I think it's actual venom. So for him, I root for another 39 years.

Been at the lake all weekend, but just thought I'd mention how crazy it is to here the season tickets for the new Winnipeg team sold out in seconds yesterday.

... Thank goodness the group of guys I'm in with had an 'in' and got ours on Friday! :D

That's awesome news, that they sold out so fast and that you managed to get some. Stuff Bettman's words down his throat.

Yep, Bettman can suck it. All season tickets had 3-5 year minimum commitments (ours was 4) with deposits ranging between $500-$1000 per seat that don't go toward the price of the ticket, and you only get the money back at the end of your term. They also have a waiting list that they had to cap at 8000 people. There are going to be fewer than 1000 single-game tickets available each game, which you can bet will be snapped up in seconds as they are released as well.

The MTS Centre is all but guaranteed to be sold out every game for the next 5-7 years.

I was being serious. I can't believe the NHL didn't suspend Burrows. A complete joke.


Not sure what this means.

It's been 39 years since the last Stanley Cup Trophy for the Bruins. He's saying that he hopes Boston doesn't win won till 2050.

That's a suspension... 20 games?

Horton looks like he's actually fucked... this could be nightmare scenario #1 for the NHL. A guy gets turned into a vegetable in a nationally televised Stanley Cup game on a brutal blindside hit. Scary stuff, pray he's OK.

That was very very bad. My buddy just mentioned to me that the rule should be if you lose a player to injury when a major penalty is given out, you can dress one of the healthy scratches in his place.

Did anyone else see Recchi demonstratively try to shove his finger into a Canuck mouth after a scrum?

It's on Versus ;)

Nationally covered then.

I would like a rule that if Rome gets suspended for that hit, Vancouver has to play with one less player for as long as the suspension is.

I understood what you meant...I was just poking fun.

Recchi is a douchebag

I just saw the hit...would it have been legal had Horton had or just passed the puck?

I know it was way past that point but I was just curious about if it was a head shot or not.

I thought it was a pretty clear headshot to the blindside of a prone player, with the elbow coming up and through after he hit him. Probably the most obvious one I've seen since they changed the rule.

I think it was a shoulder to head shot and I think he left his feet. If they're serious about trying to stop head shots, I'd have to think that's an illegal hit.

Recchi is a douchebag because he did what Lapierre did in game 2? Or did I miss something else?

DOLA - that was seeing it in real time and maybe one replay, so I could be way off. But it looked dirty and unnecessary to me.

Dirty and unnecessary yes.

Bruins are well and truly fucked now though. They have no damn scoring anyways in this series...now they're sunk.

And they didn't even get shit on the 5 minute major. Pathetic.

For me it has been compounding....he was a cancer in Pittsburgh which caused him to be let go. He was demanding who he was line mates with and was the reason Edzo got fired IMO. And his comments after the Chara turnbuckle hit was just stupid and idiotic. I use to love him as a Flyer, but it's gone down hill for him, in my eyes after that....

Sounds like Horton is going to be "ok" as he's moving his extremities. Good to hear.

This will be his second concussion in as many years. He missed significant time after the Richards hit last year. Glad he is "ok" as bhlloy said.

Don't know why I bothered but I went over to the Canucks blog just to see if they would admit that was a pretty bad hit. Nope - 100% of people seem to think it's Horton's fault for not keeping his head up crossing the blue line. Might be rooting for the Bruins now.

I just want to state the obvious...Tim Thomas has been playing amazing.

Wasn't Richards hit on Booth? Or am I missing one?

You are right...see kids...this is what concussions do to your brain!

Great goal by Marchant

Where was this fucking Bruins team in Game 1 and Game 2. They'd be up in the series if they had played like THIS.

Okay seriously - wtf? Why save all their goals for this game!??!

Haha. Or is it really just like they just said and maybe the physical play is starting to take its toll?

I don't think there are any bigger two faced whiner's than Bruins fans. At the start of the series I was torn on who to cheer for as, while I like a number of players on both teams such as Kesler, Bieksa, Horton and Lucic, I can't really stand either fan base. After the whining following games one and two, I'm now leaning more towards the Canucks.

First off, regarding the Burrows "bite", there was nothing there that warranted a suspension. Go watch the Jarkko Ruutu bite on Andrew Peters to see a real bite. In that distance, while Peters face washed Ruutu, he did not stick his fingers in Ruutu's mouth. Regardless, Ruutu bit down on the un-padded palm of the glove, broke the skin, and drew blood, leading to a finger that was still bandaged a few days later. For his efforts, Ruutu got two regular season games.

While I have no doubt that Burrows closed his teeth on Bergeron's finger, if Bergeron doesn't like it, don't stick your finger in the guys mouth. Bergeron's reaction was nothing like Peters, who was obviously in some pain, likely due to Bergeron having a padded finger. The fact is, if someone sticks a finger in someone else's mouth, a reasonable reaction is for that person to clamp down. Compare the two bites and the precedent set with the Ruutu suspension and I'm not sure that a one game suspension would even be warranted in the regular season, let alone the Stanley Cup Finals.

Secondly, regarding the Rome-Horton hit. As I mentioned before, I'm a Horton fan and hope for a speedy recovery and that he is back this series. First off though, Rome did not leave his feet. Secondly, this hit does not fall under Rule 48 which is specific to "A lateral or blind side hit to an opponent where the head is targeted and/or the principal point of contact is not permitted." Nathan Horton was traveling north-south and the onus is on him to have his head up. If anyone recalls the Willie Mitchell-Jon Toews hit, that was a legal hit by the definition of Rule 48 and I encourage a number of the people on this board to verse themselves a little before spewing off their clearly uneducated view points.

The one thing wrong with the hit is that it was a late hit and thus why Rome was correctly penalized for interference. However, watching in full speed, it is not as late as some people are making it out to be, although it does look very bad in slow motion. However, anyone who has played hockey at a high level can tell you exactly how difficult of a position Rome was in. Rome is by no means known as a dirty player. He was skating backwards and, based on my experience, surely mentally committed to stopping and throwing his weight forward into Horton, even before Horton dished the puck. Once Horton passed the puck, Rome was in a precarious position where he instantly needed to decide between stopping in his tracks, and risk either being blown past or bowled over by Horton, or following through with his momentum. With the environment that they are in, I'm not surprised by him following through on the hit.

However, there was nothing "dirty" about the hit. It was a late hit while Horton was in a precarious position, although not a precarious position as defined by the rulebook and one that Horton is technically responsible for (at least partially) ensuring his own safety in. If Bruins fans are able to remove their rose coloured glasses, they will see that the hit was not even as late as Chara's turnbuckle on Pacioretty and would likely be on par with Lucic's hit on Spacek in Game 6, another instance where a player committed to a check only to have to react late and be unable to do so.

And while there were not suspensions on either of those hits, there likely should have been but try as he might, I just don't think Colin Campbell was able to stay impartial with his son on the team. Rome will probably get a game or two and should, likely in part due to the fact that Horton was down and out and may miss some action.

I figured that was a simple mix up. This post...


...makes me think you've got a concussion. Someone might question your allegiances.

I wish we'd find out what went on between him and Sid. Most likely an issue with having a 19 year old captain, but he came off as a bitter old man, and has ever since. Great player, future HHOFer, but as classy as he was the first 15 years of his career, been a jackass the last handful

I really wanted Edzo to succeed, I like the guy. I know that Recchi had to do something horrible because I was listening to an interview one time with Edzo and he was asked about what happened in Pittsburgh and how did he feel about Recchi...his response.

"I was always told that if you don't have anything nice to say about someone, don't say anything at all. That's where I will leave it and you can take my comment for what it is worth."

I love Eddie too. But I think that wasca disaster waiting to happen. I love Mario too, but under Lemieux/Patrick, that place was run like a country club and he was in that mold.

The year before the lockout, last game of the season, Edzo stood at center ice and talked to whoever was left for about 25 minutes, saying he hoped next season at the last regular season game, we'd be preparing for the playoffs.

You are incorrect, Carman: Blindside hits to the head have been a special bone of contention with the NHL, because a lot of the time, it ends up just the way it did tonight, with someone heading off the ice with at least a concussion. They have cracked down on it hard, very hard. So, yeah, he's going to get a game off (Probably no two game plus suspensions in the final..) but it's well deserved and well within the way they've handled it.

Especially since the puck was twenty feet gone.

Vancouver picking up the cheap shots here as the game winds down.

Yep. It's about time the skaters showed up in this series. Too bad about Horton. I hope he's ok.

SHORTIE FOR PAILLE!!!

Have you watched Lucic in any game Boston was losing by 2+ with less than 2 minutes to play?

Of course. But that's one guy, versus the like 4-5 guys on Vancouver who are slashing and instigating here.

And two wrongs don't make a right. Just because a guy on my team does it doesn't mean that I'm not allowed to point out the guys on the other team doing it.

PING Render

When will this stop?
WON'T SOMEBODY THINK OF THE CHILDREN!?!?

8?

Jeezus guys...where were these goals when you lost the last 2 games by 2 goals total? Save some hmm?

Normally Horton follows Lucic's lead on that shit....and Marchand does it regularly.

Point is all teams employ guys who play up to and over the edge.

Eh

Horton looking behind him doesn't make that blindside.

Vicious? Yes
Late? Absolutely
Suspendable? Most likely

Sadly, head contact is still allowable.

You're forgetting that this is a Boston thing. Their teams are saints and it's only wrong when the other teams do it...

Um no. I already said up above though - just because there's a guy on your team who does something doesn't mean that you're no longer allowed to point out the guys on other teams doing shit.

If that was the case then nobody would be able to talk shit, because nobody's team is without that type of thing.

So whatever. Shove it.

The Canucks have a history of cheap hits like that in the playoffs. See Torres, Raffi. Rome should get a bundle but will likely sit 1 game.

So late doesn't make it dirty? (I'd also argue he did leave his feet slightly and he did extend his free elbow upwards, but I'm more used to watching lacrosse hits where those were the main points of emphasis this year.) I don't think he should get 20 games, but a game misconduct and 1-2 game suspension sounds right.

Getting more and more like the NFL. The players are too big, too strong, and the game is too fast to accommodate these guys.

I still think a permanent 4 on 4 format would eliminate a lot of this shit.

You are right in the fact that blindside hits have been a point of emphasis and I even quoted Rule 48 in my post. Where you are wrong is in defining the hit as "blind side". To quote the NHL reference video on head shots, in a "north south hit, the responsibility to be aware still remains with the player being hit" as well as the "player skating north south with the puck needs to be aware of where he is and who is on the ice." I made reference to it earlier, but watch the NHL reference video with an unbiased approach to differentiate between blind side and non-blind side hits.

Now, if you watch the Horton-Rome hit again, look at Daniel Sedin coming up on the bottom of the screen. If he cuts in and puts a shoulder into Horton's head the way that Rome did, it's a blind side hit by definition of Rule 48.

I'm not saying it was a clean hit because it wasn't. But if it was a few fractions of a second earlier, there would have been nothing wrong with it. I've actually broke down the video and the time on the clock when Horton makes the pass is 14:57 and the time on the clock when Rome makes the hit is 14:57. We're not even talking about a full second here (although probably very close to it) and only 1.5 strides by Horton.

Like I said, I won't call it dirty, because one of my pre-requisites for "dirty" is usually some sort of intent which I don't believe there was. However, it was late and did cause an injury. And while normally, Horton would be responsible for having his head up, while he should have anyways in this area, he can be excused somewhat because he was not expecting a late hit and is likely why Rome will get a suspension.

However, this hit does not even come anywhere close to comparing to the hit by Andrew Ference on Jeff Halpern, which I would say was by far the dirtiest hit in the playoffs and for which Ference didn't get suspended. Not to mention the aforementioned Chara and Lucic hits, in addition to both the middle finger and water bottle incidents, none of which warranted suspensions. Gregory Campbell was sure a good pickup.