With the score 6-1, Eric Boulton took a run at Lindros' head......cheap shot, penalty was coming, and Domi went after him....started a big fight.....after all that...20 seconds of game time later, Andy Sutton rammed Darcy Tuckers Head into the glass, (Tucker did not have the puck)....Sutton ran straight to the penalty box so he wouldnt have to fight...Tucker was cut very badly, and Jason Allison fought someone else after.........Then, Patrick Stefan levelled Nik Antropov, with a blind hit, Antropov wasnt looking, and didnt have the puck....it was clearly a cheap shot, and Antropov suffered a cut under his eye......

All 3 incidents occured in a 5 minute period of game time, and all three were cheap shots......im still pissed

That is pretty bush league.

I am by no means a Tucker fan, but he would've destroyed Sutton.

Domi took out Exelby it looks like.

That's garbage hockey.

Sucks too, considering Ilya/Hossa/Bondra have the ability to be one of the more fun lines to watch in the NHL.

Dear Atlanta,

I don't appreciate your cheap shots. I think Mike Peca would agree with me.

Signed,
Darcy Tucker



Darcy Tucker is a mofo.

curious, whats your point here?

That Tucker is the biggest piece of crap in the league and him and his team deserve whatever comes their way.

I'd comment but I had left the TV & gone back to the computer by the time all this happened. When you're reduced to playing an average minor leaguer in goal, it's tough to be interesting.

On the Stefan thing though, I tend to doubt he had serious evil intent ... if only because he's done so fucking little in a Thrashers uni to date that I don't see him being motivated enough to take out anybody.

i guess we disagree then...I have players i hate, but dont wish for them to be attacked

When do these two play again?

This is why I love hockey. You just don't see this level of pure hatred for the opponent in any other sport.

I remember that play, too - it was a bad cheap shot by Tucker.

not sure, but i think they said sometime in november....a saturday night in toronto

This is true. My hatred for Claude Lemeuix still runs deep within me to this day.

Sat. Nov 19 @ Toronto 7:00 PM Air Canada Centre

Thanks Jon.

Definetly a game I'll have to tune in for.

Tonight's incidents weren't unprovoked like many of Tucker & Domi's hits were. Also, the hits tonight were just that most of the time -- hits. Domi for one goes after guys assault-style.

That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard in my life. It's one thing to say Tucker has it coming to him, or Domi for that matter (although I don't think anyone deserves it)... but the whole team? That's just dumb.

I'm not a fan of Tucker, and wish he wasn't on my Leafs... but what the hell does that have to do with O'Neil, Allison, Stajan, Steen, Wellwood, Poni, Antropov, etc.?

u have totally lost me, cuz i have no idea what your talking about....unprovoked?....what did Lindros, Tucker and Antropov do to provoke the Thrashers

Well apparenlty Lindros & Antropov deserve it simply because they are on Tucker's team... :rolleyes:

I'm not sure if anyone has mentioned this yet... but I hope some French Canadian black guy kicks the shit out of Avery!!!

If you have a goon on your team, your whole team is responsible for the damage and problems he may cause.

If you don't want to deal with it, don't put him in the lineup.

Last time I checked Tucker's teammates didn't decide to trade for him, or put him in the line-up... so why should they have their careers and lives put at risk because of moronic things Tucker does? Sorry but even with the crap Atlanta pulled tonight... I'm not going to say Bondra & Kovalchuk should be head hunted for because of what their coach & teammates did.

I suppose by this logic Naslund & the Sedin's are on the Avs hit list...

The only provoking the Leafs did was scoring 6 goals on a rookie goalie when the rest of the Thrashers couldn't stay out of the penalty box long enough to help the poor goalie out.

Darcy Tucker is not really a goon. He is a cheapshot artist who can actually play real hockey during the times that he is able to put aside his "sideshow" antics. I *hate* Tucker, but that doesn't justify what Andy Sutton did. I want to see Tucker taken out cleanly, despite what he does to other players. If Sutton had dropped the gloves, challenged Tucker, and then pummeled him with his fists I would be singing his praises right now. Instead, he chose to do it a dirty way which only reinforces the type of play that Tucker chooses to go with.

Sutton is a guy who has really overachieved since he came to Atlanta from Minnesota. The only thing holding him back now is his head. When the heat gets turned up in a game, you can count on him to freak out and do something stupid.

Boulton provoked Domi by going after Eric's head. Boulton took care of that. Exelby was upset that, after holding Domi from behind so Boulton could unload on him, Lindros sat on him. Seeing an opportunity to try and hurt a guy that has had very well known problems with concussions, Exelby went after him. Unfortunately for him, Lindros was strong enough to pretty much hold his arms and Garnet accomplished nothing except being tossed from the game.

Seeing the game heat up, Andy Sutton went into cementhead mode and put Darcy's head into the glass. Then Greg de Vries decides to beat on the other concussion-plagued forward of the Leafs by jumping Allison when all hell was breaking loose again.

After all that, Atlanta had three defensemen. What happens next? One of the three gets sent to the box leaving TWO defensemen to kill off the penalty (which they failed to do). That part of the game explains a whole lot about that team. Faced with a short bench and only three blueliners to finish the game, they STILL can't stay out of the damn penalty box.

Hartley needs to work on discipline instead of worrying about all of this other nonsense. They may not have been down 6-1 and felt the need to try and injure Leafs if they actually kept their sticks down and moved their feet during the previous 50 minutes or so of hockey. Atlanta put up 15 goals in two games against Washington but has only managed 1 goal in their other three games. They've got some problems and it starts at the top.

I just saw the highlight of the Caron save, and I watched it 10 times in a row and still cannot believe he made that save.

For those of you who haven't seen it, go to http://www.kuklaskorner.com/index.php/hockey/ and its a little bit down the page with a link to the video.

Although Tekneek's take is decent, there's a couple of points I disagree with.
1) Sutton has overacheived, but what I've seen of him this year, that's over with. He's looked more lost than anything else, always late to the spot, late to a hit, late to everything. I don't think that's "head" in the sense of bad decision making, that's either head in terms of not understanding where he's supposed to be or else it's legs & he just can't get there anymore.
2) While the defense is still the weak link on the team, I'm not sure how specifically critical I can be of the late defense penalty (when they're down to 3 D's) simply because nobody seems able to stay out of the box (I assume it's Havelid's hooking call you're referring to here).
3) I'm a long way from being ready to blame Hartley for things that are wrong with the Thrashers right now. The one thing I tend to put on him at the moment is the decision to insert Ilya in the lineup after virtually no practice. Clearly, the team has been worse with him than it was without him (although facing Washington certainly played a part in that). There's no chemistry whatsoever at the moment, a far cry from what they looked like just a week ago. Truth is though, I don't know whether working out the chemistry issues on the ice isn't the best way to go (and just suffer through it) since I'm not sure how much of that can be done through in-season practices.

Do you actually have any idea what you are talking about?

One Darcy Tucker is nowhere near a goon. A decent two way forward who happens to be a shit disturber at the same time. There are guys like Tucker on a lot of NHL teams.

And two, if you are talking about Domi then Atlanta actually dressed MORE goons (Boulton and Exelby). Even Domi has been less of a goon and more of a role player/defensive forward in the last couple of years.

I didn't see the game but everything I have heard has suggested that Atlanta were pissed that they were getting blown out and deliberately provoked the Leafs - including a cheap shot at a guys head who is one concussion away from potentially being in a wheelchair. Real classy.

Either way I don't care. I love the fact that old time NHL hockey came back, even for one game only. Call me a knucklehead but a few more of these and I might start watching again :cool:

as I was reading this page, I was starting to formulate my thoughts on Tucker, but you summed them up perfectly.

that Caron save was simply stunning. I'm speechless.

saw the Hawks/Avs last night - great goalie matchup between Khabibulin and Peter Budaj of the Avs. Both were excellent. Budaj made 38 saves, including some great stops during a Chicago OT PP. Although he got pretty soundly on all 3 shootout shots. Aebischer has been shaky so far this year - Budaj already has made 2 starts, both solid, and might see more time.

Last night was the first shootout I saw, and I still don't like them. I'd rather just extend the OT. A couple things: 1) I don't think I like just 3 shots per team. I assumed it was 5. 3 just seems to quick and 2) Bringing out the Zamboni seems like a huge waste of time. Just get the fucking thing over with.

Barring more bad weather, we're going to the Monarchs (AHL) opener tonight. Taking the kids, which should be a lot of fun.

My quick thoughts on the game:

- The Sutton hit was dirty, but it wasn't that bad. It looked like he was trying to finish the hit (play to the final whistle) and got carried away. My guess is he gets suspended, based more on the game situation than the hit itself, but it wasn't something at the Claude Lemieux level.

- The Stefan hit looked accidental.

- Exelby is a punk. Lindros had him pinned down and could have unloaded on him. Then he and Lindros were standing shoulder to shoulder, but Domi and Belak were still around so he just stared at the ice. Then suddenly Domi and Belak are escorted off and Exelby turns into Bob Probert. It was actually pretty laughable watching him try to "fight" Lindros, who seemed like he could have probably held him off with one hand.

P.S. Just to really stir the debate: Darcy Tucker's hit on Mike Peca was squeaky clean, while Gary Roberts hit on Kenny Jonsson in that same game was dirty but gets completely ignored by Islander fans -- discuss.

also: Darcy Tucker is gay.

Squeaky clean? I don't buy it. Within the rules at the time? Apparently so. My understanding is that it would not be a clean play anymore, so that has been cleaned up a bit. I must be just like everybody else, because I watched that entire game and don't even remember the hit on Jonsson. I do consider Roberts a dirty player though, starting with his time as a Leaf (He may have been dirty before, but I managed to not notice it).

Has anybody told his wife?

Peca's trademark has always been making a pass, acting like he doesn't see a hit coming, then jumping into the hit at the last minute. He's used that move to lay guys out several times. Tucker knew it was coming, so he went low. If Peca stays on his feet, it's a clean hip check (even by today's rules). But Peca jumps, so he takes it in the knees. Tough break (I love Peca, one of my favorite non-Leafs) but you can't leave your feet to take a hit then complain it was low.

Roberts ran Jonsson from behind and drove his head into the glass -- the hit was actually similar to the Sutton thing last night. He got five minutes, but not the game misconduct which was a very odd call.

Ah. The penalty call reminds me. I seem to remember the discussion on TV being about whether you really could have the 5 minute major without the game misconduct.

Right. And you can, if there's no "evidence of injury" -- which basically means a cut. And Jonsson wasn't cut. He had a concussion, and his helmet actually broke, but according the refs that wasn't evidence of injury.

And now you have completely retrieved the memory of that hit. I now recall it being pretty brutal. I was so hoping the Leafs would be eliminated. Of course, I want them eliminated from every series they are in, but I *really* wanted them to lose that one. :)

Until reading the ESPN piece, I didn't realize that this wasn't a standard hard check into the glass, but rather that his head hit the partition that holds up the glass. That seems to have contributed to the cut & leans me toward the same assessment you've got.


Stefan hitting anybody is almost guaranteed to be an accident AFAIC. Not saying he's squeaky clean, just saying he so rarely hits anybody (even when he should) that the odds of it being on purpose are pretty low.
(Can you tell I'm not a Stefan fan?)

is she hot? I'll tell her.

:eek:

Yeah, he looked like he didn't know what to do after the hit. Almost as if he'd never been in that situation before.

That Caron highlight is something. Sure, it was a "look what I found" catch but he still made it and that's what counts :)

SI

Just saw the save... and all I can say is... WOW!

TSN is reporting that Sutton will be the only suspension out of last night's game, likely four games or less.

Sounds about right to me.

Whoa...

Brett Hull to retire, apparently. Like, now.

http://www.kuklaskorner.com/index.ph.../hull_retires/

It was announced as 4 games by the league. 4 games seems like a bit much to me, but whatever.

Should be a damn fun one on Open Ice.

Pittsburgh vs Tampa Bay

I don't think he liked playing for his buddy Wayne as much as he thought he was going to

My god, Martin Havlat did it again. He kicked Hal Gill in the groin during Saturday's game. If you remember, Havlat was suspened last season for doing the same thing to Eric Cairns. I'm pretty sure this must make him the first player in the history of North American sports to be a repeat offender at kicking someone else in the cherries.

Not surprisingly, the pom-pom waving Ottawa media is defending him, even trying to spin it as a case of a player sticking up for himself against a bigger opponent. But you'd have to assume a suspension is coming, and hopefully a big one. Havlat was also suspended last season for that vicious stick swing at Recchi's head (leading to Hitchcock's classic "someone's going to make him eat his lunch" soundbite), so this will be his third within a calendar year if you factor in the lockout.

Of course, none of this will damage the Sens reputation as a team full of choirboys -- apparently they can hack, spear and kick as many guys as they want and they won't ever shake that label.

Edit: TSN reporting that Havlat will get five games.

Here's that joke of a column by an Ottawa writer (which is pretty much par for the course for sports media up here):
http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Hockey/NHL...66169-sun.html

Oilers need a game with Atlanta.

Lots of stick work, hits from behind and other assorted shanagance

that is simply unbelievable

Buffalo is retiring the numbers of Danny Gare and Pat LaFontaine.

ok, I can see Gare, who is 4th on the Sabres all-time goal scoring list. He's behind Perrault, Rick Martin - who have their numbers retired - and Andreychuk, who I assume someday will as well. seems borderlineish, but he played 500 games for Buffalo and averaged a point a game.

but at the risk of looking silly - especially coming from a fan of the team that retired Ray Bourqe's number after 94 regular season games - Lafontaine? Yes, a heck of a player, and he had 3 GREAT seasons in Buffalo. But are you really going to retire the number of a player for 3 seasons? 268 games? He's not any of the Sabres major all-time scoring leader lists. His teams never got out of the first round of the playoffs (not a knock...but he certainly doesn't win any bonus points for playoff victories).

I like Lafontaine, so I'm happy to see why I'm wrong, but I just don't get it.

I think I've figured out a cure for the problems of 29 of the 30 teams in the NHL:

play the Blue Jackets

this team absolutely is pathetic this year, i can't believe i'm going to 20 games to watch them play for a paycheck and show no effort or desire (except for a couple of guys). If this team wins another game this year, it'll be because the other team didn't get on the plane, or that the NHL decided to let the Jackets play the entire game a man up on the opposition.

I hate to say this, but the Rangers actually look ok this year. So far.