First off, could I have been more wrong about the Chicago - Vancouver game from last night. Whereas I said the Hawks would come out flat and cede the series to the Canucks, the exact opposite happened. The Hawks were full of life, and looked like the defending Stanley Cup Champion in a 7 - 2 rout at the United Centre. The night for the Hawks was summed up by the performance of captain Duncan Keith who on one shift had three hits, albeit took a penalty for his actions, and then thirty seconds after getting out of the bin buried one past Luongo to give Chicago a 3 - 1 lead.
For me the lasting impression of last night's game was the performance by Canucks blueliner Kevin Bieksa. After getting his bell rung by Victor Stalberg of the Hawks, Bieksa showed hit true grit and toughness by jumping Stalberg who we all know is well known for his actions with his fists. While I am okay with a guy taking his frustrations out, and to Stalberg's credit, despite being bloodied, mouthed Bieksa off all the way to the box. What gets me is Bieksa's demeanor after the game in saying 'he got what he deserved.' So what, you ring a guy's bell and in turn you should just expect to get jumped and beaten up. The actions of Bieksa just give me more reason to cheer AGAINST the Canucks.
What was greater last night? The Sharks comeback win, or the Kings implosion after jumping out to a four goal lead. Look for Dustin Penner and his piano to be square in the middle of the King's bench come Game Four. For that matter, he may have to drag his Baby Grand up to the Press Box. The guy absolutely loafed it back, leaving Devin Setoguchi completely untouched and free to score the game winner. Thank God he isn't an Oiler anymore. And to think, we got a first rounder for that? That's like trading lobster for frozen weiners.
That's all....tonight you can expect:
The Cap's to finally put some goals on the board and take a 3 - 1 series lead
The Predators to put the Ducks on the ropes, and.....
The Coyotes season does NOT come to an end but the fans in Phoenix should enjoy it as this will be their last game in Arizona..
Later
The Stalberg thing was the fault of no one but the ref who tossed John Scott and Raffi Torres out of the game. It seemed like Torres was ready to man up and go, which is admirable if you've ever seen John Scott fight even other heavyweights. (see: http://www.hockeyfights.com/fights/99328).
ReplyDeleteThe problem created by kicking those two out without letting them go, was that the Blackhawks felt they still had to avenge the Seabrook hit (rightfully so), but this wouldn't have been the case if Scott had been allowed to do his thing on Torres. So then, you've got a dipshit like Stalberg running around and hitting and slashing guys because he's caught up in the moment and is too dumb to know what's going to result from this (see: Kopecky vs. Beauchemin as another example of the type of lack of understanding at work here- http://www.hockeyfights.com/fights/657480).
Bieksa, a beauty of a hockey player in my books, does exactly what I would have expected of him and gives Stalberg a wake-up call.
Thing is, as of right now, the Blackhawks still have a score to settle (maybe even two if they think Bieksa went too far). So now, you've got Scott still needing to settle things with Torres, you've got someone (probably also Scott) needing to settle things with Bieksa, and you're still going to see Seabrook take a run at Torres next season.
But none of this probably would have happened in the absence of the instigator rule which would have allowed the Hawks to kick the crap out of Torres on the spot when he hit Seabrook. Then the ref compounds the problem by not letting nature take its course at the end of last game.
The only way to get rid of cheap shots in hockey is to let the John Scotts of the world have free reign to give the Raffi Torres of the world what's coming to them.
Of course if you listen to Dan Marouelli and Kerry Fraser analyse the call, you might think the situation had been diffused by kicking out Scott and Torres.
I'm thinking Kerry Fraser needs a couple of Beachemin lefts to that Stephen Harper-esque hair helmet he's sporting.
Scott
Well said as always Scotty. I am hitting Montreal today and looks like McGill is on the itinerary...if I drop your name can I expect a discount on some merchandise
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