A Sickening Display of “Sport”

I love hockey. So please understand how serious I take what I'm about to write.

My love for the sports parallels the Penguins’ rise to prominence, lead by a quiet (usually) French Canadian simply known as “Le Magnifique.” And yet, I clearly remember watching Michelle Dion and the Pens nearly pull one of the greatest playoff upsets in sports history against the Islander dynasty in 1982.

Those Islander teams were amongst the greatest of all time. They were blessed with a roster full of hall of fame players. They were not saints, but for the most part played the game the right way. Three decades later, their successors put on one of the most shameful displays in NHL history.

I’m not sure what was worse; the beer league goonism and thugery the Islanders perpetrated under the guise of “settling a score,” or the pathetic see no evil response from their coach and general manager. To hear Jack Capuano and Garth Snow tell it, their team of choir boys was simply defending themselves from the likes of the evil Eric Tangradi.

I guess that explains why the legendary Matt Martin felt the need to give Max Talbot the Todd Bertuzzi treatment. I guess that’s why Trevor Gillies skated half the rink to drive his elbow through Tangradi’s cranium, punch him while he was clearly injured and then taunt him while he was laying face first on the ice. So much for getting tough on head injuries.

Let me be as clear as possible on this so there is no misunderstanding where I stand on this. Gillies' actions in that sequence were possibly the most sickening display I’ve seen in over 30 years of watching sports. It was the single most disgraceful act of a game that was a complete disgrace to the sport.

Seriously, what does it say for the Islanders that Martin tried to end Talbot’s season with a cheap sucker punch from behind and it was only the second worst display of the night? And there was an ample supply of other candidates.

All of this occurred because the Islanders apparently felt the need to avenge a questionable hit by Talbot in the last meeting and Brent Johnson’s one punch TKO of Rick DiPietro. Frankly I would think the Islanders would pin a metal on Johnson for taking DiPietro out of the line-up but that’s an argument for a different day. I guess I’m struggling to understand how fighting is an accepted part of the game unless your guy loses. Then its justification to run Johnson and his teammates all night long.

The NHL was apparently incensed in word though not in deed. They admonished both players for “deliberate attempt to injure” and then gave them slap on the wrist suspensions. I’m sorry but when you acknowledge that somebody “deliberately attempted to injure an opponent,” that player’s season should be over. It goes against every principle of organized team sports to purposefully injure an opponent. Even James Harrison acknowledged that. When there are multiple acts as such over 60 minutes, the offending organization and coach should be severely punished.

Apparently the fact that Talbot was lucky enough to duck and avoid a fractured jaw makes the act less egregious, at least in the eyes of the all knowing and all powerful Colin Campbell.

I recognize that the NHL fined the Islanders $100,000 and in doing so sent a bit of a message. That said, whether the Islanders are cheap or not, that’s chump change for a professional sports franchise. What absolutely should have happened is additional fines and a suspension for Islanders coach Jack Capuano who at best turned a blind eye to his team’s obvious intentions, at worse encouraged it.

I commented after the game were that anything less than 20 game suspensions for both Martin and Gilles would leave me outraged. Well guess what…I’m outraged. If I thought my voice carried any weight, I would publicly admonish the league for this tragic miscarriage of sports justice. Thankfully, Mario Lemieux took care of it for me.

Let’s take a step back though. Any non Pittsburgh fan who reads this is going to interpret it as a one sided rant by an angry Penguin fan. I do not deny my anger; my impression is that the Islanders caused most of this; but there is a bigger issue here. In short, what happened Friday night was inevitable.

I’ve never hidden the fact that I’m not a fan of fighting in the NHL. I believe it’s unnecessary and that it cheapens and demeans what is otherwise a great sport. It’s amazing to me that something deemed so necessary all but disappears in the playoffs. It’s even more amazing that people feel that two 4th line goons fighting has more effect on the game than Brooks Orpik crushing a guy with a clean, legal check. The only thing I hate worse than fighting is the pathetic attempts to justify it as a necessary act of “policing the game.”

Did the Islanders look like they were “policing the game” on Friday night?

That said, I have reluctantly accepted fighting for years as part of the game’s culture. I grudgingly gave the league credit for eliminating bench clearing brawls and for gradually siphoning fighting from the game. If fighting was limited to the occasional Eric Godard versus Colton Orr scrap to fire up the crowd, I could live with it. If it was occasionally used to avenge say Adam Grave’s criminal slash on Lemieux in 1992 or Matt Cooke’s hit on Marc Savard last year, I could deal with it.

After seeing three brawl filled games this week, and the NHL’s meager response I fear that’s no longer the case. It’s even worse that the league tries to depict its response as aggressive. The impotent punishments from the league in response to Friday night’s horrific actions are nothing less than a tacit endorsement of what went on. For all of Campbell’s tough talk, only three players left the arena with anything more than additional PIMs.

If the NHL wants to protect fighting’s limited role in the game, I guess that’s their right. If the players truly believe that a limited amount of fighting is necessary, I can continue to accept it in extreme moderation. That said, the travesty of sport that occurred Friday night on Long Island can not be allowed under any circumstances. It is indefensible on any level for a civilized sport. It’s the latest example of a league that continually sabotages any chance for mainstream acceptance.

The movie Slapshot was supposed to be a parody of a bygone era or minor league hockey. It was not supposed to be replayed in earnest by “supposed” NHL players.

The Penguins are not innocent bystanders in this. It does not help their cause that they lead the league in fighting majors. Nor does it help them that Matt Cooke is forcefully growing his reputation as one of the dirtiest players in the game. That does not excuse what went on Friday night in Long Island but it’s clear that the Pens are earning an ugly reputation around the NHL.

A year ago I praised the Pens for becoming a genuinely tough and physical team to play against. This year they seem to be morphing in to their neighbors to the east.

That said, this is bigger than the Penguins and bigger than what happened on Friday night. The simple act of allowing fighting in the sport opens up the doors to that kind of breakdown. The refusal of the league to take truly aggressive action against such an embarrassing display emboldens every other franchise. What’s to stop any other team from bringing up a few minor league hacks to rough up any player who dares throw a body check? I realize the Islanders are not a playoff team (or an NHL team in my opinion) but do you really think losing Matt Martin for four games is going to affect them?

Again, I love hockey and I was thoroughly disgusted by what happened Friday night. The game had the same effect on me that it had on Lemieux; it made me question whether I want to continue to be a part of the sport I love. The NHL remains a niche sport in the United States. When it starts offending its most die hard fans, it’s in serious trouble. The league can not continue to let a minority of backward minded Canadians determine its destiny. It must stop catering to the barbaric Don Cherry and Mike Milbury mentality, or risk destroying itself.

What happened Friday night was a sickening and disgraceful display. Kris Letang and Dan Bylsma said it was not hockey, I saw it was not even sport. It served only to embarrass the National Hockey League and the teams involved, regardless of who was ultimately at fault.
The league had to send a strong message that this was unacceptable on any level. As Lemieux clearly stated today, they failed.

Bruins the Cure for My Penguin Depression

I’ve never been a person who treads on the misfortunate of others to make myself feel better in bad times. Sadness is sadness and it should not be relative to other people.

And yet...

Even as I continue to deal with the shock and disappointment resulting from the Penguins season ending meltdown against Montreal, even as I try and come to grips with my Penguin sadness, I find myself falling back on this disturbingly comforting thought; at least I’m not a Boston Bruin’s fan today.

I’ve been watching sports for the better part of three decades and I’m fairly certain that I’ve never seen a choke to rival what the Bruins did over the last week. Seriously, not once in 30 years. This one stands on its own.

It was not sufficient for Boston to blow a 3 games to none lead; making them just the 4th team in North American sports history to do so. Such and accomplishment is cause for more than sufficient infamy in and of itself. No, the Bruins had to take it one giant step further. They somehow gathered themselves in the face of the monumental pressure of said choke and stormed out to a 3 to 0 lead…AT HOME…in game 7. And then, faster than you can say James Van Riemsdyk, they blew that lead as well.

I wonder if Boston coach Claude Julien is already sending out resumes. At the very least, I hope he’s hired a good head hunter. I will be shocked beyond shocked if he’s still employed by this time next week.

Just to be clear here, I’m not ignoring the accomplishments of the Eastern Pennsylvania Orange and Black Goon Squad, while I bash Boston. I may hate anything and everything related to that hockey team but even I have to tip my cap to this. Yes the Bruins choked but you have to give the Goons credit for making it happen with incredible resiliency. I do not know if they will win the Stanley Cup, but I’ll give them credit for displaying the heart of a champion. That’s something that could not often be said about the Goons going back to the start of the Lindros era.

Never in a million years did I think I would write something like this but it is sadly true. If the Penguins had shown half as much resiliency in their series as the Goons did in theirs, I would be writing about a second all Pennsylvania conference finals in three years. Remember, they won in spite of rotating third string goalies and playing parts of the series without Jeff Carter and Simone (American Cheese) Gagne.

See how bad the Penguins’ loss really is? It puts me in the awkward position of praising Philadelphia and thanking Boston. Thanking the Bruins for making me realize that in sports, no matter how bad things look, it can be worse.

I know the Penguins let us down against Montreal. I know that to a man, they underachieved and played poorly. And yet as a fan, I find that loss far less agonizing than what occurred in Bean Town. For better or for worse, we could see the signs of it coming all through the series. The lack of consistent offense, especially at even strength, the defensive zone breakdowns, the MIA status of Sid and Geno, and the struggles of MAF made it abundantly clear. At least to me.

In contrast, imagine if the Pens had gone up 3 games to none on Montreal and then lost the series. Imagine if they had jumped out to a 3 to 0 lead in game 7…ON HOME ICE…and lost. I’m sorry but that would have been about a million times worse.

So thank you Boston from the bottom of my heart. You took a genuinely lousy week in my hockey life made it just a tiny bit easier to accept.

With that, my completely meaningless third round playoff predictions. I mean I’m 5 and 7 through two rounds which means a reasonably trained monkey, or Liverant, could probably do just as well or better. Since said monkey was not available in time for this column…

Montreal Canadiens (8) vs the Eastern Pennsylvania Orange and Black Goon Squad (7)

I’ll just come out and say it…I have no clue. I’ve never been as sure of anything in sports as I was that these two teams would not get out of the first round of the playoffs and here they are in the conference finals. So how to I pick a winner?

My natural bias is to predict Montreal for two good reasons.

First, I just watched the Habs take out the Pens (every darn stinking moment of it) and before that the Craps and look darn impressive doing so.

Second, and perhaps more important, they are playing Philadelphia.

Just so nobody thinks I’m going soft here; the Goons are still the Goons. I may have devoted 200 or so words to praising them above but it’s a long way from that to predicting them to go to the Stanley Cup finals.

Beyond that, Jaroslav Halak has gone Giggy on the eastern conference and there is little reason to believe it will stop here. In deference to Rosie, I will stop knocking the Goons goaltending. I figured Brian Boucher and now Michael Leighton would be no match for either Tuukka Rask or the ghost of Marty Brodeur and I was wrong both times. So I will not even mention my belief that Leighton does not match up with Halak (oops).

Besides, it was not just a one man effort for the Habs. Michael Cammalleri was brilliant offensively and the entire Montreal blue line should take a bow for their performance. I will also credit the Montreal coaching for some exceptional strategy.

Finally, I do think Montreal has this team of destiny thing going for them. The ghosts of Les Habitants have awoken north of the boarder…Habs in 6.

San Jose Sharks (1) vs Chicago Blackhawks (2)

Ok, a few off ice thoughts on this series.

First, we’ve avoided the DOOM scenario. For those of you who do not know, my lovely fiancé and rabid Blackhawks fan Emily has been predicting DOOM since last summer. DOOM in this case was defined as a Penguin/Blackhawk Stanley Cup final starting 48 hours after our wedding. Two weeks ago she announced…”ALL ROADS LEAD TO DOOM.”

To be crystal clear, I’m not happy about the way we avoided doom. I’m just saying that for better or for worse, we did avoid it. Again, give me lemons and I’ll squeeze out some drop of lemonade.

Second, I’m not unbiased here either. I’ve lived in Chicago for 15 years and I genuinely like the Hawks. They’ve put together a team that is very easy to like. I will not say that a Hawks Stanley Cup victory will make me feel better about the Pens losing. That being said, with our boys out of it and my conflicts reluctantly resolved, I’ll be with my fiancé rooting hard for the Hawks. Quite honestly, I think it’s their year, just as I did the Pens last year.

The Hawks remind me quite a bit of last year’s Penguins. They are a deep, talented, and versatile team, with a lot of guys that quite frankly are easy to like. They play an up tempo, entertaining brand of hockey. No trap in the windy city, coach Q will not allow it. And I thoroughly enjoyed watching them slice up those slash and run pansies from Vancouver.

Indeed, if the Scotty Bowman’s kid had not thrown a 12 year, big money contract at some Slovakian guy who used to play for Detroit I would have nary a beef with the current team. Well with the caveat that I do not lose any sleep over Dale Tallon’s hangover induced signing of Cristobal Huet two years ago.

Even the Huet move has been overcome thanks to the strong play of Antti Niemi. Here is something Pittsburgh fans should appreciate. Many in the “never let the facts get in the way of a good story” national media and many uninformed fans try to play the Hawks goaltending as a weakness. Much like Fleury bashing, it’s a lazy and convenient story. And it’s just not true.

Huet was terrible the second half of the year and I’ll give you that Niemi is inexperienced. That being said, Niemi has been solid between the pipes all year. He ripped the starting job from Huet, played far better than the washed up Nikoli Khabibuhlin did last season, and convinced the Hawks not to trade for another netminder. Suggesting he was a better than Luongo last series is on par with stating that Disque has thicker hair than I do.

The Hawks road will not be easy. You’ll note that I’m no longer referring to San Jose as the Chokes. They were brilliant against Detroit and that includes the usual fold up like a cheap suit trio of Joe Thornton, Patrick Marleau and Johnny Nabokov. They are getting great play from Eric Pavelski (or is it Joe Lewbart?). From top to bottom, they’ve showed a post season character that was not evident in prior years.

That being said, I like what I see from the Hawks. I believe that Rocky’s boys are on the road to ending a half century Stanley Cup drought, and even the new and improved Sharks will not stand in their way. In spite of getting zero goals from their prized offseason acquisition…Hawks in 6.

And if I’m wrong…well at least I’m not a Bruin fan.