1) As we alluded to briefly on other blogs earlier this week, we felt that the suspension and out rage shown Flyers defender Randy Jones was a bit overblown, or at least it was when its compared to the virtual silence we are hearing/reading about the hit Sergei Gonchar put on Montreal defensemen Francis Bouillon. If "Intent" is the key to a suspension and not the outcome of the offense (as it appears to be) then Gonchar should have received MORE than what Jones got.
2) To refresh memories, Gonchar 'boarded' the Habs player in the waning seconds of their OT tilt Saturday night. Sergei received a 2 minute minor and thats it. If one were to see the replay you can see Gonchar came across the ice with his arms raised apparently intending to unleash a high hit. It resulted in a nice headshot into the boards. Bouillon didn't immediately go down like Bergeron so little attention was drawn to the play. However, not only did Francis suffer a shoulder injury that could sideline him for a while, it could have been worse than that. To add insult to injury(literally) Gonchar was allowed to partake in the shootout a mere minutes after his offense. ( That's an issue for another day/post)
3) What kind(if any) message is the NHL sending if it doles out its punishment in such a manner? We ask, is the disparity of enforcement here due to the player (Bouillon) not getting seriously hurt, or is it because Gonchar is a star player and Jones is not? Either answer is unacceptable. It simply illustrates some of the concerns we raised recently with our Crime and punishment post. Until we see sweeping changes in the manner which the league distributes its suspensions there will be no real reduction in these kind of plays, and fans and players will be left confused as to what IS and what isn't a suspendable offense.
2) To refresh memories, Gonchar 'boarded' the Habs player in the waning seconds of their OT tilt Saturday night. Sergei received a 2 minute minor and thats it. If one were to see the replay you can see Gonchar came across the ice with his arms raised apparently intending to unleash a high hit. It resulted in a nice headshot into the boards. Bouillon didn't immediately go down like Bergeron so little attention was drawn to the play. However, not only did Francis suffer a shoulder injury that could sideline him for a while, it could have been worse than that. To add insult to injury(literally) Gonchar was allowed to partake in the shootout a mere minutes after his offense. ( That's an issue for another day/post)
3) What kind(if any) message is the NHL sending if it doles out its punishment in such a manner? We ask, is the disparity of enforcement here due to the player (Bouillon) not getting seriously hurt, or is it because Gonchar is a star player and Jones is not? Either answer is unacceptable. It simply illustrates some of the concerns we raised recently with our Crime and punishment post. Until we see sweeping changes in the manner which the league distributes its suspensions there will be no real reduction in these kind of plays, and fans and players will be left confused as to what IS and what isn't a suspendable offense.
10 comments:
Yeah faux I remember that play well. I was mad as a hatter when I saw they let Gonchar take a shoot out attempt. It was fitting he flubbed his try. Bouillon has been playing pretty good for us. I hope he doesn't miss too much time. Gonchar should have got 2 games like Jones.
With regard to what you want to discuss another day - I do not believe that a player should be able to participate in a shootout if he is still serving a penalty when the OT period elapses... I am sure this will be a later posting, but I just thought I'd weigh in now...
Of the five games last night I was 3-2, taking the year's record to 15 wins and 8 losses, a .652 winning percentage...
1) We also believe, but are not certain, that only disqualified players are excluded from the shoot out. So one could get a misconduct, fighting major and a minor,etc and still net the game winning goal!
2)BTW Antz, our collective results from last evening were published under the appropriate post.
Gonchar's hit wasn't dirty. I don't know why you decided to clump his body check with Jones. He got the 2 minute penalty he deserved. Why not talk about all the cheap shots that Crosby has to take every night!
I agree that Sid gets the "business" on a nightly basis, but he is a tough kid who also can dish it out... That is ANOTHER aspect of his game that I really respect - he does not shy away from the physicality... Of course, being a Capital fan, sometimes I appreciate OV's hits more than his goals...
While I did not see Gonchar's hit, I would be surprised if it were a really "dirty" play b/c cheap stuff is not a part of Sergei's game... I DID, however, see the Jones hit, and I didn't think it deserved all that attention... A penalty, sure, but not MUCH more than that...
I happen to be sitting behind the net where Bergeron was nailed by that dirty hit by Jones. It was a scary thing to see. A woman near me actually started to cry.
Is it a coincidence that all thse head shots and concussions are coming from Flyers? They are being told to go out and play that way. There is no other explanation, 3 in 3 weeks?
I didn't see the Gonchar hit first hand but like Antzmarching wrote he's been in the league for a while and doesn't have a dirty label. Jones maybe didn't before, but he's a Flyer now. It seems to happen as soon as that orange sweater is put on. Is the league waiting for the Flyers to kill someone before they act?
Antzmarching as a cap fan you'd know that Ovechkin has a past himself. He went after Briere and tried to take his head off once last year. He's a head hunter. He'll get his someday. But your right about Gonchar. You probably remember him when he played for the Crapitals. he never was involved with anything dirty.
I wouldn't call Ovechkin a head hunter - that's a little over the top, but you are certainly entitled to your opinion... If the time comes when someone wants to nail OV, he'll stand up like a man and take it... Then, of course, they'll have Big Donald Brashear to deal with - possibly the only man in the NHL to hold his own with Georges Laraque... But anyway, Sergei is a good guy and a very good offensive defenseman - I always liked him in DC...
Having only seen the play in question from my living room its difficult to say if one can determine the intent of the Philadelphia player. It is though crystal clear that he initiated a dangerous collision that could have resulted in serious injury to the Boston player. I have not been privy to the other collision that is alluded to in this article so I can't comment on the lack of disciplinary action in that case.
1) OK, been away for the afternoon so we'll try to catch up a bit here:
2) Ron: We respectfully disagree with your assertion that Gonchar's hit 'wasn't dirty'. We feel he DID cross the line. We DO agree with you that he doesn't have a history of that kind of play, but none-the-less the replay clearly shows he went high at Bouillon and should have received at least a comparable suspension to Jones'
3) Offthepost: Wow! Must have been an awful site to see. Thankfully it sounds like Bergeron should be OK, but those 15 or so mins while he was supine and motionless were difficult to watch
4) Antz: We agree Ovechkin plays with an edge to him, and seems to love to initiate body contact, but except for the one incident that Ron alludes to in Buffalo last year, we can recall no other questionable hits that he has been involved with. Ron fails to recall the spear that the Penguins Oprik put on the Russian LW 2 seasons ago
5) All in al we're happy with the interesting discussion this post has elicited from some of our readers.
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