Rant: Garbage In The NHL
Posted 10:16 AM ET | Comments 5
Normally I love to rant, but lately I haven't found a topic that has stirred the flames of passion inside me. At least not until now. I want to quickly say whoever brings up the Canucks "Sordid" past succeeds only in showing their ignorance. I write this as an impartial hockey fan(If such a thing is possible).
You can have all the talent in the world, but when you lack respect and honour, your no better than dirt. I'm talking about Corey Perry of the Anaheim Ducks. We all remember last years playoffs when Anaheim faced Detroit. Perry was mic'ed and made threats to Pavel Datsyuk and Mikael Samuelsson. Now I'm not saying that it doesn't happen, because I know its a common occurrence, but you just don't threaten star players. In the old days, if someone like Dave Seminko had heard a player say that to Gretzky, he would have instantly dropped his gloves and made you wish you hadn't laced up your skates.
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In the same series he took a butt end to the face from Dominik Hasek(Which could have been by accident or on purpose. I'm not sure yet.) and a few seconds later, obviously looking for revenge and to hurt someone, hit an unsuspecting Chris Chelios from behind. Chelios wasn't even near the puck. He than went on to pretend that he himself was hurt. He should have been suspended and fined in either instance.
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My last point is Perry's continual need to run goalies. Yes, Luongo is my teams franchise player/goalie and yes, Perry ran him many times in the playoffs. That doesn't change the fact that running a goalie is right up there with hitting people from behind. Screening a goalie is perfectly fine. Even bumping or nudging them, but flat out running them is a disgusting practice and players like that should be dealt with accordingly.
What brought all this to a head was Perry's shameful lack of respect for fellow player Dallas Drake in tonights game. After another hit from behind by Perry, Drake challenged Perry to a fight. Drake removed his helmet and just as he was taking in the middle of taking it off, Perry threw a punch. Perry, who wears a visor, didn't remove his helmet. Which could have caused a serious injury to Drake. Yet show of disrespect.
I am all for rough hockey and agitating players, but Corey Perry is an accident waiting to happen. We've already seen what happens when players like him are left unchecked. Lets crackdown on this behavior or get rid of the instigator rule and let the players police themselves before someone gets seriously hurt.
If he wasn't a star or soon to be star you'd believe he would have been suspended by now.
PS Sorry I had to delete this and add the Drake piece in, because its what started it all for me tonight. Had to make sure you read it.
Ethan Liddle
<i>[email protected]</i>
You can have all the talent in the world, but when you lack respect and honour, your no better than dirt. I'm talking about Corey Perry of the Anaheim Ducks. We all remember last years playoffs when Anaheim faced Detroit. Perry was mic'ed and made threats to Pavel Datsyuk and Mikael Samuelsson. Now I'm not saying that it doesn't happen, because I know its a common occurrence, but you just don't threaten star players. In the old days, if someone like Dave Seminko had heard a player say that to Gretzky, he would have instantly dropped his gloves and made you wish you hadn't laced up your skates.
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In the same series he took a butt end to the face from Dominik Hasek(Which could have been by accident or on purpose. I'm not sure yet.) and a few seconds later, obviously looking for revenge and to hurt someone, hit an unsuspecting Chris Chelios from behind. Chelios wasn't even near the puck. He than went on to pretend that he himself was hurt. He should have been suspended and fined in either instance.
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My last point is Perry's continual need to run goalies. Yes, Luongo is my teams franchise player/goalie and yes, Perry ran him many times in the playoffs. That doesn't change the fact that running a goalie is right up there with hitting people from behind. Screening a goalie is perfectly fine. Even bumping or nudging them, but flat out running them is a disgusting practice and players like that should be dealt with accordingly.
What brought all this to a head was Perry's shameful lack of respect for fellow player Dallas Drake in tonights game. After another hit from behind by Perry, Drake challenged Perry to a fight. Drake removed his helmet and just as he was taking in the middle of taking it off, Perry threw a punch. Perry, who wears a visor, didn't remove his helmet. Which could have caused a serious injury to Drake. Yet show of disrespect.
I am all for rough hockey and agitating players, but Corey Perry is an accident waiting to happen. We've already seen what happens when players like him are left unchecked. Lets crackdown on this behavior or get rid of the instigator rule and let the players police themselves before someone gets seriously hurt.
If he wasn't a star or soon to be star you'd believe he would have been suspended by now.
PS Sorry I had to delete this and add the Drake piece in, because its what started it all for me tonight. Had to make sure you read it.
Ethan Liddle
<i>[email protected]</i>
Wow...I'm not sure where to start on this. Of course, I expect to be called everything from a homer to a bandwagoner for sticking up for someone on my team, but let's at least try to stay inside the bounds of reality here.With regards to the 'threats' made by Perry during last years playoffs, did you even watch the game? There was absolutely nothing serious about them. He was smiling when he said it, and was just talking trash like about 99% of the other players in the league. Even the commentators thought it was funny.Regarding the 'hit' on Chelios, how can you watch that video and not see that Perry tried to avoid it? He had been looking back at the ref, Chelios is skating backward and they collided. Perry shifted all his weight to his outside foot in an effort to avoid the contact. If he was looking to hit Chelios, he would've been leaning into him.As far as the fight last night, Drake didn't like the hit from Perry (which he got called for), and challenged Perry. If he wants to start a fight, he doesn't get to make the terms. If he wants to take off his helmet, good on him. Lots of guys leave them on. If he had a problem with his visor, then he shouldn't have challenged him and taken the chance.Of course, that's just my opinion.
Yep, Perry is one of the worst in the league. Coudn't believe seeing him run over Luongo (I'm still convinced that Perry's slash to his forearm was why he missed that OT time,) then he ran over Hasek repeatedly. I couldn't believe seeing him "fight" Drake last night. Helmet on, face mask on, head down so he couldn't take a shot. He's a real tough guy.
Drake's helmet only came off because perry punched him in the face so hard hahahaha
Disagree with everything except Drake. I watched that last night and was also bothered by it. The hit from behind was terrible and Vs didn't show where Drake was taking off his helmet, but the announcers made it clear. If it happened, that is pretty sad. Too bad nobody from Detroit made things right later in the game. Instigator garbage aside, these guys need to step in for their fellow players, even things up, and take the 2 minute rest if they have to.
On one hand, I disagree. You do trash talk star players because frankly, it's the only thing a team can do to try and stop a player. Normally the best performers and the greatest players in history aren't necessarily ALWAYS the ones who have great skills on ice, but also the ones who don't take the media to heart and shut-up to apposing team by letting the red light speak for them. Also, just another reason why some teams have star players and even bigger star enforcers. The guys may not be the ones putting the points up, but they are the ones going out their to eliminate the distractions to the team's star players. From a Penguins perspective, those players are Gary Roberts and Georges Laraque. As far as fining and such, I think it's best that the NHL doesn't exactly get fine crazy. It doesn't reflect well when your league is constantly punishing people for borderline hits. I definitely think the Downie ruling was a necessity, but sheer interference calls shouldn't be immediate fines.