Jeremy Laura: Another injury riddled tournament, who is going to step up and fix it?

Did Blues fans mock you for showing concern. Or did they simply think your take was one-sided? I'm the one who called Berggren a wimp. My point was pretty clear. I didn't think the hit on him was actually that dirty. But he's a small guy getting hit by a bigger player. Injuries happen. Draft bigger guys if it's so painful to see small guys hurt. I'll bet most Wings fan enjoyed seeing Kronwall hit guys who were vulnerable. Havlat was never the same. But now it's bad because our guys are getting hurt. Direct your anger at the refs or league officials...but this narrative that Wings are poor victims to all of these big bad mean teams is tiresome.

The McIsaac hit was bad. Stretchered out, I can't condone that one, and it set the tone for the remainder of the game.

Did Blues fans mock you for showing concern. Or did they simply think your take was one-sided? I'm the one who called Berggren a wimp. My point was pretty clear. I didn't think the hit on him was actually that dirty. But he's a small guy getting hit by a bigger player. Injuries happen. Draft bigger guys if it's so painful to see small guys hurt. I'll bet most Wings fan enjoyed seeing Kronwall hit guys who were vulnerable. Havlat was never the same. But now it's bad because our guys are getting hurt. Direct your anger at the refs or league officials...but this narrative that Wings are poor victims to all of these big bad mean teams is tiresome.
- HockeyBuzzed

Agree

Did Blues fans mock you for showing concern. Or did they simply think your take was one-sided? I'm the one who called Berggren a wimp. My point was pretty clear. I didn't think the hit on him was actually that dirty. But he's a small guy getting hit by a bigger player. Injuries happen. Draft bigger guys if it's so painful to see small guys hurt. I'll bet most Wings fan enjoyed seeing Kronwall hit guys who were vulnerable. Havlat was never the same. But now it's bad because our guys are getting hurt. Direct your anger at the refs or league officials...but this narrative that Wings are poor victims to all of these big bad mean teams is tiresome.
- HockeyBuzzed

If you read it all I called out Detroit for being just as dirty. This is about respect across the board. To target a player knowing you can and want to hurt them is insane. There’s a reason kronwalls hits are now illegal. So is charging or hitting someone high. The hit on Berggren was bad. So were the hits Chase Pearson delivered. For you to actually think that a player “deserved” a possible concussion or worse because of their size, I hope that’s just misguided. St Louis was way off and the refs did nothing to stem the tide. Tonight Detroit got just as bad as CBJ in retaliation. If you really are happy with the kind of damage being done because you think someone deserves to be hurt, that’s not a great look

Your first blog was one sided. Woe is us. This one you finally admitted Detroit was dirty too. Where on earth are you getting the conclusion that I wanted Bergren to get hurt, or think he deserved to get hurt. I stated my opinion...it wasn't really too dirty in my opinion, and a contributing factor to his injury is that he is a miniscule forward playing against guys 40 or 50 pounds heavier. How is that so awful? Stuff happens, especially to undersized wimps. Hit the gym kid.

NEWS FLASH! The tournament Is a meaningless exhibition and unnecessary!!!!!!!!!

When I read your post earlier, I didn’t take it as you saying small guys “deserve” to be hit. I took as you saying that smaller players can expect the hits from bigger guys to have greater kinetic energy, thus harder hits.
Is that a fair assessment of your opinion?

Kronwall’s hits were massive. But I don’t think he targeted guys out of malice, or because they were smaller, or just to be a Richard & inflict injuries. And, full disclosure, I was pissed on some of his hits because they looked bad to me. Kronwall never smashed some dude in the neck then threw the guy into the boards. When he had questionable hits, he was penalized. Professional athletes play on the edge all the time. Some players are just dirty. That’s not acceptable.

Now, Jeremy writes a Wings blog, so he’s a Wings fan. That means that some of what he writes will not sit well with fans of opposing teams. But, being fair, he named Wing’s names as well. There is a paucity of “sports writers/broadcasters” who have the eggs to do that. That deserves respect. Not sure how much you follow his blogs, but he’s just as hard on the Wings as he is on other teams. And that’s exceptionally rare. And he did slam the officiating, so there’s that.

To assume a guy’s a “wimp” because he’s small is pretty asinine. I agree that we need to draft bigger players, and if one suits that bill & is worth, I’m sure we’ll draft him. But targeting a player due to his size is not what professionals should do, not should fans condone that.

The way I see it is, guys were targeted and hurt. There’s a guy in hospital right now, and we have no clue what his life will be like after that hit. If you’ve ever re-set a compound fracture, or drove a guy to the ER because dome wienerhead stomped on his head deliberately, and knowing what Jeremy’s dealt with for many years after his closed-brain injury, you’d see a bit more where he’s coming from. No one likes to see players hit/hurt deliberately (well, not everyone…there are some bumholes in the world…). Jeremy’s one of those people.

Hits happen, but deliberately injuring a player is unmitigated bullpoop. Those who condone that are worthless.

NEWS FLASH! The tournament Is a meaningless exhibition and unnecessary!!!!!!!!!
- Shady1962

So are the games at training camp, using your logic. Soooooo why have exhibition games at all?

Yeah Z got 2 handed tonight across the knee by some 23 yr old Avs scrub… I wasn’t pleased. Ducks handled it. But I don’t want to see him or Drysdale again until the season starts.

I hope MacIsaac is OK. But I'd also add that hit also wasn't that bad. Sure he hit him from behind...but he was coasting, at a relatively slow speed, and didn't leave his feet. Hits like that happen regularly in the NHL. Guys get 2 minutes for boarding, maybe 5. Maybe it was an awkward spot, but let's not pretend this was a Jordan Tootoo racing 100 feet to run a guy over. Watch it yourself. Hate to say it but maybe MacIsaac is just made of glass. He's already had shoulder surgery and can't stay healthy. Sebrango looks tougher.

In all fairness I think your a great writer and a very sincere straight up person but I have to tell you I disagree with you. You are right in your assessment of the game but I played hockey in the 70's and somebody was stretchered out every game and even a referee who was attacked by Paul Shmyr's physco brother who punched a kicked the referee at center ice. It took half his team to pull him off and he was banned from hockey after that. Anyway the mindset of these young guys is to hurt their opponent and that will never change. My hockey career as a top scorer in an outlaw league cost me 7 knee surgeries and deformed elbows but it is the love of the game and you will never change that. I agree smart managers should look at size and toughness to go with skill unless you are Patrick Kane. It is the nature of the game and today's nhl may be quicker but nowhere near as tough as the Broad Street Bullies era and beyond.

When I read your post earlier, I didn’t take it as you saying small guys “deserve” to be hit. I took as you saying that smaller players can expect the hits from bigger guys to have greater kinetic energy, thus harder hits.
Is that a fair assessment of your opinion?

Kronwall’s hits were massive. But I don’t think he targeted guys out of malice, or because they were smaller, or just to be a Richard & inflict injuries. And, full disclosure, I was pissed on some of his hits because they looked bad to me. Kronwall never smashed some dude in the neck then threw the guy into the boards. When he had questionable hits, he was penalized. Professional athletes play on the edge all the time. Some players are just dirty. That’s not acceptable.

Now, Jeremy writes a Wings blog, so he’s a Wings fan. That means that some of what he writes will not sit well with fans of opposing teams. But, being fair, he named Wing’s names as well. There is a paucity of “sports writers/broadcasters” who have the eggs to do that. That deserves respect. Not sure how much you follow his blogs, but he’s just as hard on the Wings as he is on other teams. And that’s exceptionally rare. And he did slam the officiating, so there’s that.

To assume a guy’s a “wimp” because he’s small is pretty asinine. I agree that we need to draft bigger players, and if one suits that bill & is worth, I’m sure we’ll draft him. But targeting a player due to his size is not what professionals should do, not should fans condone that.



The way I see it is, guys were targeted and hurt. There’s a guy in hospital right now, and we have no clue what his life will be like after that hit. If you’ve ever re-set a compound fracture, or drove a guy to the ER because dome wienerhead stomped on his head deliberately, and knowing what Jeremy’s dealt with for many years after his closed-brain injury, you’d see a bit more where he’s coming from. No one likes to see players hit/hurt deliberately (well, not everyone…there are some bumholes in the world…). Jeremy’s one of those people.

Hits happen, but deliberately injuring a player is unmitigated bullpoop. Those who condone that are worthless.
- mcmastermike1968

I agree with most of your comments Mike but saying Kronwell hits were okay is not true. He hunted down any forward with their heads down and planted them. All part of the game of course but he was not a casual body checker. He lived for those big open ice hits and when you do that you intend to hurt someone. I was okay with these hits so don't get me wrong. He was not a Hilliard Graves or Mike Robitaille with the unsuspecting hip checks that were lethal.

The issue is, and I haven't yet seen the plays against Columbus, that you are making an antedotal and equivocacy fallacy.

The story you tell about yourself sounds horrible and unnecessary. That should not happen.

In the St. Louis game I did not see plays that were attempts to injure. I saw players at various skill levels react, late sometimes, and a lot of hacking both ways. There was one play I missed that sounded bad.

I heard a lot of whining from the announcers bc their team was losing. Saying things like they are being physical and implying St. Louis did not have enough talent to compete otherwise. Well, I'm not so sure. I saw a few players on each team who looked good and the rest on the teams struggled to keep up. The teams each had one player who look like they'll have a chance to be something special in the show. Maybe two, bc I like Ellis's game.

Hockey is a physical game even in no check leagues(which means no checking, not no contact--ice hockey). This year might be harsher bc all the teams had to fill their rosters with a massive amount of free agents.

I dont know what happened in the Columbus game, but I watched the Blues game and it wasn't horrible or untoward. I saw a number of slew foots or attempted ones by the Wings go uncalled. Idk man. I'm sorry for what happened to you, maybe work on going beyond your experience to get a different perspective.

When I read your post earlier, I didn’t take it as you saying small guys “deserve” to be hit. I took as you saying that smaller players can expect the hits from bigger guys to have greater kinetic energy, thus harder hits.
Is that a fair assessment of your opinion?

Kronwall’s hits were massive. But I don’t think he targeted guys out of malice, or because they were smaller, or just to be a Richard & inflict injuries. And, full disclosure, I was pissed on some of his hits because they looked bad to me. Kronwall never smashed some dude in the neck then threw the guy into the boards. When he had questionable hits, he was penalized. Professional athletes play on the edge all the time. Some players are just dirty. That’s not acceptable.

Now, Jeremy writes a Wings blog, so he’s a Wings fan. That means that some of what he writes will not sit well with fans of opposing teams. But, being fair, he named Wing’s names as well. There is a paucity of “sports writers/broadcasters” who have the eggs to do that. That deserves respect. Not sure how much you follow his blogs, but he’s just as hard on the Wings as he is on other teams. And that’s exceptionally rare. And he did slam the officiating, so there’s that.

To assume a guy’s a “wimp” because he’s small is pretty asinine. I agree that we need to draft bigger players, and if one suits that bill & is worth, I’m sure we’ll draft him. But targeting a player due to his size is not what professionals should do, not should fans condone that.

The way I see it is, guys were targeted and hurt. There’s a guy in hospital right now, and we have no clue what his life will be like after that hit. If you’ve ever re-set a compound fracture, or drove a guy to the ER because dome wienerhead stomped on his head deliberately, and knowing what Jeremy’s dealt with for many years after his closed-brain injury, you’d see a bit more where he’s coming from. No one likes to see players hit/hurt deliberately (well, not everyone…there are some bumholes in the world…). Jeremy’s one of those people.

Hits happen, but deliberately injuring a player is unmitigated bullpoop. Those who condone that are worthless.
- mcmastermike1968

I agree with nearly every sentiment. However, don't you think seeing Claude Lemiuex getting hurt was a good thing? It's all about context in that situation. Im no Wings fan but they got robbed of a few Cups bc players straight up tried to injure incredible players like Federov and succeeded. The only way to stop it was to fight fire with fire, bc the officials and the NHL failed to do their job.

These games matter. Maybe not as much as a play off game but the right player gaining confidence at the right time, or a kid getting a job matters.

Yes. I have had to deal with the things you mentioned and others. Had a guy Saturday night who got hit by a padlock to the dome a few times.

Happy Birds Fly Higher! We have some magic beans that might help your state of mind, Jeremy.

When you have youth playing to impress the coaches and GMs of their respective teams, sometimes emotions and maturity can get out of hand. In this case, emotion led to the lack of maturity in the players' responses on both teams. It's not an excuse, just a fact. The real question is on the coaches. Where was their influence in the matter?

Obviously, you always want to stand up for a teammate. These kids did not react well to seeing McIsaac carted off the ice on a stretcher. That's where the maturity level of the players showed up. They're kids. That's where the coaching staff needs to wrangle their players in.

The refs should have made an example on each side and ejected a player from the game. That should've been followed up by a stern warning to both benches that further plays like that would have similar results.

Until hormone levels can get put into check, these things are going to continue to happen. Hopefully, this will lead to a review of how these tournaments will be handled moving forward. Fortunately, this one is now behind us. Unfortunately, it's at the expense of some talented players.

I agree with nearly every sentiment. However, don't you think seeing Claude Lemiuex getting hurt was a good thing? It's all about context in that situation. Im no Wings fan but they got robbed of a few Cups bc players straight up tried to injure incredible players like Federov and succeeded. The only way to stop it was to fight fire with fire, bc the officials and the NHL failed to do their job.

These games matter. Maybe not as much as a play off game but the right player gaining confidence at the right time, or a kid getting a job matters.

Yes. I have had to deal with the things you mentioned and others. Had a guy Saturday night who got hit by a padlock to the dome a few times.
- BluemanLGB

So, here's a conundrum: I'm not an aggressive guy, but played rugby, hockey, and did 29 years in the Army That being said, I don't like seeing ANY player targeted and injured. It's not the near-term stuff that bothers me, it's what happens later in life (Jr. Seau, for example). I hated seeing Lemieux go down. I hated seeing Draper go down. Hockey is a kinetic sport (like rugby - I played for 19yrs....), so injuries happen. Adults assume the risk. But, adding intent to a kinetic sport needs to be policed.

Now, I've read, and re-read, al of the comments here because this issue has serious implications. When I watched the hit on MacI, I FELT
that he was targeted. That's just what I felt. The bigger issue was that it looked like, after he was on the ice, the CBJ player got in a shot or 2, knowing that MacI was already down. It just didn't sit right with me. And yes, I am biased, so I take that into consideration. The thing that really bugs me is that some folks look at this like "Meh. He's a Wing. Deal with it." The league needs to enforce the safety of players. It's a false narrative to compare today's game to earlier generations because we know more about brain injuries and what they can do to a player. Not a slam, but more of a suggestion that we be mindful of that fact. Dude, I played SO many rugby matched after being knocked the FRANK out. I was soooo stupid. But that was the mind-set back in the day (Play through the pain, etc...). Players elect to play the game. Players also elect to injure.

A post above references the coaches involvement. What a refreshing point of view. And SUCH a valid opinion. Coaches have to take charge of this stuff in situations like these; it's evident the league won't.

I really appreciate the back-n-forth on this, guys. No one's being a Richard, and we're sharing throughs on perceptions, opinions, and safety. Here's what I would say: Jeremy's dealing with the life-long affects of a brain injury. So he's going to be more focused on that, because he knows how that impacts not only a person's life, but the life of their Family (wives are such angels....). He shared with us so we could see some of what he's trying to say. He also admitted that the Wing's reply was horrific as well. This is a guy who wants to engage his reader's minds, to have them think critically about what's being discussed. I would say his frustration with folks who have the mentality that "Meh. He's small." worries him. And, from my perspective, he's right. If fans react to dirty play, the teams notice, the league notices, change is made. I'm sure he's disappointed in what he read in some replies. He just wants us to think critically about what we see, and to look at the long-term impacts on the players & their Families. J's a really cool dude. He's biased, as we all are. I feel, in his heart, he doesn't want this game that brings him (and really all of us), such pleasure to be soiled by dirty players.

Thanks, guys.

When you have youth playing to impress the coaches and GMs of their respective teams, sometimes emotions and maturity can get out of hand. In this case, emotion led to the lack of maturity in the players' responses on both teams. It's not an excuse, just a fact. The real question is on the coaches. Where was their influence in the matter?

Obviously, you always want to stand up for a teammate. These kids did not react well to seeing McIsaac carted off the ice on a stretcher. That's where the maturity level of the players showed up. They're kids. That's where the coaching staff needs to wrangle their players in.

The refs should have made an example on each side and ejected a player from the game. That should've been followed up by a stern warning to both benches that further plays like that would have similar results.

Until hormone levels can get put into check, these things are going to continue to happen. Hopefully, this will lead to a review of how these tournaments will be handled moving forward. Fortunately, this one is now behind us. Unfortunately, it's at the expense of some talented players.
- Redman37

Red, you are 100% spot-on. This is a GREAT reply. THANK YOU!!!

I don't feel its as much that these players are trying to injure the opposition as many of them are looking to get noticed and perhaps think the best way is to be talked about in one way, shape or form... if they aren't scoring make your presence felt... as you said, most of these guys never sniff the NHL and as they get older that reality sets in and the number of chances decreases.... Im not condoning the late garbage or outright running of players but let's face it, the NHL is horrible when it comes to player safety and if its a joke at the top it only filters down.... the answer is stop auditioning young prospects with potential in meaningless games .... they will get a welcome to the NHL in good time, only there will be more skill and less goonery at the high level.... still, I can't fault these guys for doing what 'they feel' is best for their own career... even if I don't like it or hate seeing Wings getting injured....