Another night in the NHL Playoffs and low and behold there is more controversy. The venom spewing out of Chicago relates to last nights game in which Raffi Torres of the Coyotes delivered an open ice hit on Hawks forward Marian Hossa. No penalty was called on the boom - boom play but watch the replay, and I have issues.
Sure Hossa had his head down and never saw the hit coming. However, Torres still leaves his feet to propel himself at the defenceless Slovak. Fortunately Hossa was released from a Chicago hospital last night after being removed from the ice on a stretcher. My issue??? Raffi Torres has made this an annual habit. Last night was a year to the day he drove Brent Seabrook into next week behind the Hawks net while he was with the Canucks; again leaving both feet. Earlier this year he was suspended for head butting Nate Prossed of Minnesota and on four seperate occasions the NHL has suspended him, twice for leaving his feet to hit a defenceless player.
I am a hockey fan and the golden rule is keep your head up and you shouldn't get hurt. I am all for a clean, open ice hit on a guy with his head down, but why jump Raffi Torres? You have done this over and over and I sincerely hope you get the message this time in the form of a suspension of no less than ten games. Matt Cooke finally learned his lesson, let's hope Torres either learns how to play within the rules or NHL teams stop bringing him in as an energy player. Fingers crossed that Brendan Shanahan get it right on this one.
The Washington Capitals take on the Boston Bruins tonight in Game Four of their Eastern Conference QF and will do so without Nicklas Backstrom who will be serving a one game suspension for his cross check to the face of Boston's Rich Peverley. This morning the Capitals organization released a statement that voiced this displeasure and disappointement with the decision of the league to uphold the suspension that came with the match penalty he earned at the end of Game Three. Really, you don't think a guy should be punished for driving a guy in the face with a hockey stick? I wonder what the opinion of the Capitals would be if Zdeno Chara does the same to Ovechkin tonight? My guess is there tune would shift in a millisecond. That is what I find frustrating; all teams want to clean up the game but nobody thinks their players deserve to be punished.
I wish I could say something about the Riders for Tad who occassionally drops a comment but I have been so engrained by the playoffs and the intensity that goes with it, I have been completely naive of anything going on in Rider Nation. Patience please, camp is only a month and a week away and then this blog will be nothing BUT Riders.
I would like to add I tweeted my picks to score the winners in last night's Hawks/Coyotes game and don't you think I called it...Boeddker for the desert dogs. In saying that, I did only get one game right last night. Tonight look for the following; the Flyers end the Penguins season in a game that could be VERY ugly if things go the way of the Flyers early and often, the Bruins take a 3 - 1 lead on the Caps which will only enhance the wine and cheese smell emanating from the American capital, the Blues fall to the Sharks as the Sharks square things up heading back to the heartland and the Los Angeles Kings assure us all of a new Western Conference Champion as they break out the broom at Staples and sweep the Canucks, a result most Canadians outside of BC will embrace.
Lastly, seventh heaven in the WHL tonight as both Western Conference series goes the distance, Spokane goes to Kennewick, WSH to take on Tri - City while the Kamloops Blazers look to do the unthinkable and move on after falling behind 3 - 0 in the series. For the record the Blazers were also down 5 - 2 heading into the third period of Game Six. I for one #believe in the Blazers....
Later....
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