Intent, malice, really??

Under NHL rules if your stick makes contact with a player's facial area it's a high-sticking penalty. Regardless of if the player "meant" to do it. You must be in control of your stick at all times. (Imagine that.)

Will someone please tell me why this appears to be the only rule that takes this sort of "you must be aware of your actions regardless of intent"?

Certainly swinging your stick around is dangerous. There's always the danger of contact with eyes, but many times a player gets clipped and it's a few stitches or no injury at all. But it's an automatic penalty.

Somehow a player can be irresponsible with everything except the stick and give a player a concussion that can stick with you forever -- and -- it's all good?

Everyone knows it's not "all good" but that's the message the NHL sent today when it decided not to hand out any further disciplinary action against Bruins defenseman Zdeno Chara. 

I've seen a lot of comment about the hit on Canadiens forward Max Pacioretty. If you're one of the few people who haven't watched TV or been on the internet in the last 24 hours here it is.



Chara had his head up. The puck was long gone. He was called for interference and booted from the game.

In Mike Murphy's statement about the hit, the excuse is that Chara didn't leave his feet and he didn't "target" Pacioretty's head. In my opinion he absolutely targetted the head. Maybe he didn't put his elbow directly into his head but he certainly pushed Pacioretty into the glass in a way that his head would inevitably make contact with a solid object. 

"Oh but he didn't MEAN to do it".

Give me a break. I don't care what you say, Chara saw that glass coming. Besides, I could care less if he meant to do it. There are murderers who stand before a judge and say they didn't "mean" to do it. Too bad buddy, you're still going to jail.Why can't the NHL treat it's players like that.

Max Pacioretty is undoubtedly out for the season with a "severe concussion" and several broken vertebrae. He's lucky he's not paralyzed. The Habs are now without a player who's been putting up excellent numbers for an AHL call-up. That's not justice.

Then there's the fact the NHL is without it's star. Sidney Crosby was on a tear. Perhaps a record-breaking tear. They were without him at the All-Boring-Game. And they may be without him for the playoffs. Because some guy on the Capitals didn't "mean" to get his elbow up and hit him in the head.

Enough with this 'intent' bullshit.

I can't understand how the NHL can continually let this slide. The dysfunction is mindboggling. Absolutely mindf$^$ingboggling.

Jennifer Casey was born and raised in Halifax. She loves all sports but tries to stick to writing about hockey for sanity purposes. You can follow her on twitter @jenncaseyhfx or find her on her blog National Passtime

Injury Gods no likey Savard

I am working on a post about crazy old Bob Sirois. Lots of numbers, should be up later today.

But in the meantime:

Bruins lose Savard to broken foot

Injuries continue to ravage the Boston Bruins as center Marc Savard joins winger Lilan Lucic on the sidelines.

Savard suffered a broken left foot and is expected to miss up to six weeks. He has been placed on the long term injured reserve list.

I've been one of the people who thinks Savard is highly underrated. And that he should be in Vancouver for the 2010 Olympics. However, he didn't get an invite to the summer evaluation camp, and those in support of Savard on Team Canada had to hope he would play an amazing first half of the season to earn a spot on the team in lieu of a player who is not producing (there are many).

Out for 6 weeks. That pretty much ends the Savard Olympic team dream.

Phil Kessel

The worst-kept secret since... well actually since Brian Burke became Leafs GM... hmmm funny.

Anyway, I'm talking about the Phil Kessel trade. It came through Friday night as we were wrapping the Mooseheads home opener. ("...John, 30 second commercial here... and Phil Kessel just got traded.)

And then I kinda forgot about it.

I had a very long day Friday, and another Mooseheads game Sunday, and Saturday is kinda a blur that included a very long afternoon nap, many Keith's White, and the inside of the Pogue Fado.

Anyways, my thoughts on the Kessel trade.

First of all, I'm thinking the Leafs sold the farm here for Kessel. A first and second round pick in 2010 and another first round pick in 2011. Wow. Hope he doesn't get injured... like he does every year. Moving on. So the Leafs have placed a lot of confidence in Kessel. (The Toronto Star headline read: "Leafs' world now centres on Phil Kessel") So, who is this supposed great player... supposed to play with?

In Boston Phil Kessel played on a line with Marc Savard. (And we all know my love for Marc Savard — one of the most under-rated players in the league — he could make Hal Gill look good.)

The candidates for linemates are looking like, Mikhail Grabovski? Matt Stajan? John Mitchell? Good God!

After fretting for the fate of poor Mr. Kessel, I then realized Kessel will fit in JUST FINE with the Leafs:

Tweet from TSN's James Cybalski: "sense in bruins room was that players had mixed feelings about kessel. some felt he was too injury prone and didn't always play hard."

Win/Fail: Playoff Edition.

I'm going to kick:

JOSH GORGES

Right in the goddamned shin.

Reason:

After surmounting two Boston goals, in Boston's building, Montreal was actually dominating the third period. The momentum was theirs. They were buzzing around the Boston zone and Boston was having problems getting their break-out on the go. It seemed like a matter of time before Boston either took a penalty (and faced Montreals over-25-per-cent effective powerplay... since acquiring Mathieu Schneider) or Montreal just flat out scored a goal.

And then that all came crashing down, when the soon-to-be victim of a viscous kick in the shin took a completely use-less mid-third-period cross-checking penalty.

Runner-up: Patrice Brisebois... for coughing up the puck several (hundred) times.


I am NOT going to kick

MARTIN HAVLAT

in the shin. (Notice the lack of reward... simply just letting him live his life without the threat of being kicked in shins... for now.)

Reason:

Much concern has been put forward by the hockey pundits over the lack of playoff experience on the Chicago Blackhawks. But i'm pulling for them, because boy are they fun to watch. And one of their players that does have playoff experience managed to carry the young guns on his back. Martin Havlat scored the tying goal in the third period and then the overtime winner. It's kinda like the polar opposite of being Josh Gorges.

Runnerup: Bill Guerin... because he's so godamned old and is still scoring goals.


*Edit: Listen, i know a lot of you are probably thinking that a kick in the shin is no big deal. You're all like "what sorta pussy-arse punishment is that, anyway". Well i'll tell you. a few months ago a 40 year old man slide-tackled me at rec league soccer and I didn't have shin guards on. There's still a goddamn bone chip in my shin that hurts every time I say the words: "Carey Price" (Is that true? you'll never know).

So stop your goddamn laughing. It's a serious affliction.

Welcome to the 100th season, Montreal.

Jean Beliveau

Ooooh, they blew the 3-0 lead on purpose so that they could have a dramatic shootout victory at their first home game of their 100th season. I get it.

Canadiens legends Elmer Lach, 90, and Emile Bouchard, 88, two of the oldest surviving Canadiens alumni dropped the puck on the Canadiens season at the Bell Centre. They were joined by ten other Canadiens Hall of Famers: Jean Beliveau, Dickie Moore, Henri Richard, Yvan Cournoyer, Guy Lafleur, Bob Gainey, Guy Lapointe, Steve Shutt, Larry Robinson and Dick Duff. It's one of the truly nice things about Original Six teams like Montreal, they have this immense history and their former players are more than willing to come back and share.

Emile "Butch" Bouchard (#16) greets Elmer Lach (3)

The Canadiens built up a 3-0 lead by the end of the first period, with goals by Saku Koivu, Alexei Kovalev and Maxim Lapierre. But it slowly began to unravel, and silly old me thought that the Canadiens were going to blow it completely and lose. But all they wanted to do was have a thrilling finish. Ya gotta spot the other team some goals for fun, right? I mean really, what's the fun in destroying a team 6-1? (editors note: actually it's really fun, especially when it's Toronto on the wrong end of that score) Boston's David Krejci scored the first goal in the second period to get it rolling for Boston.

Carey Price had a bit of a bad bounce when he wandered behind the net. It was also extremely poor timing — there was 48 seconds remaining. As Price came to get the puck it took a strange bounce, hit the back of the net, squirted out front, and landed on the stick of Marc Savard. Price dove back at the net in a futile effort to make himself look like he tried. Savard also had the Bruins second goal of the night.



Price redeemed himself by stopping Patrice Bergeron, Phil Kessel and former teammate Michael Ryder in the shootout. And Alex Tanguay helped save the day by scoring the only goal for the Canadiens. Quebec boy does good.

Montreal has nine points of a possible ten this season. Boston continues its road to being not very good.

Alex Tanguay after scoring the shootout winner

Sometimes you should just stay home.

Preseason: Montreal Canadiens and Boston Bruins, September 22, 2008
Halifax Metro Centre.

De-bac-le.

What happens when you dress the Hamilton Bulldogs against the Boston Bruins? 8-3. That's what.
Alex Tanguay played his entire junior career in Halifax. He was one of the first Halifax Mooseheads to make it big (we'll say Jean-Sebastien Giguere was the absolute first). Tanguay has his jersey retired in the stands of the Metro Centre. And he still visits Halifax whenever he can.

What could have been a very nice homecoming for Tanguay turned into an ugly, ugly game. I'm not just saying that because of the score either. It was liking watching a Midget AAA game. It was just really really bad.


On the flip side of things, there was another homecoming... Brad Marchand was on tryout with the Boston Bruins. Most of the fans in Halifax, however, did not feel so warm and fuzzy about Marchand as they did Tanguay. Brad Marchand is a hometown boy. He's a hometown boy that was brought in at the trade deadline by the Halifax Mooseheads to play in his hometown. Everyone thought it was wonderful. He won two gold medals with the national junior team. But Brad Marchand is the hometown boy who actually played so awful in the playoffs, the coach healthy scratched him for the final two games of a playoff run that by all means should have gone at least to the QMJHL finals. And that's the story of why people in Halifax like a kid from Ste. Justine, Quebec better than the hometown boy.

What was I talking about?

Oh yes, that terrible preseason game. Would've been nice of the Canadiens to start a few more players that had at least a chance of making the team... Or at least starting the number 1 goalie.

Thanks Elliot.

CBC's Elliot Friedman's article on Carey Price's game last night.

Price won't unravel after tough loss
Friday, April 18, 2008 | 10:08 AM ET

I was standing next to the Boston Bruins dressing room when Vladimir Sobotka scored that weak fifth goal last night.

The first comment was: "We got him!" Followed by: "He’s rattled!"

We’ll see.
Price wasn’t impressive on the ice in Game 5, but he was extremely impressive off of it. When the thick silver doors to the Canadiens dressing room opened, there he was, waiting. That’s the sign of accountability. He stood up for his mistakes, didn’t duck any questions.

Price accepted responsibility, shrugged off any major concerns and pointed out that he’s entitled to a bad start once in a while. The best goaltenders have short memories. It appears he’s blessed with that gift.

"I won't think about it again after I leave this dressing room," he said.

I may be proven horribly wrong, but I can’t see Price unravelling. Everything on his resume indicates he won’t fall apart like a cheap G.H. Johnson bed. Had a long conversation yesterday with Bob Tory, general manager of the WHL’s Tri-City Americans, who took him seventh overall in the 2002 Bantam Draft.

Most Canadian (or Canadiens) hockey fans are well aware of Price’s successes at the World Juniors and in the American Hockey League. But Tory explained to me that it goes back even further. As a bantam, he led his rural team to great results against those from B.C.’s lower mainland. Apparently, that’s a rare occurrence in Lotusland.

As a 16-year-old WHL rookie, Price beat out Tyler Weiman – who had already been drafted by the Colorado Avalanche – for the team’s top job by the start of the playoffs. The next season, he set a franchise record for best goals against average, recording eight shutouts on a team that was eight games under .500.

(Tory’s pretty good when it comes to goalies. He grabbed Dan Blackburn early in the 1998 draft for Kootenay, and won a league title two years later because of it. He would intentionally downplay comparisons between them because he didn’t want anyone to realize how much he wanted Price in 2002.)

Obviously, Game 6 will be a huge challenge for Don Cherry’s Rookie of the Year. Win or lose, I think Price will be great. This is not a man with a history of failure

puzzle.

game five. still. Canadiens started playing like a bunch of schoolboys after Kovalev scored. They looked terrible. Game is 4-1, probably should've been worse.


*edit* 2:59 a.m. -- it was worse. it was 5-1. Price will rebound... right?

E.R.

Scary Carey. Cardiac Canadiens. 1-0 win over the Bruins.

overtime heroes.

The Bruins and Canadiens played back to back games Saturday and Sunday and both games went to overtime, with each team having a hero steal the win. The teams next face off on Tuesday, the Canadiens lead the series 2-1. Canadiens did not play well in either game, expect Carbonneau to have a fit and the Habs to bounce back. Looks like they might not have taken the Bruins seriously, and who can blame them, they have beaten them 13 straight up until last night.

Another interesting game will be the the Senators and Penguins game that is on tonight (8pm AST). Interesting, because we wonder will the Senators actually show up tonight. There is a possibility that after last game they're so mad they might actually make an appearance tonight and they are playing at home. or not.

Canada wins World Curling Championship


Canada's team Martin won 6-3 over rivals Scotland. The men follow up on the recent win by Canada's women (Team Jennifer Jones) so Canada owns both titles for 2008!

In.

Ottawa in. Philadelphia in. Boston in. Washington in (as long as they win tomorrow night). Which means that Carolina is out (unless Washington loses.)

Habs, Leafs, Sens and Pens

Habs pulled out a shootout win over the struggling Boston Bruins, the Canadiens swept the season series. Boston did of course manage to get a point out of the ordeal which bodes well in keeping them in the playoffs. Judging by the way the season series went, it would be in the Canadiens best interest to have Boston stay in the playoffs. Koivu was the only player to score in the shootout, as Boston placed some questionable shooters in their list. Chara, Kessel and Wideman?


The Leafs and Sens played each other last night as well. Basically, I think it's funny when the Leafs manage to beat the Sens, but also I hate that the Leafs still think they have a chance at making the playoffs. The Leafs beat the Sens 5-4. Poor poor Ottawa. Stupid stupid Toronto.

And New Jersey who? New Jersey forfeited SEVEN goals to the still Crosby-less Penguins and managed to score only 1. Malkin topped 100 points with a 3-point night.



After last night the Penguins picked up a 2 point lead on the Devils and now lead the Atlantic Division. The Canadiens remain in first place in the Northeast as well as the Eastern Conference and now have a 5 point lead on the Senators (thanks to the Leafs). And Carolina still leads the Southeast (but Washington is closing in, with only 5 points separating the two now.)