Watch what you say because one of your superstars has a history of getting away with dirty stuff. Heck he even got a free pass to play in a game in which according to the rules he should've been suspended, but because who he was he got a reprieve.

I don't think any of those guys you listed are dirty players, nor have I ever said otherwise. Now, a guy like Laraque, Worrell, and Brashear? I consider them dirty because they have little to no hockey skills.

At least Ovechkin's penchant for knee-on-knee hits bit him this time.

I can see you making an argument for any of those players but Steve Ott. Come on, Steve Ott? He isn't a dirty player? Have you not seen him play? I think this is something fans of the other 29 teams can agree on.

+1

I admit I have not seen much of him play.

Peter Worrell can't still be in the league, can he? Brashear's hit on Betts in last year's playoffs was dirty.

I don't think Laraque is a dirty player at all. Sure, he had that hit on Kronwall, but I don't think that was intentional and certainly didn't fit his pattern of play. If anything, I think people would prefer Laraque to be a little dirtier of a player.

Just because a tough guy doesn't have hockey skills doesn't necessarily mean they are a dirty players. Sure, goons can be dirty, but not all goons are.


Steve Ott is a dirty player.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eG6wQRnnT8o
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dV3Ke...eature=related

Two examples.

It's those guys who play on the edge who borderline dirty. Daniel Carcillo, Matt Cooke, Jarko Rutuu...Sean Avery. There is a fine line between dirty and clean and sometimes those guys cross over.

I never thought of Laraque is dirty. You just don't want to have to face Laraque.

What about Grant Fuhr, Jarome Iginla, and Pokey Reddick?

Savard Re-signs


Huge extension for the B's and Savard to get done! Awesome cap hit for a top playmaker in the NHL.

I remember that Bruins-Stars game well. I never paid attention to or saw much of Ott until that game and hated him after that. I loved the way the Bruins went after him and he just took the coward's way out. I also love Jack Edwards on the play-by-play. He's absolutely a homer but he gets so into it.

BRYCE SALVADOR IS DIRTY AS HELL

you said it

why you gotta play me like that

The rule is if the player is deemed to be there by the officials only to "send a message"...you know, like butt-ending someone on a faceoff.



This. Eric Godard is 1/2 the fighter Laraque is, but he's a SOB about it. Laraque is often described as gentlemanly.

His skating is just bad...he slipped and crashed into Marty Biron that one time.

DOLA

2 games for Ovechkin. He's on the same level as Cooke now.

A couple of friends of mine are big Oilers fans and they were always bemoaning Big Georges for not being mean enough. They didn't think he had to proper temperment to really "flash the badge" effectively.

Besides, Laraque is an ethical vegan! He doesn't eat any animal products, at all, becuase he feels bad for the animals. (This has made him Lady H_B's favorite hockey player.)

It appears his career finally ended after the 05-06 season with a stint for the ECHL's Charlotte Checkers.
Peter Worrell hockey statistics & profile at hockeydb.com

I had the pleasure of razzing his no talent hack ass for 3 periods on a couple of occasions that season when they came to play Gwinnett. By that point he didn't even lead the team in PIM, that role went to eventual Oiler/Panther Steve MacIntyre while Worrell was reduced to basically the 3rd string enforcer.

That is how he was in Pittsburgh too. There was a clip of him at a Boys & Girls Club talking about hockey, and the kids ask him about fighting. He said he doesn't like it, but it's his job. And I think that is the difference. Guys like Godard etc, sort of enjoy it.

During the 07-08 season, one of his many fights with Riley Cote, he helped him up and asked if he was OK after knocking him on his ass. Who does that?

This is the most un-gentlemanly thing he's done:

Has Georges Laraque's sexy drink ad really offended anyone? - Puck Daddy - NHL - Yahoo! Sports

I guess dropping your gloves and hitting a player with 2 or 3 shots before he can defend himself isn't dirty. Or butt ending someone with his stick in the boards or elbowing to the face isn't dirty.

But I agree other than Laraques incident with Biron...I don't consider him dirty.

Or biting someone's finger? Or running the goaltender at the end of the game?

Let's be honest, there are very few players who don't do a little extra. I don't think Briere is close to being considered a dirty player, he was just suspended, but ALL players push the envelope.
Ovechkin/Malkin/Crosby/Richards, it's overlooked because of everything else they can do. Ruutu/Cooke/Ott it's noticed because it's a bigger part of their overall game.

For Ovechkin, the reckless play ( won't even use dirty) is happening more often.

I think the NHL needs to get rid of its instigator rule.

I think Dr. Sak and Suburban Rhythm should pool their money, buy a huge table, and wrestle each other on it. If it would help the action, maybe they can pretend they're wrestling their girlfriends Mike Richards and Sidney Crosby.

Ponder that while I sit here and daydream about Zach Parise.

Maybe it should be a triple threat match. Or a threesome, whatever floats your boat.

You'll guest referee, right? I've got the perfect idea.

The finger biting incident...he could've bit him but Letang also could've jammed his finger in his mouth. And Richards was just doing his best George impression but he forgot the slide tackle part :)

I actually don't mind more suspensions even if it is to players like Briere or Ovechkin. Maybe that will send a message that no one is protected and everyone has to play by the same rule. Funny concept isn't it?

Hi, we're the Toronto Maple Leafs and we have only two good young players on the entire roster, and one of them has a bad case of explody heart.

I guess this means that the Jackets get to face Toskala on Thursday.

This will be my first time (I think) watching the Leafs play live, since they rarely come to Columbus and I didn't have tickets the last time they were here.

P.S. - Please don't try and kidnap Rick Nash and bring him back to Toronto after the game. We'd appreciate it. If you try to, we'll put him in an R.J Umberger jersey and we know Burke won't have anything to do with him.

That really stinks. Depending on what the issue is, there may be nothing anyone can do about it. A similar type of condition essentially ended Jiri Fischer's and Greg Johnson's careers.

Yeah, that's just not good. I'm glad that they were overly cautious about that, as you don't want to see a guy keel over during a game. Hopefully it wasn't anything serious and wasn't related to his earlier problems.

EDIT: I just noticed that MacDonald came in for Gustavsson. Is Toskala injured or "injured"?

He's out with a groin problem. Not sure when he's expected back, but I don't think he's playing on Thursday. They'll go with MacDonald as starter. Backup goalie will be putting two sticks across the net and having a "no raisies" rule.

Shooter Tutor IYAM.

Fixed.

I think that's a sound strategy if the game goes into the shootout after the Jackets 1-11 effort last night.

Great thing about this is what ML says is true.....the Leafs won't have a back-up for the Columbus game.

Monster-??
Toskula-Injured
AHL regular starter Macdonald
AHL Back up Riemer-Injured
AHL emergency starter -Munro....was signed to a tryout contract when Macdonald was called up.

I don't even know who the AHL emergency back up who will now be the AHL emergency starter is.

Is Curtis Joseph still around?:)

The Leafs should try and sign Robert Esche

Ping CR

Looks like Crusher Christensen is no longer your problem. Picked up by the Rangers, who waive Valiquette in the process. Don't understand that. Who the hell is the back in NY now...Dan Blackburn?

Also, Duck pick up Kyle Chipchura from the Habs for a pick.

Wonder if the Leafs will grab Valiquette.

Thank God. Another marginally talented energy guy was just what this team needed.

Meanwhile Mikkelson is sent down and Festerling brought up to replace him. We couldn't move that 4th round pick for a real NHL defenseman and get rid of Eminger instead? And what the hell happened to Sbisa looking like a future star?

Not sure if CR will agree but I've basically decided that the 3rd D pairing is the absolute downfall of this team. So many bad things happen with Eminger and Mikkelson out there it's not even funny. I'm sure Festerling will do so much better. Add in the fact that Niedermayer doesn't give a shit any more and Boynton is very average and the Ducks are basically playing with 1 decent defensive pairing where they used to have 3 very above average pairings. So no surprise the team is struggling.

Gustavsson is having another heart procedure, although it appears to be non-surgical (same as the one he had done in training camp).

Toronto Maple Leafs' Jonas Gustavsson to have second heart procedure - ESPN

The Leafs trade Jiri Tulsty to Carolina for Philippe Paradis (Carolina's first round pick this year).

My underacheiver for your underaveiver

John Stevens days in Philly are just about over.

Phil Kessel, apparently bored with scoring goals (two more tonight), just got in his first career fight.

If Kessel keeps scoring like this i'd give up another 1st for him.Not only that but the guys is actually backchecking like a demon.Did he do this in Boston?

Not sure what an "underaviever" is, but that aside, it's a rather weird trade. Carolina was pretty well derided for choosing Paradis in the first round, but Rutherford was wanting to get bigger and tougher all around and that included the draft. I wonder if the flaming wreckage of this season has convinced him the roster strategy wasn't going to work out and suddenly made the Paradis choice expendable. From what I've read, Paradis hasn't been excelling in juniors so far this year while Tlusty's been playing well.

The reaction down here's been a bit scattered, mostly ranging from "we wasted yet another first round pick" to "JR's got something else planned--either Tlutsy or a vet is going to be shipped out for someone else".

At this point, the fanbase has pretty much written off the season and are actually somewhat kinda-sorta-not-quite-hoping that Carolina will suffer enough this year to be in the draft lottery, rather than somehow finally put it all together, make a charge in the second half, and end up something like 10th in the East at the end, leaving the team with a middling first round pick rather than anything at the top of the order.

Sabres just destroy Montreal 6-2 tonight.

They send backup goalie Patrick Lalime to a 2-game conditioning assignment with Portland (AHL) for this weekend. With 15 games in 27 days coming up (outside of Christmas Eve and Christmas, they'll play at least every other night).

The inconsistency shown by the Red Wings this season is frustrating. I give the team a mild pass due to injuries and free agent defections, but when you are playing at home, against an Oilers team with even more injuries than you, and you lose 4-1 and look terrible doing it, something is wrong. The team appears to lack chemistry, which is not a huge surprise considering we have 2/3 of the Grand Rapids Griffins on the team right now.

Just very disappointed in the effort some nights, and not accustomed to it. We Wings fans have been very spoiled over the past dozen years.

*sigh*