I'm going to go ahead and keep beating the same dead horse I have been since the Olympics. When bad things used to happen to the Caps I used to get frustrated and wonder why. Its clear as day now and puts us a little more at ease. Its the pure Canadian bias. Because Crosby is Canadian, he is the chosen one. Because it turns out the NHL chose the wrong one, lets try to get the better, non-Canadian guy to play the least amount possible so our golden princess can have a shot at the goal title. And lets not just screw Ovechkin, we don't really like his team either, with it being in America's capital and all, so let's screw them too. Its not an anti-Penguin thing for me, I think Malkin is a heck of a player, but why does no one ever hear about him? Because the NHL looks at Russians as third-class players, everyone else as second-rate, and only Canadians can be the best. Its sickening and it needs to stop. When you talk about the NHL's glory days you do not talk about the days of Gretzky and Lemieux, who Crosby styles himself after. You think of Bobby Hull and Gordie Howe, who Ovechkin plays more like and proves more entertaining for the fans. Except Ovechkin screws up marketing plans.
So he gets suspended for two more games, despite already missing almost the entirity of the Blackhawks game. Yes Colin Campbell said "I don't want you playing with my son tommorow night. The Panthers are only 6 points out of the 8th seed, and they have a chance because the Bruins are screwed after Matt Cooke knocked out their best player Savard and I didn't do a darned thing about that." Below I'm going to post Cooke's hit and Ovie's hit, and you be the judge of which is worse. You can see that Cooke hit from behind with the intention of taking the guy's head off. You can also see that OV's hit started from the side, in front of the goal, finished with a nudge as they barrelled down the ice, and Campbell catches his toe in the ice and goes down. is that boarding? Even the NHL doesn't know. Here are the official rules in short:
42.1: (It explains what boarding is, and as for the length of the penalty:) The severity of the penalty, based on the degree of violence and impact with the boards, shall be at the discretion of the referee.
42.3: The referee, at his discretion, may assess a major penalty, based on the degree of violence and impact with the boards.
Look, hockey is the fastest game on Earth and all four refs barely get the calls right half of the time anyways. Don't give them "discretion," they aren't Judge Judy, its one more thing they have to worry about when they can't get the basics right. They were so confused yesterday they didn't know where to take the Great 8 after his "reckless" nudge. There is too much "discretion" in sports. The NBA refs have already been caught skewing games. Umps in baseball picking there own strike zone is ridiculous, its shoulders to knees and has been for over 125 years. There is a holding call on every play from scrimmage in football, and I can't tell whats a hold and whats not anymore. And hockey refs are the dumbest of the lot, they don't need anymore responsibilities, much less "discretion."
But they have it. Now just for a second lets look at OV's case and assume I am right about the Canadian bias. Colin Campbell is an obvious Canadaian from London, Ontario. Brian Campbell, of no relation and the man OV nudged yesterday is from Stathroy, Ontario. The referees in yesterday's game who everyone agreed's "discretion" was "stupid," were Dan O'Halloran, from Essex, Ontario, and Frederick L'Ecuyer, from Riveieres, Quebec. Well surely, you must say at least one of the linesman was at least American? Steve Barton and Steve Miller both hail from Ontario, Ottowa and Stratford. So all along the way to a 3 game suspension that warranted a 2 minute minor at best, the greatest player in the world who happens to be Russian was handled by Canadians. Thats weird.
I told you yesterday he would be suspended, so I am not suprised, but I am appalled. The last time he was suspended for a hit it was against Tim Gleason. When Gleason was asked about OV afterwards he said: "That's what put him here, I don't see anything wrong with it. He's an aggressive player, so I've got no problem with it." It actually was a good thing he was taken out yesterday because somone would have taken a run at him, and two more games gives him more time to rest up for the playoffs. Even though there is no replacing OV, the Caps have the most depth in the league right now and will be fine. The videos are here and here, enjoy the hits and the hypocrisy.
And while I said I wouldn't go after the Pens specifically, they always seem to come up as the dirty players and the cheaters. Our last Sunday National broadcast was against the Pens. This is a dirty boarding by Craig Adams on the Great 8 and what the spirit of the rule entails. Forget what happened? Adams got a 5 minute for fighting, he was leaving the ice because it was the end of the period, not because he was ejected. Furthermore the Pens went on the power play, because Knuble went over to take care of his star, and drew an instigator penalty. No penalty on the mighty Pens. No fines. No ejections. Certainly no suspensions. By the way, Adams was raised in Calgary, Alberta. I used to get much more frustrated about these things. Now at least I know why. The Caps can look at themselves in the mirror and honestly know they are the best in the NHL despite all of the odds. No other team in the league has been able to do the same in a year and a half.
No comments:
Post a Comment