I love Saturdays like yesterday when there is hockey on all day and all night. Yesterday was a day in which the hockey connoisseur was spoiled with a ridiculous amount of choices and rewarded with a ton of good games.
The day began with me flipping back and forth between the Edmonton/Winnipeg game that featured a late comeback and overtime, and the Sharks/Lightning game that saw Martin St. Louis score an amazing four goals. The success of the Lightning without Stamkos has to be the story of the year so far.
Thanks the advent of PVRs, I was able to tape the Classic Saturday night matchup between the Leafs and Canadians, the Coyotes vs. Devils game and the Calgary vs. Vancouver brawl-fest. It may have possibly laid the groundwork for a divorce, but it was a hell of a hockey-fest. The Leafs game was an exciting prelude to the main event-- Devils and Coyotes. After taking in parts of three excellent games already, this game had a lot to live up to. To someone who isn’t a fan of either team, this might seem like a boring matchup, but the game was anything but.
The Coyotes got off to a strong start, jumping out to a 2-0 lead with a pair of goals from their fourth line. The Devils scored a goal near the end of the period and it was 2-1 at intermission. The Coyotes made it 3-1 with a goal in the second by Martin Hanzal, who had two points in an attempt to make up for his recent penchant for taking dumb and unnecessary penalties. (One of which saw him fined $5000 for a cross-check to the face. Since he makes almost $3 million this year, this fine is not going to change his behavior or help eliminate dangerous plays from the game – it’s the equivalent of thinking I am going to bring my own grocery bags to the store so I can save 35 cents off my $200 grocery bill.)
The third period got a little intense for the home team, as the Devils outshot them by a wide margin (11-2) and Jaromir Jagr scored close to the end to make it a one goal game. Smith, who has now played great in three straight games was the difference in this one.
Overall, it was a very entertaining game on a day filled with them. I think it’s worth mentioning that if you watched the better part of five games in one day before the first lockout you would have been bored out of your mind. The NHL – even though they seem to have abandoned their attempts to open up the game by eliminating interference – has come a long way in the last decade. I’ll stop short of saying that either of the two lockouts were a good thing, but the game has indisputably improved – in terms of entertainment – from the kind of hockey we used to see before the first lockout.
--- After watching the Leafs game last night, which featured an insane move by Nazem Kadri which lead to the first Toronto goal, one has to wonder why the team (or the media) seems so intent to move him. Kadri reminds me a lot of Boedker in that he has tantalizing skills that haven’t yet translated to the consistency at the pro level that will make either player a star. At least in Phoenix there isn’t the kind of media pressure that makes a 22-year-old kid a supposed failure for not immediately becoming a superstar.
I don’t hear anyone who’s knowledgeable about the Coyotes saying that they should trade Boedker. The Coyotes need offense and I’ve said here before that Kadri makes an interesting trade target, but I just can’t see the Leafs moving a young centre with star potential when the very thing they would (you assume) be seeking back would be a young centre with star potential.
This reminds me of the Kyle Turris fiasco a couple years ago.
Although I know it’s not the same exact scenario, it still a potential superstar who isn’t living up to the billing and expectations of the team that drafted him.
The Coyotes got Rundblad for Turris and in retrospect it was a brutal trade. Turris may not be atop the scoring race, but he is an effective player bordering on stardom who I am sure the Coyotes would like a do-over on. He would be their best forward and first line centre if he was on the team right now.
The Leafs would do well to keep the patience. Guys who can undress the D like Kadri did last night are worth waiting for. And if they don’t want to be patient – maybe they would like to take Runblad or Murphy off our hands?
----- Maybe I shouldn’t say this. I have read several articles already today talking about it, but making sure they point out they don’t condone it. I don’t just condone it. I loved it.
Maybe that makes me a bad guy. I don’t care. I watch hockey to be entertained.
I was very, very, entertained.
I am talking of course about the brawl filled game between Calgary and Vancouver.
The one which featured a line brawl to start the game and John Tortorella attempting to fight Bob Hartley. I agree that Tortorella embarrassed himself. I get this probably isn’t good for the league’s “image… (although I long ago stopped caring what non-hockey fans who are mostly concerned with politics think about hockey). I don’t care about any of that.
The only thing that upset me about the line brawl was that it wasn’t a bench clearing brawl.
I miss those.
If Tortorella wants to go insane and try to fight people, I will tune in to watch that any time. I know it’s ridiculous, but let’s admit it: it’s fun. The Canucks have taken an insane amount of penalties this week. There was a controversy where Keith Oberman called one of their players a “boxing hobo on skates.… I didn’t get the insult. I wish someone would call me that. I thought it was hilarious.
All I know is I am gonna watch more Canucks games in the immediate future.
Some people might not like fighting in the NHL. I do, and I am not going to couch it in some kind of politically correct justification. I like it because it’s fun. I think it does help police the game, but I don’t even care if it does or not; I would still like it if it was proven to have zero effect on policing the game. I will say this though: fining a guy five thousand dollars for using a six foot stick to try to perform impromptu dental surgery on another player does nothing to prevent the kind of dangerous stick work that is far more dangerous than fighting. Hardly anyone mentions those kind of cheap-shots (they just accept them) but a line brawl is league-wide news. In my opinion, this is wrong. Stick work and hits from behind are far worse problems than fighting and they are not even close to as entertaining, yet people condone them daily by ignoring them.
So let’s stop feigning outrage.
The NHL (like the world) would be so much better if people’s priorities were in order. Let’s end the instigator rule, make tougher suspensions and stop pretending we don’t love fighting. Those are my thoughts. I would love to hear yours.
Thanks for reading.
@coyotes1234