It’s official: The “Goalie Fight” is officially a lost art.
I submit for your approval and/or jeering... Wednesday night, Bruins vs. Canadiens:
Tim Thomas, I’m a Bruins fan… admire the heck out of your play, but… really, dude?
Again… one swing, maybe two? Did a punch even connect before the sweaters came off?
This wasn’t a goalie fight… this was an awkward first date in the backseat of a car….
Where are Patrick Roy and Mike Vernon when we need them?
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Thursday, February 10, 2011
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
Matt Cooke Entering Bertuzzi-esque Territory
What a difference a few years without Mario Lemieux makes.
I was in Pittsburgh a few weeks ago for a regional retreat, and after the initial meetup and networking session, a few of us went out with our hosts and representatives from other cities to just hang out, catch up, and have a round or two of Yuengling — which, as anyone from Pittsburgh or Pennsylvania, will probably tell you, is one of the finest beers in the world (and they're right).
So, at this place called Redbeard's Bar & Grill -- friendly staff, great atmosphere, definitely check it out -- which has this mural (link is to the picture on their website) of Pittsburgh sports heroes. Obviously, you have your guys from the Steelers, and I guess the Pirates were good once, so they have a couple guys up there. Anyway, toward the bottom, there is a picture of Mario Lemieux, which I believe was based on a classic photograph of him as he's looking over his shoulder.
Yeah. Disney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin are up there, too. There... there is your mention, boys.
Anyway as you can see, it's a pretty nice mural. Lemieux should be up higher, but I understand. I'm biased.
Mario Lemieux was one of those guys who embodied the spirit of hockey, and the way it was meant to be played. He thrived in an era in which stars were scoring 100 goals more often than not, and breaking 100, 150 total points, sometimes. The later years of his career, after his comeback from Hodgkin's (See? Sports hero!), was around the time that scoring had decreased, and he spoke out a lot about putting an end to the clutching and grabbing that embodied the league in the late 90s.
However, that's nothing compared to what his team is doing now.
Michael Rupp? I can understand that little hook in that little smack to the back of the head he put on Rick Nash and the first period. One can argue that he simply asserting his will on his home ice. It's not exactly clean, and it certainly should have been called, but it wasn't. I can understand.
However, the hit that Matt Cooke pulled with 5:22 to go in the first? Absolutely not. His hit from behind, which you can see here, is just the latest in a long line of dirty hits and dirty play in general. He also put a nasty knee-on-knee on Alex Ovechkin over the weekend (Ovie's no Boy Scout, but the point is that it's uncalled-for).
I was slightly amused to read in the Dispatch that Penguins coach Dan Bylsma said that Fedor Tyutin looked "right in Cooke's eyes," and saw the hit coming.
Really, coach? Saw that from the bench, did you?
Okay, let's have a look. The only eye contact Tyutin could have had with Cook was maybe 2 seconds before that, when he was looking to see who was in his own zone. From there, Tyutin was playing the puck, and had his back to Cooke, with his head down, and to the side to look ahead of him. Sorry, no one's peripheral vision is that good.
Cooke not only had his hands up and shoved Tyutin into the glass, he left his feet to do so.
I'm sorry, Coach – well, not really – but you're an ass. If you believe what I'm guessing is Cooke's story that Fedor Tyutin looked him right in the eyes and knew that hit was coming, you have about the same sense of hockey fundamentals as Todd Bertuzzi, Brad May, Marc Crawford, and Brian Burke.
No one has to ask what I'm talking about.
Tyutin, thankfully, was not hurt. I'm almost amazed Cooke got four games. Jeremy Roenick was saying Cooke should get 20 games.
Then again, look at the precedent: Todd Bertuzzi served 20 games when he ended Steve Moore's career. Gary Bettman even reinstated him after the lockout. By that logic, what the hell could we have expected Matt Cooke to get?
Let's face it, Matt Cooke would have to injure his own captain to get Bettman to even get off his ass and pay attention.
Those prospects, obviously, are doubtful.
And Mario used to worry about clutching and grabbing. Sad.
Follow @MartiniHockey on Twitter...
I was in Pittsburgh a few weeks ago for a regional retreat, and after the initial meetup and networking session, a few of us went out with our hosts and representatives from other cities to just hang out, catch up, and have a round or two of Yuengling — which, as anyone from Pittsburgh or Pennsylvania, will probably tell you, is one of the finest beers in the world (and they're right).
So, at this place called Redbeard's Bar & Grill -- friendly staff, great atmosphere, definitely check it out -- which has this mural (link is to the picture on their website) of Pittsburgh sports heroes. Obviously, you have your guys from the Steelers, and I guess the Pirates were good once, so they have a couple guys up there. Anyway, toward the bottom, there is a picture of Mario Lemieux, which I believe was based on a classic photograph of him as he's looking over his shoulder.
Yeah. Disney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin are up there, too. There... there is your mention, boys.
Anyway as you can see, it's a pretty nice mural. Lemieux should be up higher, but I understand. I'm biased.
Mario Lemieux was one of those guys who embodied the spirit of hockey, and the way it was meant to be played. He thrived in an era in which stars were scoring 100 goals more often than not, and breaking 100, 150 total points, sometimes. The later years of his career, after his comeback from Hodgkin's (See? Sports hero!), was around the time that scoring had decreased, and he spoke out a lot about putting an end to the clutching and grabbing that embodied the league in the late 90s.
However, that's nothing compared to what his team is doing now.
Michael Rupp? I can understand that little hook in that little smack to the back of the head he put on Rick Nash and the first period. One can argue that he simply asserting his will on his home ice. It's not exactly clean, and it certainly should have been called, but it wasn't. I can understand.
However, the hit that Matt Cooke pulled with 5:22 to go in the first? Absolutely not. His hit from behind, which you can see here, is just the latest in a long line of dirty hits and dirty play in general. He also put a nasty knee-on-knee on Alex Ovechkin over the weekend (Ovie's no Boy Scout, but the point is that it's uncalled-for).
I was slightly amused to read in the Dispatch that Penguins coach Dan Bylsma said that Fedor Tyutin looked "right in Cooke's eyes," and saw the hit coming.
Really, coach? Saw that from the bench, did you?
Okay, let's have a look. The only eye contact Tyutin could have had with Cook was maybe 2 seconds before that, when he was looking to see who was in his own zone. From there, Tyutin was playing the puck, and had his back to Cooke, with his head down, and to the side to look ahead of him. Sorry, no one's peripheral vision is that good.
Cooke not only had his hands up and shoved Tyutin into the glass, he left his feet to do so.
I'm sorry, Coach – well, not really – but you're an ass. If you believe what I'm guessing is Cooke's story that Fedor Tyutin looked him right in the eyes and knew that hit was coming, you have about the same sense of hockey fundamentals as Todd Bertuzzi, Brad May, Marc Crawford, and Brian Burke.
No one has to ask what I'm talking about.
Tyutin, thankfully, was not hurt. I'm almost amazed Cooke got four games. Jeremy Roenick was saying Cooke should get 20 games.
Then again, look at the precedent: Todd Bertuzzi served 20 games when he ended Steve Moore's career. Gary Bettman even reinstated him after the lockout. By that logic, what the hell could we have expected Matt Cooke to get?
Let's face it, Matt Cooke would have to injure his own captain to get Bettman to even get off his ass and pay attention.
Those prospects, obviously, are doubtful.
And Mario used to worry about clutching and grabbing. Sad.
Follow @MartiniHockey on Twitter...
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