2006/2007 Hockey Season Thread

[Toe]

Montreal has offered a contract to Souray, Balsille has acquired the rights from Hamilton to bring a team to Copps Coliseum (although the NHL probably will say no to that) and Mats Sundin gets a second doctor saying he needs no surgery and continues to talk contract with the Leafs.

Ottawa needs to win both games at home to have a chance here. If they drop one of these next two, they are definitly done.

[The Sultan of Swank]

I seriously hope that Montreal doesn't re-sign Souray. With players like Plekanec, Komisarek, Higgins and Ryder all up for RFA or UFA, they're all going to get nice pay raises for their play last season, plus with Montreal wanting to get a 30-40 goal scorer on the team and some size, spending another 5-6 mil on a player clearly not worth the cash would cripple our season.

[Toe]

I seriously hope that Montreal doesn't re-sign Souray. With players like Plekanec, Komisarek, Higgins and Ryder all up for RFA or UFA, they're all going to get nice pay raises for their play last season, plus with Montreal wanting to get a 30-40 goal scorer on the team and some size, spending another 5-6 mil on a player clearly not worth the cash would cripple our season.

[AJ]

I know absolutely nothing about hockey but I'm actually kinda getting into this game that's on at the mo.

[gunnar hendershow]

I'm all for guys hititng other players hard and stuff, but do it cleanly. That Pronger elbow looked all sorts of intentional.

I'm curious to see if the NHL will do anything about it.

[Gabriel]

The Pronger elbow was uncalled for, and I think we've seen the last of him until next season.

Anaheim and Ottawa were very evenly matched tonight, and it made for an exciting game. Sucks for Anaheim that they lost, but they can take a moral victory home knowing that one of the goals was kicked in, and the other went in off their own player.

Just wanted to add a tidbit though... Pronger's elbow was nasty, yes... but CBC showed a highlight package of Mike Fisher's hits from the game, and less than half were clean hits. What bothered me most of all about Ottawa's reaction to Pronger's elbow though, was that Chris Neil, Ottawa's resident dirty hit specialist, was the guy who got in everyone's face about it... fuck you Chris Neil... you're a piece of shit for acting like what Pronger did was a cardinal sin, when you do things just as bad. Jesus...

If game four is anything like game three was, it'll be a hell of a game... but I can't see Anaheim giving Ottawa as many chances as they got tonight. The Senators came out tonight playing a different game, and kudos to them, but the Ducks will have adjusted to that by Monday night, and they should take back the advantage, even with one of their top players (likely) out of the lineup.

[Toe]

I was really hoping for the sweep from Anaheim. That would have been fun to see, especially in the off-season.

That elbow by Pronger was fun to watch in a bar full of drunk people though, just hilarious.

[Clawson]

Pronger hit somebody dirty. Alfie got special treatment. What else is new in these playoffs?

[The Sultan of Swank]

Heh, it's like the Sundin Syndrome a lot of Refs seem to have. Clearly yes, Pronger gave a forearm smash in the hit and it was dirty, but for a team to then complain about it when they've got some of the dirtiest players in the league who've been throwing dirt all night is just classless. It's like when I believe it was Pahlsson who was trying to get under Spezza's skin in game 2 or 3 and Spezza decides to choke up on his stick, turn it so the end of the blade faces down and use it to slash at Pahlsson in the side. Ooga booga, when Spezza actually plays like a complete player and plays the body, you know it's an intense series.

[Guest Grapehead]

Rahahaha, Chris Neil hits Drury in something of a debateable hit, and now he's the "dirtiest" player? Haha, you guys are classic. Show me 10 OTHER Neil hits that are even close to what Pronger did, and I'll admit Neil is dirty, but until then, stop your belly-aching cause your respective teams couldn't get this far.

[Gabriel]

Rahahaha, Chris Neil hits Drury in something of a debateable hit, and now he's the "dirtiest" player? Haha, you guys are classic. Show me 10 OTHER Neil hits that are even close to what Pronger did, and I'll admit Neil is dirty, but until then, stop your belly-aching cause your respective teams couldn't get this far.

[The Sultan of Swank]

What I was trying to say before you went off on a defensive spat laced with an insult at the end was exactly what CZWGabe said. Especially the most defensive person part. I wasn't knocking the Senators, I was saying that Neil is a dirty hitter which I feel is true. And the fact that it comes back at the Sens, and it's as though someone insulted the Leafs within earshot of DesiredToe.

If I were getting upset and trying to insult players for being dirty I would talk about the Emery stick swinging incident that should have netted at least a 7 game suspension or Heatley getting drunk and killing Dan Snyder then getting 3 years probation when he should be in prison for vehicular manslaughter being someone's bitch.

And just for the end comment, if Ottawa doesn't win the cup, which I hope they don't. You will eat those words.

Edit:

Grapehead, if you want a demonstration of Neil giving off a dirty hit, it was directed to my attention that if you go onto your tivo or dvr or what have you, and go to the

12:16 mark of the second period you can clearly see Neil take 6 strides and then put both forearms into the head of Andy McDonald. Neil was not trying to separate the man from the puck with a body check, he was trying to send a message and he was trying to hit McDonald as hard as he could in the head. But, McDonald was not hurt so there is no outcry and Neil is not suspended.

Edited June 3, 2007 by The Sultan of Swank

[Toe]

What I was trying to say before you went off on a defensive spat laced with an insult at the end was exactly what CZWGabe said. Especially the most defensive person part. I wasn't knocking the Senators, I was saying that Neil is a dirty hitter which I feel is true. And the fact that it comes back at the Sens, and it's as though someone insulted the Leafs within earshot of DesiredToe.

If I were getting upset and trying to insult players for being dirty I would talk about the Emery stick swinging incident that should have netted at least a 7 game suspension or Heatley getting drunk and killing Dan Snyder then getting 3 years probation when he should be in prison for vehicular manslaughter being someone's bitch.

And just for the end comment, if Ottawa doesn't win the cup, which I hope they don't. You will eat those words.

Edit:

Grapehead, if you want a demonstration of Neil giving off a dirty hit, it was directed to my attention that if you go onto your tivo or dvr or what have you, and go to the

12:16 mark of the second period you can clearly see Neil take 6 strides and then put both forearms into the head of Andy McDonald. Neil was not trying to separate the man from the puck with a body check, he was trying to send a message and he was trying to hit McDonald as hard as he could in the head. But, McDonald was not hurt so there is no outcry and Neil is not suspended.

Again with this debate, but the fact that a star player like McDonald was not hurt means no suspension from the league. Just like when Lapierre got Emery's Home Run Swing into his face, the fact that he wore a visor and was not injured in the play means that Emery gets a light what? 3 game suspension when if Lapierre didn't wear a visor it would have been 10-15 easy.

[Clawson]

That Pronger hit wasn't as bad as some people are making it out to be. The Holmstrom hit was worse, here he just got his elbow up finishing a check. Still worth a suspension I'd say, but one game is enough.

And it's fun to think Ottawa traded a ball kicker for a murderer.

[Guest Grapehead]

hahahaha. Dany Heatley certainly deserved more than what he got for his crime, but that's not within the realm of hockey, and thus I wouldn't exactly debate it during a discussion on dirty/not dirty hits. If Neil actually took it out on someone from the Ducks other than Pronger, with actual intent to injure, I'd be the first to agree with you guys(I didn't see him hit McDonald, I'll look into that though). However, in all the years I've watched Ottawa, and followed the play of Chris Neil, I've never labeled him as a dirty hitter, he's had questionable ones, as everyone has(ex. Scott Stevens), but again I never saw him as a "dirty hitter". Schubert got away with a questionable hit against Pittsburgh, Alfredsson got away with a questionable hit against Buffalo, as did Schaefer. Sometimes you can see human error in bad checks, whether it's an excuse or not, but honestly there's no human error in what Pronger did, for either of his suspensions, as he KNEW that he was using his elbow and using it on someones head. I see a difference between bumping someone in an awkward position and them hitting the boards dangerously, and using a stiff part of your body to hit someone in the head. I'm not CONDONING what Schubert, Alfredsson, or Schaefer did, I'm saying I see a difference between those hits and I wouldn't compare them. All the hits listed in this post deserved some kind of discipline(including Neil, although like I said I didnt see the hit yet so I couldn't say for sure). It's stupid to say Ottawa can't complain, or make noise about a dirty hit because of what happened in the past. That's like if Bertuzzi had his face smashed off the ice, would you say he should just suck it up since he did it to someone else? Do two wrongs make a right kids? No. So whether Ottawa players have made dirty hits in the past and the NHL didn't discipline them, doesn't mean the NHL should just ignore when an Ottawa player gets injured. I would like to see consistancy, and if you ever watched a game with me, you'd know I'm the first to say Ottawa got away with a penalty, or there was a weak call against the other team.

PS- Clawson, Havlat was Ottawa's resident ball kicker, not Hossa who was traded for Heatley

Edited June 3, 2007 by Grapehead

[Gabriel]

Chris Neil's been leaving his feet on checks, holding people and he's thrown a few glove-on punches at people's faces in the first three games of this series alone. That's why I'm labeling him as dirty.

Mike Fisher is a worse offender when it comes to actual hits though, as he seems to have a tendency to bodycheck people's legs.

I'm not an Anaheim fan, by any means, so I'm not making excuses...but like you said, I'd like to see consistency in the calls. Pronger deserved his suspension. But how many other guys have gotten away with hits just as bad this year in the playoffs and received absolutely nothing for them? It's not consistent, and that is a problem.

Ottawa plays a physical game on par with Anaheim in terms of who is cleaner or dirtier. That's why it's kind of funny to see Ottawa's goon-ish guys going apeshit when an Duck hits one of their players, clean or not.

[Guest Grapehead]

Chris Neil's been leaving his feet on checks, holding people and he's thrown a few glove-on punches at people's faces in the first three games of this series alone. That's why I'm labeling him as dirty.

Mike Fisher is a worse offender when it comes to actual hits though, as he seems to have a tendency to bodycheck people's legs.

I'm not an Anaheim fan, by any means, so I'm not making excuses...but like you said, I'd like to see consistency in the calls. Pronger deserved his suspension. But how many other guys have gotten away with hits just as bad this year in the playoffs and received absolutely nothing for them? It's not consistent, and that is a problem.

Ottawa plays a physical game on par with Anaheim in terms of who is cleaner or dirtier. That's why it's kind of funny to see Ottawa's goon-ish guys going apeshit when an Duck hits one of their players, clean or not.

[Clawson]

Yet Ottawa has a tendency to do it when their guys go down like that then cry when the other team does it to them. I've seen it enough times during the Battle of Ottawa, when everytime Tucker gets somebody back people like Neil start to whine instead of actually trying to do something about it.

It's probably the main reason why I can't stand Ottawa, and would honestly prefer to see Montreal win the Cup over them even though their is 90+ years of history there. Atleast they manage to show class more often then not.

[Plubby]

"home run swing"

I want a set of these Habs Blinders. I could believe anything I wanted!

[The Sultan of Swank]

Haha, Plubby, they're a magnificent thing, but c'mon, that was a pretty vicious swing. The uppercut with the stick would have made Jaxx jealous. That being said, Perezhobitch could rival Bonds with the way he swings his stick.

Also, I don't think people complained about Tucker because he was hitting them, I think it's because Tucker is probably one of the larger "bitch" players in the league. I mean, he only fought Bouillon after laying him out with a contender for dirtiest hit of the year, and please feel free to youtube it for yourself to watch, then subsequently got dropped with a 1 punch KO. You had to know next game it was on if only because he got embarassed. But in all seriousness, and it's not because I'm a Habs fan, I just find Tucker to be the type of player to slash, board, hit from behind, spear, and bitch about it everytime when someone hits him back or knocks him silly. It's like slapping another man in the face then running behind McCabe.