Posted by Teddy Panos, Sun Staff
Professional hockey is a game played by incredible athletes able to do things on skates and ice that normal human beings can’t do in sneakers and dreams. It has a rich and storied history dating back to the early 1900’s.
So why hasn’t the sport ever experienced a run of popularity comparable to what baseball, basketball and football have enjoyed at various points in history? Because the National Hockey League has historically been run by a bunch of bush leaguers.
The latest example of incompetence? Bruins star forward Milan Lucic getting suspended for Monday’s Eastern Conference Playoff Game 3 against the Canadiens.
Now, don’t get me wrong. Lucic’s crime, delivering a cross-check to the face of Montreal’s Maxim Lapierre, certainly deserves harsh punishment. A ten minute misconduct and a hefty fine? You bet. A one game suspension? Only in the Bizzaro existence of the NHL.
Look, the entire hockey world can see exactly what’s going on in this series. A clearly inferior team is doing anything and everything it can to equalize the playing field/skating rink, trying to get the other team’s more skillful players off the ice by instigating situations that lead to retaliation penalties and/or injuries.
How can I be so sure about what’s going on? Because I’ve seen this game plan before. The Bruins spent most of the 70’s and 80’s trying the exact same strategy against the Canadiens.
It’s a time honored hockey tradition. If you can’t beat them, beat them up. And if you can’t beat them up, at least take the cowardly road of goading them into penalties.
Suspending Lucic only rewards Les Habitants. Watch highlights of the second game, and check out what the Bruins are doing immediately after scoring a goal. They’re hesitating slightly before celebrating, their heads on a swivel as they peek to see if a Canadiens goon is going to hit them with a sucker shot while their arms are raised.
Did you see what happened immediately after Phil Kessel scored the empty net goal to cement the Game 1 victory? Lapierre gave Kessel a completely unnecessary cheap shot, leading Lucic to defend his teammate. Did the NHL take immediate action to stop this behavior, behavior league honchos know would only escalate?
Of course not. So there was Lapierre again Saturday night, in the midst of scrum after scrum, eventually leading to the incident that cost the Black and Gold one of their best players for a game that could very well put the nail in the Canadiens coffin.
In 1993, notorious NHL bad boy Dale Hunter delivered a cheap shot on a celebrating and defenseless Pierre Turgeon immediately following a series winning overtime goal. Turgeon suffered a separated shoulder, knocking him out for the rest of the playoffs.
While Hunter had never previously done anything so stupid, he’d made a storied career out of being a Grade “A” jerk. Rather than discourage his style of play, the NHL encouraged it, routinely lauding guys like Hunter and Ken “The Rat” Linseman as “gamers” and showcasing them in All-Star games.
I’m sorry. Hockey doesn’t need “Rats” and cheap shot artists to escape its bush league image. It needs guys who play the game with skill and toughness, but play it cleanly. Until he took matters into his own hands the other night, Milan Lucic was one such player. Had the folks who run the NHL done the right thing and penalized Montreal’s nonsense early on, Lucic would have been on display to a national audience in Game 3 instead of Lapierre.
Then again, that’s probably why it’s easier to find a cheerleading competition on cable sports channels than an out-of-town hockey game.
Comments (3)
You know what's even more bizarro?? Talk to your typical Canadiens' fan and they think that what Lapierre, Komisarek, et al are doing is perfectly okay but it's Lucic who's a "goon".
Oh well, hopefully the B's put les Habs out on the golf course tomorrow night and their fans can do their whining (and boo-ing) of their home team on their local radio and local papers.
The sad thing for the Habs is that 2nd and 3rd line players like Kobasew are simply outworking top line players like Koivu and Kovalev. If those guys would at least show up this would have some semblance of a series but they've already backed their sticks away in favor of golf clubs by the look of it.
Posted by dboisver | April 21, 2009 9:35 AM
Posted on April 21, 2009 09:35
They've checked out because they realized early on they were an inferior team, both in skill and toughness. You see, when a couple of your top players are also your toughest, that's difficult for cowards to overcome.
They can't knock Chara off his game, because not only is he the best defenseman on the ice, he'd also kick Canadien tail up and down the ice...and he can do so legally, without taking cheap shots or being a goon. Same goes for Lucic. It's like the late 80's, when Cam Neely was beating the bejesus out of the Habs in the corners, then breaking their backs by scoring goals, too. So what they do is go after Kessel, Savard...the finesse guys out of frustration.
The funny thing is, Canadiens fans know their hockey....deep down, they know their team is disgracing itself with its play and extracurricular activities. I guarantee you a sweep will lead to major changes and weeks (if not months) of Habitant ripping on Montreal sports radio.
Posted by Teddy P. | April 21, 2009 2:38 PM
Posted on April 21, 2009 14:38
I got a kick of how often Komisarek made a play very early because he was expecting to get hammered repeatedly in game 3- his pathetic pass up-ice led to Kessel's goal. He's one of the worst offenders for dishing out hits but he's shying away from contact completely when he thinks it could be coming from a hard-hittin' Bruin. I just can't believe someone who knows hockey as Montreal fans do would ever label a guy like Lucic a goon. Laraque is a goon, Lapierre is a coward as is Komisarek but, to me, the closest guy to a "goon" on the B's is Shawn Thornton and he actually has played with some skill this year...
Posted by dboisver | April 22, 2009 9:33 AM
Posted on April 22, 2009 09:33