will be interesting to see how these two players’ careers play out.

 Brock Nelson's Cap Geek Page 

 

Related articles

• Nelson takes home some hardware (ndgoon.blogspot.com)
• Nelson signs with Islanders and Big Mac to return. (ndgoon.blogspot.com)
• Islanders won't pressure Nelson (ndgoon.blogspot.com)