can people stop complaining, its getting him hits which keeps him employed
- rambo777

then Eklund should be fined for "player selection"

Im done with Garf the Goofs blogs

Freakorenko

then Eklund should be fined for "player selection"
- Zombie27

Legit laugh at this.

He's is milking this story to get hits. That's his only source of revenue.
- Symba007

a truer sentance has never been spoken

Legit laugh at this.
- rmiethaner

I thought it was weak sauce

I thought it was weak sauce
- poohcrumbs

Really? Why?

Oh...I guess shoulder pads and the rest of a players equipment have degraded since my day. Pretty irresponsible by all parties associated in the name of page views.
- Deeps27

I blame China

Really? Why?
- rmiethaner

I guess he thinks calling Garth "goof" is the pinnacle of good humour.

Looks to me like Zem Girgs is having a hell of a pre season. I still am hearing that he will likely begin the season in Rochacha....Whats up with that? I love that kid.....Way better pick the Grigostanko at this point!

Good god I can't stand reading these blogs anymore. Garf's insanely opinionated writing makes all Sabres fans look like complete jackasses that constantly run their mouths (I know there are still some fans like that). I'm over the brawl and just want the regular season to start like every other hockey fan. If anything I'm just happy that the Leafs-Sabers rivalry is somewhat renewed because it's been on the quiet side the past few years.

Sometimes a blogger is a prefect representative of a fan base. This is one of those times. For a few days in pre-season, people are paying attention to Garth and the Sabres. The guy will not let go no matter how far he has to go to draw attention to himself.

The errors in his "reporting" are enough to make Ek look like a combo of Woodword and Bernstein. He tries to make Rolston out to be Chuck Norris and Corey Tropp out to be the victim of some random attack. The truth is that Tropp was hurt when his head hit the ice as he and Devance fell in a fight he initiated. Devance was throwing punches as they started to fall. There was no "piledriver into the ice" as Sabre fans want to believe.

Turns out old Corey has his own history - suspended out of the MSU program for slashing an unconscious Steve Kampfer who had just been cross checked into the boards.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fI-sYE1DsMs
- Canada Cup

I will agree with you on paragraph 2. Paragraph 1, well you cannot bash the whole fanbase because of a group of hooligans. Toronto has their fare share of erratic, irrational fans too. Simple story... Tropp got beat and unfortunately hurt. Keeping Scott out there? So/so decision. Toronto took the momentum right out of our hands and the injury adds insult whether intentional or not. Send a bruiser out there and try to give a little message back to suck momentum out. Was Scott going to drop his gloves and swing at Kessel? NO! Heck, if he was hoping to injure him he would have never gave him a warning at all. Simply push him around (someone who is known to have short temper) and maybe cause a penalty or at least get them off their game. So people can say what they want about jumping our superstars (if they deserve that title I understand we aren't the best right now) in future meetings.
My opinion- Clarkson reduced sentence. He really didn't scrap but was protecting teammate. Kessel deserves more suspension. No fine to Buffalo. Possible short sentence to Scott just to send a message saying big goons should NOT be going after superstars (though you really don't know what would have happened because he never had a chance).

wow. didn't know the kid was so soft GARTH. think it's time the Sabres toughened up a bit.

I will agree with you on paragraph 2. Paragraph 1, well you cannot bash the whole fanbase because of a group of hooligans. Toronto has their fare share of erratic, irrational fans too. Simple story... Tropp got beat and unfortunately hurt. Keeping Scott out there? So/so decision. Toronto took the momentum right out of our hands and the injury adds insult whether intentional or not. Send a bruiser out there and try to give a little message back to suck momentum out. Was Scott going to drop his gloves and swing at Kessel? NO! Heck, if he was hoping to injure him he would have never gave him a warning at all. Simply push him around (someone who is known to have short temper) and maybe cause a penalty or at least get them off their game. So people can say what they want about jumping our superstars (if they deserve that title I understand we aren't the best right now) in future meetings.
My opinion- Clarkson reduced sentence. He really didn't scrap but was protecting teammate. Kessel deserves more suspension. No fine to Buffalo. Possible short sentence to Scott just to send a message saying big goons should NOT be going after superstars (though you really don't know what would have happened because he never had a chance).
- Simple

Good opinion. I don't agree with all of it, but that's what makes the boards fun.

poopty news about Tropp having a broken jaw/surgery. Obviously far from what anybody wants, hopefully he recovers soon.

wow. didn't know the kid was so soft GARTH. think it's time the Sabres toughened up a bit.
- scotch_tape

Are you for real ! Get a life . What a ridiculous post. You sir really are out of hand with that comment. None of us real hockey fans hope for a serious injury to any player . Be it on our team or even of one our most hated rivals. Let alone try and make a joke out of it.

Good opinion. I don't agree with all of it, but that's what makes the boards fun.

poopty news about Tropp having a broken jaw/surgery. Obviously far from what anybody wants, hopefully he recovers soon.
- lumlums

The one thing I have trouble with, especially with the fine to Buffalo, is how do you profile a player? How do you determine the 'right' guys to put out there. I meant technically Scott had an assist, the bench was already short due to injury, and he was already on the ice! Let alone last switch. Just a difficult situation to assess.

The one thing I have trouble with, especially with the fine to Buffalo, is how do you profile a player? How do you determine the 'right' guys to put out there. I meant technically Scott had an assist, the bench was already short due to injury, and he was already on the ice! Let alone last switch. Just a difficult situation to assess.
- Simple

If Scott was willing to go after Kessel I think it is pretty obvious why he was out there. Whoever lined up next to him was getting a beating, in my opinion. I think the punishments were handed out perfectly except that Kessel should have gotten a regular season game, what he did was extremely dangerous and obviously way outside the scope of a normal fight. Saying that Scott was picked to be out there because he had an assist in the game is pretty laughable.

It is too bad Tropp has a broken jaw because I don't like seeing anyone get hurt, but he absolutely initiated the fight and that is the risk a player takes.

wow. didn't know the kid was so soft GARTH. think it's time the Sabres toughened up a bit.
- scotch_tape

Ironic coming from a Habs fan

If you don't want the wrath of the Toronto Media to rain down on you, then don't send your goon over the boards to fight "whoever lines up next to you".
Boo-Hoo Garth. If Rolston keeps up with this "style" of coaching, he'll have a lot more than O'neill calling him out.

If Scott was willing to go after Kessel I think it is pretty obvious why he was out there. Whoever lined up next to him was getting a beating, in my opinion. I think the punishments were handed out perfectly except that Kessel should have gotten a regular season game, what he did was extremely dangerous and obviously way outside the scope of a normal fight. Saying that Scott was picked to be out there because he had an assist in the game is pretty laughable.

It is too bad Tropp has a broken jaw because I don't like seeing anyone get hurt, but he absolutely initiated the fight and that is the risk a player takes.
- GSDIV

Don't get me wrong, I agree it is laughable. I was just saying 'technically.' We all know why he was out there and stayed. Let's disregard that I even said that. More justification is that we were short McCormick and Foligno already and Scott was already on the ice.
But yes, his main reason for being out there was 99% obvious. Someone getting a beating? I don't know about that. I think he would push whomever was across from him around a bit and only dropped the gloves with a willing partner. I mean Scott is no genius or awesome player but there is no way he starts swinging at Kessel if he doesn't drop gloves. I think he pushes him around and either draws a penalty or invites someone else to fight. If he starts punching an unwilling Kessel, that's big time penalty and believe it or not he is a little smarter than that. Just think about it all though, a young player who has been up and down this organization busting his but to be on the roster just got his butt handed to him. It's hard to take that as a teammate.

oh stop please stop go away story is over... move on
- JoeSabre

The story isn't over if Garth keeps making it a story

If you don't want the wrath of the Toronto Media to rain down on you, then don't send your goon over the boards to fight "whoever lines up next to you".
Boo-Hoo Garth. If Rolston keeps up with this "style" of coaching, he'll have a lot more than O'neill calling him out.
- Cimo

Was already on the ice.
Not defending what he did just stating a fact.

Can Garth or someone from Hockeybuzz kindly clarify why Kessel would have to wear a kevlar vest to play BUF and PHI this season? To me it sounds like there is an implication of gun violence presented, which I'm sure neither the blogger nor the website would want to imply or attach their name to considering recent events in the USA.

I'm unaware of any reason why a hockey player would require such equipment. Kevlar socks to protect from cuts, sure. Kevlar in composite sticks too...but a vest? I'm curious what the implication is.

At the end of the day folks this was a hockey brawl - let's put a little perspective on this situation in the grand scheme of life.

EDIT: Looks like someone with a brain took that down, but I have the screen grab...
- Deeps27

Oh, brother.

Oh, brother.
- Powerslave

I'm just glad someone's got a screen capture of this!

What for? I have no idea...

Oh, brother.
- Powerslave

Exactly - oh brother.

When you have a forum like HB to express your opinions, there is a social responsibility to not cross the line. Pretty obvious that because this post was edited and the offensive content removed, someone agreed with me. Would still love to hear an explanation though. It's hockey. There was a fight with stick swinging and a guy came off the bench - so a blogger implies a bullet proof vest is required for a player who participated in said brawl? I get the importance of drawing eye balls to a site like this, but it doesn't absolve people of their social responsibility not to sensationalize the issue for the sake of content.

People who comment on HB are held to a certain standard, pretty sure the blogger's should be leading by example.

I'm just glad someone's got a screen capture of this!

What for? I have no idea...
- Pecafan Fan

When someone says "it wasn't there" - totally unacceptable content in my opinion. You don't agree, cool. But someone removed it, so obviously I'm not alone in my thought process here.