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*

Honestly the most frustrating thing is watch Dats get saddled with stiffs. I really hope when Fil gets back they just move him to play wing with Dats. He needs someone out there who can skate with him.

Actually, I think a line of Zetterberg/Datsyuk/Cleary works very well. However, with all the injuries Babcock has to keep Zets and Dats on separate lines.

At this point I think the Leafs should just give the Bruins their 2012 first rounder too. Sort of like tipping the waiter after a great meal.

So, the Flyers fire John Stevens?

I guess expectations were pretty high going into this year.

What's the issue in Philly? I figured it be goaltending, but I haven't seen enough Flyers' games to know whether that's really the problem.

Yeah, I hear ya. The parallels between the Wings and the Ducks are oddly similar, although you guys are holding up better than we are, IMO, and I think you'll be fine in the long run.

Meanwhile, in related news, Teemu broke his hand last night. $#@!&!!

Effort... accountability...any sort of offensive scheme...the inability to adjust during the game. They are still making the same mistakes as in previous years.

Peter Laviolette is the new coach.

Kevin McCarthy leaving Carolina to assist Laviolette in Philly.

Bruins-Canadiens on right now. Honestly I'm more excited about tomorrow night's Bruins-Leafs game with Kessel and Komisarek. Should be a good game, too bad Lucic can't renew his rivalry with Komisarek this time out.

Even though he's essentially been retired since the end of last year, Darren McCarty has officially called it quits today.

It was definitely time -- it was probably time a few years ago -- but, as far as role players go, he was a huge part of the Wings' success in the late 90's and early '00's.

Obviously, his role in the whole Claude Lemieux affair is legendary. He also scored a number of big goals in that time, including the OT in that March 26th game (a game he should have been kicked out of) and, of course, his Cup clinching goal in 1997. The radio call of that goal was on my answer machine for a few months thereafter.

Is it normal for a currently employed coach to switch teams mid-season? I don't recall seeing that in the NHL.

At long last, Carolina gets their first road win of the season, a 3-2 win over...Pittsburgh? Wait, what?

:eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek:

No idea. I do know the Flyers have been after him for some time though (McCarthy). He was a first round pick of the Flyers in the 70s.

I've always liked Brendan Witt. Sure, he's a bit off, but that's part of why I like him. This story does nothing to change that:

http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=301565

ISLANDERS DEFENCEMAN WITT HIT BY CAR; WILL STILL PLAY TONIGHT

Go ahead, make his day.

New York Islanders defenceman Brendan Witt was hit by a car in Philadelphia on Tuesday, according to Newsday. But Witt reportedly picked himself up off the road and, after a few profanities, assured everyone he was all right before continuing on his way, prompting one witness to say, "it was like seeing Clint Eastwood, but in hockey."

Witt was crossing Arch Street to get a cup of coffee when a gold Yukon truck made an illegal turn and hit the 34-year-old. Newsday says Witt tried to jump on the hood of the vehicle before being thrown to the ground as he was struck.

"I'm okay," Witt told the crowd as he dusted himself off, according to Newsday. "I've got to go play some hockey. I'm a hockey player. I'm okay. No big deal."

The onlooker was impressed.

"Boy that guy is tough," he said.

The 6'2, 219-pound blueliner downplayed the incident.

"I just got lucky," said Witt, who oddly enough had declined an offer for a drive to Wachovia Center from the team's medical staff just prior to the accident. "Fortunately nothing bad happened. I'm just a little sore."

The Humboldt, Saskatchewan native chose not to call police or get medical care, and was at the Isles' morning skate just a few hours later. He will play tonight against the Flyers.

Witt has two goals, one assist and 35 penalty minutes in 26 games for the Isles this season, and has no plans to star in any action films in the immediate future.

Ok, that's cool and kindof scary all at once

SI

Carcillo should know better than to violate his suspension like this.

Emory out 6 weeks...ouch.....

My question in all of this-- who the hell is Carolina hiring when they fire Maurice now? Doesn't Laviolette know how this is supposed to work?

Yeah, that was....sad.

Maybe it was me, but I swear I saw a few guys jumping near the Canes bench. I know guys will hop over the boards, etc...but these guys seemed really happy to get that win.

Dola

Does Neckbeard have an out clause with the KHL Sak?

I don't think. It doesn't really matter who is in net right now with the way the team is playing.

On the first point, the expectation is it's either Ron Francis (I hope not) or Jeff Daniels, the current coach down at Albany.

As to the celebration, well, you'll have to forgive them since it was their first road win period and just the seventh win this year. They're still having to crane their necks back some to look up at Toronto in the standings.

Bloge Salming: A Look Into The Future.

Lol, got this link from DGB. Funny stuff.

That whole site is gold.

Epic. "You're the reason I hate Novia Scotia" :lol:

The Wings get shutout 1-0 at home against Conklin and the Blues (their 3rd shutout at home this year) and... they lose Dan Cleary with separated shoulder for a month.

So, between free agency and injury the Wings are down:

Hossa, Hulder, Samuelsson, Franzen, Cleary, Filppula and Williams. Taking Williams out of the equation, that's 6 of the Wings' top 9 forwards last year.

Good times!

Bring back Petr!!!!

I watched part of the game. Didn't realize Cleary's injury was that serious. Geesh, if it wasn't for bad luck they would have no luck at all.

Fuck Yeah!!!!!!

I that the X-mas card he sent you?:D

Sabres get themselves together by holding off the Caps 3-0. Miller is without question the best goalie in the league right now.

http://www.tsn.ca/story/?id=300811

Didn't notice anything on this, but another stupid 13 year extension earlier this week. I guess the Blackhawks aren't worried at all about that cap situation next year because I think they think there won't be any cap. Or something...

SI

Speaking of the Caps a couple of post before, I'll be going to my first NHL game tomorrow night (Caps-Canes), as odd as that is to say. I've never lived remotely near anywhere that had a team (Houston/Kansas City) so I never had a chance to see anything more than an exhibition and thought it too expensive to go for a preseason game.

(As sad as this is- my little quandary is what to wear as I have no jersey from either team and none of the ones I have would really be appropriate. I have no qualms about wearing, say, my Royals gear into any other stadium as I could hold my own in any baseball conversation but I'm just not that good about hockey so I would feel a little odd about wearing my Blackhawks jersey there...)

SI

Just wear a red or black tee-shirt.

The Blackhawks have some pieces they can move. I don't see how they trade Campbell or Huet, but they might just put 'em on waivers and bannish them to the AHL. They also may look to move one or more of Sharp, Barker, Byfuglien, Bolland etc.

Just bring your blackberry or whatever and whenever someone asks you a question post it here and we'll respond for you. It will be just like Cyrano De Bergerac, except we're a lot more pretty. Well, some of us at least. :)

Based on NHLNUMBERS.COM numbers, the Blackhawks have 9 forwards, 5 defensemen and 1 goalie under contract for 2010-11 and their cap hit is already $60 million (above the current cap).

Pieces will have to be moved, but they hit the salary cap sweet spot like the Wings did last year. It's best just to try and ride it out and hope for the best.

Blackhawks will need to free up cap space - NHL News - FOX Sports on MSN


What is the projected cap for next year?

Last I heard about the same as last year... which I think is around $55MM.

Wow. So I went to stubhub and checked out what seats are going for with the game we're going to tomorrow night. Glad I got them in advance- they were $20 apiece for, admittedly, pretty crappy tickets but it got us in the door. Said crappy nearby tickets are going for $65 each. Glad I got these back in October.

SI

Hope si had a good time at the game. Somewhat of a microcosm of Carolina's season again. We get guys hurt, we make bafflingly idiotic plays, we play hard, we lose.

I am still trying to figure out Cam Ward's line of thinking on the goal he surrendered with less than a second left in the second period. The Caps got a late breakaway and a shot off the wing that Ward stopped, but instead of smothering or making a strong effort to clear, he got himself stuck awkwardly on the ice and could only muster a weak paddle that went straight to Alexander Semin, who only had to lift it over Ward and back into the goal to tie the game. If he makes a better play, the Canes may have won in regulation (then again it's Carolina in 2009-10...they probably would have found another way to lose).

At any rate, the "Tim Gleason for Next Captain" bandwagon picked up a fair number of passengers tonight. Gleason took a puck to the face deflecting an Ovechkin shot early in the game. He took a humongous number of stitches (estimates have reached 30), got a fully shielded helmet, went back out and played. He then got a bit of karmic justice by bagging a surprising short-hander that tied the game in the third period. Regardless, a real gutsy performance, especially considering it would have been easy to pack it in for the night for him since the Hurricanes aren't going anywhere this year. More and more, I'm really glad we traded Jack Johnson for him.

In addition, our prospect-for-prospect trade with Toronto panned for a night as Tlusty got called up from Albany due to injuries to Cole and LaRose and potted a goal.

Should have been better, but not the worst night, I suppose. Frankly, they've done well on this rather rugged road trip, with three points from games against the Pens, NJ, and the Caps. One more tomorrow in Ottawa.

More importantly, did he try and run Ovechkin?

Nah. Didn't seem to be any long-term animus over what happened. Of course, getting a puck to the face early in the game probably took away much of any chance for that to happen.

At any rate, I must say that whatever deal with the Devil that Karmanos, Rutherford, and Maurice made last spring must have missed a few repayments because the interest rate is getting out of hand. Carolina gamely fought hard in Ottawa and had it tied 2-2 with a few minutes left before Joni Pitkanen commits a spectacularly assinine holding penalty. Ottawa capitalized as Jay Harrison collapsed towards the goal to stop a pass to a wide open senator and wound up kicking it in. The Sens would ice it with an empty-netter later on.

I know the season is gone and that there's no hope for now other than seeing if they can win the lottery and in the meantime get the Albany kids up for some experience. Doesn't make these kinds of losses hurt much less. :banghead:

Jonathan Ericsson just left the Wings game after a knee to knee hit. Unreal.

Yeah he looked really hurt too. Just what we need, another injury. Geesh.

Well, Kindl will get a long look now cause E looks like he is missing a lot of time.

Why are'nt they calling up Tatar.The kid is playing well in GR.

He's still only 18 and he's heading out to play for the Slovakian team at the World Juniors. It certainly may come to that if things keep going as they have.

Kris Newberry scored a goal in his first game with the Wings. Thanks, Toronto!

I almost suspect he'll get a call up at some point. Potentially after the Olympics where I suspect he'll have a shot at making the Slovak roster.

Sabres pull out a 4-3 win in Montreal.