To say this was an interesting week in the National Hockey League would be an understatement. Last week in Pittsburgh, we saw a fight-filled affair that featured a scrap between goalies Brent Johnson and Rick DiPietro.
That was the precursor to a 1970s-style game in Boston on Wednesday night. The game had 14 goals, 12 fighting majors, and 180 minutes in penalties. There probably should have been more than that too. No suspensions were handed out, although perhaps some discipline for coach Claude Julien would have been warranted for sending out goons like Shawn Thornton and Johnny Boychuk in the last minute of a three-goal game. Adam McQuaid got a double-minor for roughing, for essentially beating up Max Pacioretty for no reason. Tim Thomas and Carey Price “fought”.
I’m not going to lie, I was excited to see it. My roommates and I leapt from our seats and sat on the floor in front of our TV like six-year-olds watching Saturday morning cartoons. The only difference being we sat there pounding the floor yelling “Goalie fight! Goalie fight!” It’s no secret the fans like fighting, especially when the tenders get involved.
Most of the action in the Boston-Montreal game was fair. Hits that could be interpreted as cheap shots led to scrums, which led to fights. I have no problem with that. Sticking up for a teammate is fair game. When the Bruins enforcers started beating up on the Canadiens’ skill players in the final minute of play, that’s where I draw the line. I highly doubt Jaroslav Spacek and Tom Pyatt were interested in fighting at that point. The NHL could have sent a message to other teams by reprimanding Julien and his band of enforcers.
Which leads in to last night’s debauchery on Long Island. It was re-match of the Islanders and Penguins, and it made the Bruins-Habs game look tame. 65 penalties, 14 fighting majors, 11 game misconducts resulting in 10 players being tossed. In total, a whopping 346 penalty minutes. And most of it was highly unnecessary.
One of the first incidents of the night was John Tavares’ two-handed slash to the ankle of Kris Letang. Tavares received a two-minute minor for slashing, and was allowed to stay in the game. It was a blatant attempt to injure, and he should face a fine at the very least. Bobby Clarke would have been proud of this one.
Then the fireworks really began.
In last week’s game, Max Talbot laid a “questionable” hit on Blake Comeau. I saw it. Didn’t have an issue with it. If the Islanders did, they should have had someone fight Talbot. He’d be more than willing to oblige, and that could have been the end of it.
But instead, Matt Martin attacked Talbot from behind in an incident that looked eerily similar to Todd Bertuzzi on Steve Moore. Martin skated up behind Talbot, dropped his gloves and fired a sucker punch. He didn’t connect, and it’s difficult to tell whether he eased up or Talbot felt it coming. From there, Martin, Travis Hamonic, and Josh Bailey of the Islanders were ejected. Deryk Engelland, Pascal Dupuis and Michael Rupp of the Pens got the boot. Talbot was on the ice getting beaten down, and did not getting a fighting major. The Islanders obviously felt there was more work to be done.
Under five minutes into the third period Trevor Gillies took a run at Pens’ rookie Eric Tangradi, flying in from the side and elbowing him in the head. Gillies struck Tangradi with so much force that he fell over himself. When he got up, Tangradi was holding his hands to his head in obvious pain. Gillies decided it would be appropriate to drop his gloves and start pounding on his innocent victim’s head. Isles’ enforcer Micheal Haley, called up for this game, went after Talbot. The two fought, and that should have been it.
Of course not.
After Haley finished with Talbot, he skated down the ice to get some revenge on Johnson. The Pittsburgh goalie accepted the challenge (when he really shouldn’t have to). Penguins enforcer Eric Godard came off the bench to defend his netminder. He was ejected, and will face an automatic 10-game ban for leaving the bench in a fight.
The most despicable image to me from this come was Gillies. With Tangradi still on the ice being tended to by the trainer, Gillies was standing at the entrance to the ice near by and yelled at Tangradi. Seriously? You just attempted to knock this kid unconscious, you failed, then you tried to beat him up, and now he’s lying on the ice hurt and you’re still trying to assert your dominance. Grow up, Trevor.
And if that wasn’t enough, Zenon Konopka went after Talbot AGAIN. Both got roughing minors and 10-minute misconducts.
I sincerely hope the NHL throws the book at the New York Islanders, and throws it hard. The Islanders, who were LEADING 6-0, decided to beat down on a team who is playing with an injury-ravaged roster as they fight for a playoff spot. It’s clear the officials let this game get out of hand, but shame on the Islanders. It’s one thing to start up goonery when you’re trailing by a wide margin, but when you start that while winning, that’s just disrespectful to the game.
The Islanders are 15 points out of a playoff spot. They’re clearly not going anywhere this year. None of the players who fought are impact NHLers. The league should suspend them all a minimum of 10 games, and coach Jack Capuano as well. Why would he continue to put out these players and allow them to fight, when clearly the message had already been sent?
Handing out multiple double-digit suspensions will send a message to the rest of the league: this is hockey. Play the game. Yes, fighting is part of the game, but what happened last night in New York was not. It was a black eye on a league that is continually trying to get and keep fans. If die-hard hockey fans are upset about what happened, how does it look to people who don’t follow the league? Gary Bettman, Colin Campbell and the rest of the league’s administration can tell the world they’re serious about policing their league properly. Sadly, they likely won’t, and this kind of nonsense will continute to happen.
Full highlights on YouTube, courtesy of hockeyfights.com:
