The Official 2010-11 Regular Season Talk Thread

[SPTO]

Re: The Official 2010-11 Regular Season Talk Thread

Lemieux makes good points and you'd think the league would listen to people of his stature but the NHL has proven to be tone deaf to any kind of criticism. I mean here's Bill Daly's response to Lemieux:

“We are entirely comfortable with how Friday night’s events were handled,” NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly said Sunday. “We have no other response to Mr. Lemieux’s statement.”

L.....O......L

Then again, there's some hypocrisy as the Pens employ Matt Cooke who I regard to be one of the most foolhardy and reckless players in the game. If Lemieux was truly serious about this he'd take advantage of any avenue that would see Cooke gone.

Either way, the league has done a terrible job with handing out discipline and trying to make the game safer. It doesn't help that it seems that people from on high are turning a blind eye to the craziness that has been going on for the last week and a half.

[KSUowls]

Re: The Official 2010-11 Regular Season Talk Thread

I have to agree with a couple of other posters that it's a bit hypocritical for Mario to be saying all of this.

Still though I loved that game. A few things were really cheap, like fighting a guy who was down and hurt, but it seems pretty clear that the fans loved it. It was a 9-3 blowout and they stayed for the entire game.

[Scottdau]

Re: The Official 2010-11 Regular Season Talk Thread

After reading what he wrote at the end. I couldn't help but thinking this is what a little kid says. When he takes his ball home because he is not liking the way other kids are playing with his ball. I also keep hearing wan wan wan. Also you have Cooke on your team.

[Fiddy]

Re: The Official 2010-11 Regular Season Talk Thread

Lol it's not about him having Matt Cooke on his team.

It's about the circus the Islanders were the other night. That's what he is talking about. He is talking about the league as a whole as well.

Mario don't like dirty play so to speak. He retired in his prime bc it was a garage league. It cleaned up a bit and he came back. As of past few years it's right back to being a garage league.

Until him and other great players start stepping up to rid the NHL of Campbell etc nothing will change. Hopefully this starts to set that in motion down the line.

[Scottdau]

Re: The Official 2010-11 Regular Season Talk Thread

Well the first place to start if Mario wants to clean up this league is get Cooke out the league, then I might take him serious. Also I thought he retire early because of Hopskin disease?

[Fiddy]

Re: The Official 2010-11 Regular Season Talk Thread

Well the first place to start if Mario wants to clean up this league is get Cooke out the league, then I might take him serious. Also I thought he retire early because of Hopskin disease?

no, that was in 93, he came back and dominated etc that year.

he retired bc his back was still a mess, but mainly bc he was tired of the leagues clutching and grabbing. called it a garage league!!

you do realize if the Pens lets say cut Cooke, that someone else will be knocking at his door to have him join their team right? lol..

[Money99]

Re: The Official 2010-11 Regular Season Talk Thread

Well the first place to start if Mario wants to clean up this league is get Cooke out the league, then I might take him serious. Also I thought he retire early because of Hopskin disease?

He did, but then he got cured and came back - and did quite well.
He eventually retired because his back, and age, wouldn't allow him to do the kinds of things he could in his prime.

Mario makes interesting points. But let's face facts. The NHL wants fighting in the game because it sells (fights are prominently displayed in video form all over NHL.com).
It's certainly not in there to help the players police themselves. That's complete bunk. Fighting majors are up from previous years and yet we see a dangerous hit every night of the week. A great majority of players simply aren't intimidated anymore.
And it doesn't help when goons will only fight other goons. So what deterrent is there for a guy like Avery or Ott when they're forced to fight someone with the same fighting prowess as them? None.

Lemieux certainly looks like a hypocrite for employing a team that leads the league in fighting majors and cuts a check for a player like Cooke.

At the same time, I wish more owners or players stood up to speak about how the game could be made better.

[Scottdau]

Re: The Official 2010-11 Regular Season Talk Thread

It would be even better to stand up when it is not even their own team. I am sorry, but this is the wrong time for Mario to speak on the matter. Unless he cut Cooke right after all that he said.

[Scottdau]

Re: The Official 2010-11 Regular Season Talk Thread

And let's be real he did this because his team has been playing bad hockey, so this is a way to take the pressure off his team and put the story on Mario not happy. It is pretty smart move.

[Money99]

Re: The Official 2010-11 Regular Season Talk Thread

And let's be real he did this because his team has been playing bad hockey, so this is a way to take the pressure off his team and put the story on Mario not happy. It is pretty smart move.

Absolutely.
But Mario's not alone in this. The only time anyone stands up to speak out against the league is when their team is affected in a negative sense.

Goalie pads are suddenly too large when a team can't score goals and gets bounced in the 1st round of playoffs.
Head-hits need to be banned the minute a teams star is concussed.
Getting rid of the delay-of-game rule needs to be removed as soon as a team loses a playoff game off an ensuing PP that arises from that infraction.

And that's why the NHL will always be regional. Owners, GM's and players only look as far as the end of their nose.
If all parties actually gave a crap about the league as a whole, things would be much different.
But as long as you're winning, everything's perfect.

[SPTO]

Re: The Official 2010-11 Regular Season Talk Thread

Absolutely.
But Mario's not alone in this. The only time anyone stands up to speak out against the league is when their team is affected in a negative sense.

Strangely though, from what I understand none of the Penguins players got extra discipline for the incident yet you read Mario's statement and you would think he's Garth Snow!

Perhaps he feels his team should've gotten punished more?

[Fiddy]

Re: The Official 2010-11 Regular Season Talk Thread

but again, everyone misses Mario's point. he understands fighting is a part of hockey and always will be. its not about the fights, its about the situation we witnessed that was a complete disgrace to the game. that was an adult beer league game, in which it was one sided and all instigated by one side. that was made pretty clear with the Isles being the only team fined.

and again with Cooke, teams would be lined up at his door to sign him.. lol

Strangely though, from what I understand none of the Penguins players got extra discipline for the incident yet you read Mario's statement and you would think he's Garth Snow!

Perhaps he feels his team should've gotten punished more?

thats correct, if Godard doesnt leave the bench to go after Haley, no Pens player gets fined or suspended.

[MizzyMike05]

Re: The Official 2010-11 Regular Season Talk Thread

it's obvious other people didn't watch this game live like me and you fiddy because it's not that we are defending the pens because we are pens fans, we witnessed every hit and every run the islanders made at us. I will never forget that Gillies **** that was yelling at Tangradi from the runway right after he got thrown out of the game for making a run at big dog Tangradi with his elbow and left his feet to hit him in the head. He should not be allowed to play in the NHL if all that guy is gonna do is try to seriously injure players game in and game out. this was not Gillies first time purposely trying to injure someone i believe.

and forsberg already retired lol he wanted nothing to do with that team in Colorado right now lol

[Scottdau]

Re: The Official 2010-11 Regular Season Talk Thread

Coming from pens fans that say that was not right, either are Cooke's hit. You get what you give in life some times. And the Pens are now crying about what is happening. Cooke I
Is the biggest cheap shot player in the league. I think the Islanders were showing the Pens how it feels to be cheap shot. Get rid of Cooke and I bet the islanders wouldn't have done what they did. But when you have a dirty player on a team and you got some cheap shots from that dirty player. You can not wait to play that team again. I will say this I like my hockey like this though. I like it rough and tough. You don't want to get hit keep your head up. I really believe this if you make it the kind of hockey Mario wants you might as well call it an entertainment sport. Almost like the ice shows. Have players skateing and deking all over the ice.

[tyler289]

Re: The Official 2010-11 Regular Season Talk Thread

Brian Burke came out today and said that he thought the suspensions were fine.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/hockey/globe-on-hockey/burke-weighs-in-on-lemieuxs-statement/article1906163/

Also interesting:

One of Lemieux’s fellow governors echoed something Monday that was said by an NHL governor on Sunday: “No, he doesn’t go to the [governors’] meetings. He’s going to have to go through the managers and governors and not through the media if he wants to change things.”

Then a governor brought up what drove much of the negative reaction to Lemieux on the Internet on Sunday: “This is a team that dresses Matt Cooke. Hard to read his comments without thinking this is the wrong guy to be our collective conscience, no?”