Surprising though it may be, I went to college and actually accomplished getting one of those fancy degrees in History. Even more surprising was that I was allowed to write about hockey for my big thesis in order to graduate. The red and green Christmas jerseys of the New Jersey Devils brought back all those memories from my research and writing. So, all I could think about for most of this game was Alexei Kasatonov, Slava Fetisov, and perhaps the greatest Sports Illustrated cover of all time:
[SI]
It's so deliciously early nineties. Vests, denim jackets, Hard Rock Cafe t-shirts, so fucking awesome. And, in all truth, these two might have been playing with how badly the Penguins were playing offensively:
What a pair. A better defense pair you will be hard pressed to find, arguably the best pair to ever play the game. It's too bad Kasatonov was a stooge of the hockey system in the Soviet Union and he and Fetisov had a falling out because of it.
Wait, what? Oh, the game is already over. This is how bad the Penguins played in this game, waxing nostalgic for a few moments caused you to miss the entire game to be missed with Marc-Andre Fleury being hung out to dry time and time again. But, as per usual, you can read about the particulars on many another blog.
This game, surprisingly, didn't have the venom that the game before had. Considering it was a very short time after the previous game that was full of shenanigans, it comes as an even bigger surprise. Up until Rod Pelley boarding Alex Goligoski, there had been only 3 minor penalties.
Good on Kris Letang coming to the defense of his teammate right there. Pelley's a little bit lucky Mike Rupp wasn't the first one to arrive on scene, but still, you like to see your guys sticking up for eachother. People don't forget.
Here was a chance to get back into the game for the Penguins. Three minutes to score as often as we want. Alas, the board and the following fight didn't wake anybody up on the Penguins and the Devils defense continued to play like a bunch of Fetisovs and Kasatonovs.
0-6. Something to remember should we run into New Jersey down the road. Remember how much that record pisses you off.
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:
I get bored watching games against New Jersey. I can't really fault them because it leads them to three Stanley Cup titles and always being in playoff contention, but their style of hockey has always bored me to death. Defensive hockey has always seemed against the spirit of the game to me; to me it's always been about attacking and fighting for the ice whether then sitting back and waiting (hoping) for the other team to make a mistake for you to take advantage of.
This game was not like those games. Sure there were about as many goals as a typical game against the Devils, but there were way more scoring chances and a lot more going on. Above all else, surprisingly, was that people were getting in each other's face and getting pissed off at one another. This is something you expect against the Flyers, Capitals, hell even the Rangers, but the Devils you rarely see this kind of game from them. It was certainly a treat to watch.
First and foremost: Craig Adams got fucking ROBBED. In a game full of emotion, Adams goes in hard on a forecheck and delivers are hard hit to Martin Skoula. Adams gets thrown out of the game and given a five minute major for charging ontop of that. What!? Are you serious!? The refs couldn't be serious because they didn't even know what was going on. From Kevin Gorman's report in the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review:
"The first linesman told me it was icing, which it wasn't," Adams said. "The second linesman told me it was a high-sticking call, which if you watch the replay, I'm about 10 or 15 feet past the linesman before he makes the signal that it's a high stick, so I have no way of knowing it's a high stick.
"As far as I was concerned, it was just a regular forecheck. Somebody told me I jumped and left my feet, which you clearly see that I didn't. So I'm baffled. People can decide for themselves."
OK, I get it, he hit him after the whistle, that's fine, give him two minutes in the box for roughing or charging, that's how it goes. What seems to be the case here is the refs reacting to Adams hitting Skoula on an icing call, which clearly it wasn't. If that WERE the case, then the punishment would fit the crime but it isn't, so I'm so thoroughly confused I feel like the dude in Scanners. I'm sure Adams' mine was similarly blown. So, no Fuck Yeah! Craig Adams! for the rest of the game? You're killing me Smalls.
This started it all off for the Penguins and the Devils and all sorts of insane stuff happened. Mike Rupp slashing the crap out of Martin Brodeur after a whistle, Evgeni Malkin stick fighting with the not as good Niedermayer, and Ruslan Fedotenko of all people riding to the aid and getting his own misconduct, this one only for 10 minutes, though.
The not as good Niedermayer, Rob, seemed to be at the center of the action for an extended period after that. It finally came to an end with him messing with Matt Cooke at the end of the second period, resulting in a fight at the beginning of the third, first, what happened:
And the resulting fight at the beginning of the third:
It must really suck for Cooke haters that he does answer the bell and fight when he needs to. Few remember that Matt Cooke fought Steve Moore in response to Moore's hit on Markus Naslund, which should have put an end to the whole ordeal, before Todd Bertuzzi famously gave the NHL one of its biggest black eyes. Few remember that Matt Cooke fought Ryan Callahan in response to his hit on Artem Anisimov. Few will remember that Matt Cooke will fight someone on the Boston Bruins for his hit on Marc Savard. People only want to remember the hits. That's what makes Cooke different from...oh why not he's in the news now anyway, Alex Ovechkin. Ovechkin hits but doesn't answer. Cooke answers, for himself and for others.
However, this wasn't the most insane thing to happen in the game. I've seen a lot of crazy crap when it comes to aggression in hockey, but rarely do you see something as insane as what happened six minutes into the third period:
[AP Photo]
Ridiculous. What's even more ridiculous is Devil fans acting like Kunitz did some heinously dirty play. Chris Kunitz and Ilya Kovalchuk bump, Kovalchuk brings his elbows up, Kunitz gives him a little smack on the shin guards, whatever, it happens constantly. Yet, Jamie Langenbrunner literally tackles Kunitz into the Penguins bench to respond to a very average offense. I'll chalk it up to the game being heated, a playoff style game, and there already being a lot of crap in that game...but, really Langenbrunner?
Well, I suppose at the very least now I have a real reason to dislike the Devils instead of making stretch reasons like they're boring or their hall of fame goalie is a terrible human being who cheats on his wife. No, wait, that second one is a good reason too.
Before I begin this long diatribe, I want everyone to know this: I do not agree with the hit Matt Cooke laid on Marc Savard. I thought it was unneeded and dirty. However, dirty hits don't mean they are illegal, nor do they mean that they are worth suspension.
I waited so long for this because I wanted to get all the feedback from around the hockey world, especially from Don Cherry at Coach's Corner. You ask me, people are calling for Cooke's head because A) He is, in fact, Matt Cooke and B) Savard got injured.
We'll start with the hit, I suppose:
This hit is without question heinous. It's taking advantage of a guy in an awkward position delivering a dirty hit. Again, though, that does not make it illegal. It's dirty to throw an extra punch at a guy when you go to the ice when you're fighting. Illegal? Nope, you won't get an extra penalty. Is it dirty to punch a guy with his jersey pulled over his face? Yes. Illegal? No extra two there.
So, it's a dirty hit and Savard got hurt. That's why you're angry about this. You're also angry because Matt Cooke has a history with this and at times, yes they have been illegal. Cooke's hit on Artem Anisimov earlier in the season was a ridiculous, illegal, dirty hit.
Clear as day you can see not only Cooke's elbow come up, but he jumps in order to connect with Anisimov as he skates by. It is a completely different hit. Cooke was also suspended last year for a hit on Scott Walker. I can't find a Youtube of the shot but that one I don't agree with. It's all shoulder, if still a head shot. Under the current rules of the NHL, there is nothing banning head shots. Sorry but you cannot punish someone for playing within the rules of the game.
Speaking of those rules, Don Cherry and Ron MacLean, on Coach's Corner last night, discussed how the NHLPA, GMs, and rules committee need to expediently get head shots outlawed in the NHL. They are absolutely right, but right now, that isn't a clear cut penalty. Sure, sometimes you get it called as a rough, but not always.
So, now we begin with the reaction to this hit. Unsurprisingly, it's all bad. We'll start with the King of Hockey Blogdom in Mr. Greg Wyshynski. Over at Puck Daddy, basically the most solid hockey blog around, Cooke is flat out called every bad word a hockey player can be called. Alright, I can buy that. Let's be absolutely honest here for a second. If Cooke were still on the Capitals, or with the Canucks even, and he delivered that kind of hit to Sidney Crosby or Evgeni Malkin? I'd want his head. However, I find myself thinking that I'd be upset with Crosby or Malkin as well. Consider Evgeni Malkin getting absolutely annihilated by Brendan Witt during his rookie season:
Do I want Witt's head? You bet your ass. Am I pissed Malkin put himself in a precarious position? You bet your ass.
Now I know that sounds like the totally dinosaur logic of "keep your head up," or "that's hockey," and you're absolutely right. But I, apparently, am not alone in this. Let's go back to Don Cherry a few months ago when talking about headshots during the October 31st, 2009 Coach's Corner, specifically, Andrew Ladd lighting Matt D'Agoistini up like a fucking Christmas tree.
Here's what Cherry says about the hit:
"Now everybody says this is a bad one. He's not running. His shoulder is down. He's just waiting for him. Somebody on the bench should've been hollering! Somebody should've been hollering!"
And what he says about head shots in the NHL after Ron MacLean asks:
"Look, this is the deal. That was a viscous hit, there is no doubt about it, but it's hockey. Skates were down, he was waiting for him, he hit him with the shoulder, there was no problem at all. If you want to change the rule, keep your head up, the whole deal, that's all I got to say. I don't know what they're going to do, because if you want to take hitting out of the game, OK! But don't say that was a bad hit. Viscous? Yes."
Yet, here is Cherry on Cooke this past Saturday.
This is all fire and brimstone. The best part, though, is Cherry talking about Crosby talking to Patrice Bergeron. Cherry talks about the look of Crosby like Bergeron is telling him, "We're coming for you," or some such thing. Right, it couldn't possibly be everyone on the ice being scared that Savard is hurt or anything like that, could it? And of course Bergeron, who is good friends with Crosby, is saying things like that to him. You're a loon, Grapes. Beyond that? If they want a bloodbath in Boston next week Coach Bylsma can load up with Eric Godard and Mike Rupp to patrol the ice. Cooke will answer the bell and follows The Code, if bending it a little. He went after Steve Moore in response to the hit on Markus Naslund prior to Todd Bertuzzi going fucking insane, he fought Ryan Callahan to answer for his hit on Artem Anisimov, and he will fight someone on Boston next time they play.
Interesting to consider that this makes it to Coach's Corner, but on October 24th and 31st there is nothing about head shots. What happened then...?
Oh, right. Back to Wyshynski for a second here: Puck Daddy maintains these hits are different. I suppose that's true, since Mike Richards isn't skating by like he says but diving into David Booth. Both hits are from the blindside with Booth looking towards Steven Weiss where he passed the puck. They are the same style of hit at the very least and have the same result. Richards going through Booth in addition to hitting him in the head is irrelevant.
Cherry doesn't discuss this hit on Coach's Corner on Oct. 24th or Oct. 31st when it would be pertinent to do so.
Furthermore, when it's coming back the other way, nothing happens once again. December 5th Duncan Keith of the Chicago Blackhawks absolutely crushed Matt Cooke with a blow to the head. Not only was it a blow to the head, but Cooke didn't have the puck. Keith skates in from the blueline to deliver this hit and does the "skate by" hit that is so looked down upon when Cooke does it:
Keith gets a penalty for this, but it's for interference, not for roughing. Keith gets no suspension and no vast media attention for the blow.
Clearly, without question, this is the double standard in the NHL. Pests and goons get hung out to dry for these kind of things but when a "regular" player does it, not so bad.
Though, really, I guess "Somebody should've been hollering," to Booth, Cooke, and Savard. I mean, that's just hockey, right? Maybe if Richards or Keith were European that would've tipped the scales into the favor of Cherry saying something about it.
Make no mistake about this, head shots need to be cut down in the NHL. Often times they result in injury and all the time they result in fans and media getting upset to varying degrees (you know, when someone they don't like vs. someone they like does it). It requires clear cut penalties and I personally am all for borrowing from the NFL in this case. A couple of years ago the NFL put in place the helmet to helmet penalty to cut down on head injures. You cannot lead with the crown of your helmet to deliver a blow to another helmet. It's a personal foul, 15 yards, the biggest penalty in football. The NHL needs to be the same way. 5 minute majors for blows to the head whether they be straight up like Ladd's forearm to D'Agoistini or from the side like Richards on Booth, Keith on Cooke, or Cooke on Savard. Clean up the game.
When someone fights for the Pittsburgh Penguins, unless it's an obvious end of the game fight to send a message for the next game the two teams play, I feel like the Penguins are going to win the game. This is doubly so when Fuck Yeah, Craig Adams! gets in a fight because Adams seems to know exactly when to fight and when to just deliver a hard check or dig his nose in on the forecheck.
Of course, I didn't really have any statistics to back up such a claim...that is until the other day when my man Billy, (AKA The Blueline Bandit over at Back to the Point), delivered this clutch statistic:
Great fact of the day: the Pens are 6-0-1 when Adams fights and 7-1 when Rupp fights.
Unreal. I defy you to tell me that there isn't a place for fighting in hockey after checking out that stat. There is no possible way that a combined 13-1-1, when one of the two fights, is a mere coincidence. Oh, and just look what happened during the game against Dallas.
[Getty Images]
For a moment, let's just enjoy the photo here because it's a pretty awesome shot. It's like a goalie cam fight. I'm always about fancy angles on fights or seeing a solid photograph of a fight. Usually it's the same old same old, dudes grappling with the same angle. This is hip and fresh from Getty Images. Plus, Getty Images always reminds me of Geddy Lee. I love Rush.
Sweet rock and roll aside, I like this scrap for another reason: it proves that refs play favorites, and I am totally OK with that. Steve Ott is a giant asshole, one of the premier pests of the league, doing everything in the book: dirty hits, backing down from fights to draw a penalty, chirping, all the stuff you expect. What is confusing is how Craig Adams doesn't get an extra two for this fight. I'll show the Pittsburgh feed first.
Cross check right to the throat when Steve Ott skates by and Adams gets nothing but the fighting major. You don't think that has anything to do with how the refs see Ott? It has plenty to do with that. If refs can get away with it, that is, it's not expected so they can play surprised, they might not get an extra penalty because of the players involved.
It's pretty easy to see this fight was going to happen. You can see in the Pittsburgh feed above how Adams delivers a big time blow to Ott just before the play was whistled down. Ott most likely said something to Adams when he skated by to start the whole thing. However, this goes back even before that as the Dallas broadcast shows:
Saving Private Fleury. Craigley must be reading. Aww yeah. This is how it how it has to go for the Penguins, you get in our goalies face, there is going to be some retribution coming. Fuck yeah, Craig Adams!
If you look at the box score of the game, you can easily see why the second fight happened. Right after the Penguins go up by three, Krys Barch drops 'em with Mike Rupp. With roughly only five minutes left in the game this is, if you're a hopeful Dallas fan, an attempt to get the team going. However, my guess is that this is Barch trying to get some respect for his team after being blown out again for the third straight game.
I have a lot of respect for Krys Barch, he knows his role, protects, and honors The Code like few do anymore. You'll notice that at the end of the fight when he lands on Mike Rupp he doesn't throw an extra punch, despite all the frustration he and his team must be feeling. The greatest example, however, of the class enforcer Barch is a fight early in the season with Brad May of the Detroit Red Wings.
This is basically a "How to" video for The Code. They both know their jobs, they don't hit each other when they are down, neither is wearing a visor, (May even takes his off to have the fight), and they are laughing and joking with each other before and after the fight. This is a job folks, not a vendetta...well...usually.
We have three guys ready to do what needs to be done like Krys Barch does. Adams, Rupp, and Godard will throw down with anyone for anything in order to accomplish something for the Penguins.
And, judging by that winning percentage, I don't see why they should stop.
It's gotten to the point where every NHL arena is the same except for Pittsburgh's. Now, I know you're wondering how I can make such a claim and it's really quite simple: every arena in the NHL just taunts Sidney Crosby and chants, "Crosby Sucks!" Really, Blueshirt fans? You're just going to be Philadelphia and Washington fans? Come on, you're an Original Six team, aren't you guys supposed to have some sorta aura of self entitled douche baggery around yourself? You're "better" than that.
So, we just need a reason to boo Crosby. That can be anything anymore it seems. Scoring goals, skating, taking a cross check to the ribs away from the play, winning the Stanley Cup, winning the Gold Medal, sharpening his skates, drinking an Ecto Cooler juice box, really just pick your poison. I don't fucking get it. I mean, I hate other team's players, but to get THIS wrapped up in one is insanity. Especially when you consider the other superstars and stars on the Pittsburgh Penguins. In the xenophobic NHL, with stereotypes abound, stunningly no one hates Evgeni Malkin with a vehement passion. Though...I imagine some Ranger fans are hating him right now, woooo.
Anyhoo, Crosby gets cross checked by a dude with a stick and, as we all might do when suddenly hit with an object, he goes down. A STUNNING turn of events that Henrik Lundqvist and his overrated talents takes great offense to for some reason. I really think Lundqvist should have to win 40 games in a season before he's constantly talked about as one of the greatest goalies in the league. Anyway, Lundqvist never doing anything important in the NHL aside, he feels the need to go Ron Hextall on Crosby and chirp at him. I don't get this. Why? Upset you not only didn't defend your Gold Medal but basically threw up on yourself trying to defend it? Either way, Crosby ain't taking no back talk from a lesser hockey player and it's cross check city. APPARENTLY though, the cross check on the heavily padded goalie (much more heavily padded in Lundqvist's case) is reason for everyone to flip out. But, a cross check to the ribs where there is no protection, isn't? Either way, this happens:
[AP]
A "Crosby Sucks!" starts right up. Cutting edge chirping, right there. Also, as a random aside, who the fuck is Brandon Dubinsky? You know...besides some dude who has as many career goals as Crosby has THIS SEASON? Just par for the course it seems. In between actually chipping in for once, Dubinsky did have time to do this:
[AP]
What a douche. Linesman totally looks like Miro Satan, though.
It's really sad, for me anyway, that no fights came out of this. The game was ferocious none the less. Despite all these huge checks each team was delivering, only the Rangers (and MAF) seemed to be off their game as the Pens belted a franchise high shot total at Lundqvist. Good times.
I would've liked to have seen Mike Rupp lay into someone with some fists of fury for retribution on his #17 counterpart, but instead he laid into the net with a puck of fury for retribution. Goon goal; alteration never looked so good. Apparently, though, no photos exist of this photo, so instead here's when Mike Rupp went hat trick City on the Rangers and him looking into your SOUL.
[AP]
Mike Rupp: Cuddlin' but still lookin' fierce.
We did have an almost fight. And, quite honestly, it was better than any actual fight could have been. If there's anything I love more than a goon, it's a pest playing to the crowd or just being absolutely ridiculous in stirring it up. Of course, we all hate the pests sometimes, myself including having probably even bitched about Sean Avery himself in a previous post. Sometimes, though, it's just too damn funny. Esa Tikkanen literally kissing a dude comes to mind, or Jarkko Ruutu's infamous trip of Dion Phaneuf....ah what the Hell:
Fucking. Classic.
Avery is no stranger to shenanigans, both given and received. We all remember Ruutu stealing his stick or Avery getting so far into Martin Brodeur's head that they made a new NHL rule and Brodeur wouldn't even shake his hand at the conclusion of the series. That's a fucking pest. Last night, Avery struck again taunting Mad Max Talbot. Words cannot describe the comedy that ensued:
Now, Talbot, you're great and all, but what Avery does is absolutely spot on and fucking hysterical. Maybe next time don't paw at him like your some sort of jungle cat. You've fought people before...or, at least tried to. Act like it. And don't even pretend like you wouldn't laugh if Matt Cooke did this, fellow Penguin fans. This might be the funniest thing I've seen since Ruutu tripped Phaneuf all those years ago.
Crosby and Avery, so hated by the rest of the league, but both of 'em could give a shit. If Ovechkin wins a Cup eventually? Well, he'd just be getting Crosby's sloppy seconds.
It's been an empty well for upwards of a month, boys and girls with no fights and only scrums to whet my appetite. Thankfully, we're back in the business of the NHL, where dropping the mitts is not only allowed, but, if you ask me, encouraged. So, it's the first game back, what should we do? The Offspring, if you would be so kind:
And boy did the boys did do just that. Personally, I thought they Crosby shoulda came out swinging at the jokes at the Igloo who booed him during the pregame Olympic Introductions:
[Reuters]
Cappy is not amused. It really showed on the ice I think, dude was getting in people's faces and I'm pretty sure this happened on the very first shift of the game:
[AP]
Cappy Smash! Really, I think this is my favorite thing about Sid Crosby. He's a total dick on the ice and judging by what happened later in the game, I'd go so far as to call him a Superstar Pest. There's no photographic evidence of it, so you'll just have to dig on this sweet exposition: Craig Rivet and Crosby started some business in the corner and the whistle blew. Crosby, like a straight pimp, whacks Rivet's stick as he skates by, most likely combining that with some sort of combination of the words: mother, fucked, backseat, Volkswagen, and moves off to the bench. Rivet, in a fit of rage tries to get out Bing only to have Chris Kunitz and Bill Guerin get right in his face ready to fight him. Fucking classic, I personally was laughing my ass off. Crosby pulling an Esa Tikkanen there, genius.
There were, however, moments that you remember from this game. Mike Rupp is leading the charge as the team's enforcer with my main man, Eric Godard, still getting his groin nursed back to health with the finest of massages and grapes fed by awesome servant girls. Because...you know...Godard is some sort of badass Roman Gladiator...I mean, I'd put my money on him over Russel Crowe.
Anyway, where was I? Right, Mike Rupp. Mike Rupp hasn't been burying it like he's Pavel Bure like he was earlier in this season, but he has still been contributing. I mean, just ask Paul Gaustad:
[Reuters]
At the end of this fight, Gaustad comes out with his hand hurting, most likely from the one punch he threw or bracing himself when he fell to the ice. I feel kind of bad about that, to get such a beating and hurt your hand on top of that, certainly not a way you want to end a game, but, them's the breaks. And, after some of the hits delivered earlier in that game, Tim Kennedy's cheap shot on Max Talbot, boarding him when Talbot was on his knees, Gaustad's hit on Brooks Orpik earlier in the game, and Gaustad running the net before the fight, I'm not that broken up about it.
With Rupp dropping fists like this, it doesn't seem to matter that Godard is missing from the lineup, I hope Rupper keeps it up. If not, I'm sure Fuck yeah! Craig Adams has no problem dropping the gloves now and then. Hopefully Talbot gets in on the act as well and we can have the Shiner Line all over again. Still, I miss me some Eric Godard. With the way the wind is blowing this season, Georges Laraque basically getting benched and Donald Brashear and Riley Cote getting waived by the Flyers and the Rangers it seems men like Eric Godard are going the way of the dinosaur. Though, New York did acquire Jody Shelley basically right after they got rid of Brashear and the Flyers are still, in fact, the Flyers. Still, with the Pens up against the cap, it is something to worry about. Ray Shero, don't you do it. Honestly, I don't think he will. Godard is loved in the locker room, knows his role, never complains about ice time, does everything he needs to. Stick around, Godard, there are amazing suits to be had.
The trade deadline comes in about ten minutes and I'm pleased with the moves Shero has made already. Jordan Leopold is a scrappy, lunch pail, defenseman. Nothing much more needs to be said about him, he'll contribute but, as has been said already by tPB, "he'll be invisible, but in a good way." Alexei Ponikarovsky surprisingly has fought before (granted he got beat, but just being willing to drop the gloves is worth it) and dude is big as I don't even know. When you're only three inches shorter than Hal Gill, you're a big fucking dude. I think the Ukraine Train is going to fit in well for the Pens. He's got grit, he goes into the corners, and he goes to the net. Him on the PP is going to be sex, bank.
I'm really at the end of the day just a fan of hockey, old time hockey to say the least. I find my favorite players to often be pests and fighters with some of my all time favorites including: Esa Tikkanen, Tie Domi, Jarkko Ruutu, and Eric Godard. A fight and the all around toughness of players is hockey in its purest of forms, and this blog is for them. As for myself, I'm a Pittsburgh Penguins fan, period. No second favorite team, no nothing.
