Hockey Trash Talk & BS thread

That sucks. Caps will still find a way to blow it though.

 

No because that would be premeditated. But do I think that as he was falling, Niski took the opportunity to deliver a shot? Yes. And not only Pittsburgh people think that. Do you follow Patrick O'Sullivan on twitter? Read his or listen to XM NHL radio this afternoon.

 

I think Niski and any other player in hockey would have taken that shot, no matter who the player that was falling was. I do not think that he took the opportunistic shot intending to hit him in the head.

And I concede that I may be that guy from the Caps side of things.

 

I hope Crosby doesn't miss much time. Hopefully he can recover quickly and returns in this series.
My view of the play is he went hard to the net. Was knocked off balance on what should have been penalized as a slash or high sticking. Then fell awkwardly into Niskinen who had his hands near his waste. I think it was only instinctual that he braced with his hands against the falling Crosby. Unfortunately for Crosby it was the side of his head that got hit.

 

Sadly for Pittsburgh and Pens fans, Crosby concusses relatively easily. The blow he took clearly tweaked his neck, but from the look I got it was his own forward momentum that was most significant. Any play through the crease during the playoffs has the potential to inflict pain. It is not a great spot to be falling down while at speed.

 

Ya I get you. That's your opinion and that is fine. I feel it is fair to excuse him from looking to take him out, which I don't think he was looking to do. But I think there was more intent there than to just protect himself. He took a shot, that's all. Same with Ovi. A lot of people acting like it was just total coincidence that 2 different Caps players hit Crosby in the head on the same play. I'm sorry that just doesn't happen unless you are trying to take a shot. But I've given my opinion on it, so I'll let it go.

 

They just need to add Nerf sticks to the game. Problem solved.

 

In all seriousness though the reason Crosby took a stick the the head is because high level players are taught to push players away with their sticks. If the NHL clamped down on sticking fouls you'd see a play like that disappear.

Anyone wondering if Crosby should hang them up? Isn't this brain scramble #4? Starting to get to that point where he might have to think about life after hockey.

 

I imagine they are taught that because it inflicts pain. Hard to argue that that's a hockey play from such a perspective. Unless of course one views hockey players akin to Gladiators.

Yes if I am Crosby. No because I enjoy watching him play.

 

but just to play Devil's Advocate , where was the outrage when Crosby chopped off Methot's finger ?

 

Go Sens.

 

If it was anyone other than Crosby, nobody would care and it wouldn't even be a story.

 

Go Sens

Canada's Team

 

That is a fair question. I gave my thoughts on it when it happened. I said, I didn't like the O'Reilly play from a sportsmanship standpoint, but by no means was it brutal. That was more of a 'f-you tap' in my opinion. As far as the Methot thing, looking at the play it was a slash, obviously. But we talked about how the league is all about stick checks, active sticks etc. Sticks on the hands have become a problem across the board. You get a stick on a guy too close to the blade, you break the stick and automatic 2min penalty. So sticks in the hands are more the norm now, than ever. Not 1 person who saw that play was thinking his finger was cut. If you say that you did, then I don't believe you. Look at some of the hand slashes on Johnny G this year. Brutal. He had injuries from it, but his finger didn't gash. Doesn't mean it wasn't a worse slash. I think Sid took a bad penalty, but an injury that is a result from something that happens quite frequently. I don't like slashes on the hands, especially 2-handers. But there is a fine line on injuring someone or just taking one off of the glove and continuing to play, on a play like that. I mean, the Ovi thing is a perfect example. What is he doing with his stick? Giving a hack because that is what happens in modern NHL. But it was high and went from shoulder, reverbed to his head.

 

Wrong.

Almost a year to the date, Orpik got suspended for a dirty hit on Maatta. A lot of people cared about that too. Who wants to see guys going down from cheap hits in a playoff series? I don't. Maybe teams who can't win straight up, might. I dunno.

 

The irony is if Crosby missed his hands and broke his stick in half , automatic penalty

 

Bottom line the NHL should ban intentional stick work above the waist or in the hands. Problem solved and the game would be better for it. I think we've been through that a few times lol.

 

You can add back of the legs to that list while you are at it

 

Crosby gets away with shit for 3 significant reasons in my book. 1) He has been the world's best hockey player for some time
2) Because he is so good he has put up with a shit load of stick work and various other kinds off dirty work throughout his career. I don't blame him for wacking back.
3) the NHL needs him