Hypocrisy Thy Name is NHL

Are you serious? Honestly, tell me you're joking. Barely a mention outside the Penguins world for what Steve Downie did to Sidney Crosby? This is in-fucking-defensible. Everywhere people want to make the point that when someone gets injured the NHL is more likely to suspend someone and talk about it more often. People complain that players get fined and suspended for "the result, rather than the action." It's totally true.

So, on a day when Alex Ovechkin absolutely annihilates a player with a terrible board, (or "little push from the side," if you're a fucking douche bag). Downie does this to Crosby:



Downie literally drives his knee into the back of Crosby's and then takes him to the ice. He almost looks as though he climbs up onto Crosby in order to deliver the blow. He thought about this hit, period. Bob Errey already delivers some choice wrestling lingo on the matter, so I won't cheapen it adding my own. Yes, Brian Campbell, with his broken bones and concussion, is a much better story of dirty hits because he got injured in the process. What would have happened if Crosby's knee had been blown out? Seriously, what the fuck? If THIS isn't intent to injure I'm unsure what is:


[Screencap thiefed from tPB]

Downie doesn't even get a penalty for this. He does get a penalty for roughing with Tyler Kennedy after the fact, but nothing for his insane cheap on Crosby.

I can't believe there was so little response for this hit on Crosby. This is probably why I'm not an enforcer in the NHL. Reason being that if I were on the ice when Marc-Andre Fleury started slapping his stick on the ice to signal Downie coming out of the box, I would be standing right in front of the door, gloves already off. But, hey, that's just me.

I guess I can imagine why there was no big time response by the Penguins, though. It was a close game, Downie probably would've have not excepted the fight, forcing someone like Mike Rupp or Craig Adams to take an extra two minute penalty. With the Penguins PK playing like it is, though? I'd take the risk. Of course, Downie not fighting didn't stop everything. After doing something like that, you should really never be behind the play...


[Getty Images]

Oh, Letang, every time you start to annoy me with your play you do something like this to bring yourself back into my good graces. Good on you Letang. Thankfully, the Penguins play Tampa Bay one more time, this time in Pittsburgh. You can expect many Penguin fans to be licking their chops for retribution against Downie like people in Boston are licking their chops for Matt Cooke. If Downie thinks the 1,000 dollar JOKE of a fine the NHL gave him was enough to satiate the Penguins thirst for vengeance, you'd be wrong. At least, I hope you'd be wrong. With Godard now cleared to play, people need to start answering for crimes against the Penguins.

Overall, this game had a nasty feel to it, as well. Though, when a team is coached by Rick Tocchet, though, this is something you have to expect. The heralded rookie Victor Hedman even got involved a few times. First, Hedman got involved with Evgeni Malkin and nothing really happens: sticks come up, pushing, shoving, all the things you'd expect cause I sure as fuck don't want Malkin throwing punches. Imagine if what happened to Ruslan Fedotenko last season when he fought Colby Armstrong happened to Malkin? Terrible thought. Hedman later involves himself again and this time Fedotenko obliges him with a fight after some stick fighting and pushing and shoving.



Here is where a clown like Don Cherry talks about "some Europeans" fighting but this is a solid scrap. I don't think Fedotenko expected a fight to happen, but he quickly took control of the much bigger Hedman and took him to the ice quickly. It doesn't hurt that the entire Penguins team was going to the net hard in that game, that's what I like to see:


[AP]

Go to the net, good stuff happens.