Bill Meltzer: Meltzer's Musings: 3/7/12

Last night Brzy played so . . . . . shhhh

Bill,
It's our honor to have you be our blogger. Awesome stories day in and day out.

Howe's ceremony was one of class and respect...

On twitter last night Toc and Fridge were defending the hit and Fridge made a great point on how the NHL has tried to make a violent game safe with all the rules.

In the old days the hit was clean but in this NHL with them wanting to take head shots out, this hit violates Rule 48 because the target was the head. A lot of people will say he hit him with his arm down and that's fine but the target was the head w/o trying to play the puck.

Great quotes at the end of the blob

I got chills reading the Beasts and Pelle's. RIP both of them.

Solid win and Bryz is playing well...

#GoFlyers

Great night, and great game last night...I choked up a bit during Howe's speech.

I agrEE with Mark Howe, I would love to see the 7th game of the Stanley Cup finals played in philly agianst them stinkin Redwings!

Not trying to stir the pot but that hit last night reminded me a lot of the hit Phaneuf had on Sauer earlier in the year that left him concussed. Arms were down and looked more of a shoulder to the head.

Should Kronwall be suspended....I think so since he targeted the head. But will he, I don't think he will. My 2 cents.

Has anything been announced as to whether Kronwall will have any type of hearing on the hit.

If anything, it showed us last night why 1)fighting needs to stay in the game. and 2)The instigator rule is stupid.

Regardless of your opinion on the hit, Kronwall should have answered for the hit and instead made life harder for the rest of his team. I know Kronwall isn't a fighter.

I still think the best way to police the game is to let the players do it themselves. I think we would pretty quickly see the cowboys tone down their acts. Because they know they or their team mates are going to have to answer for a guy running around like Kronwall does on a nightly basis.

Keep your head up Jake.

Has anything been announced as to whether Kronwall will have any type of hearing on the hit.

If anything, it showed us last night why 1)fighting needs to stay in the game. and 2)The instigator rule is stupid.

Regardless of your opinion on the hit, Kronwall should have answered for the hit and instead made life harder for the rest of his team. I know Kronwall isn't a fighter.

I still think the best way to police the game is to let the players do it themselves. I think we would pretty quickly see the cowboys tone down their acts. Because they know they or their team mates are going to have to answer for a guy running around like Kronwall does on a nightly basis.

Keep your head up Jake.
- MBFlyerfan

+1

Heard Espo on Sirius/XM last night saying that he talked to Donald Fehr recently, and Fehr had one question for him, "what do you think of the instigator rule?" Espo said that he hated it, and Fehr acknowledged that it was a common sentiment among the people he's talked to.

I think it's going to be a major talking point during CBA negotes.

Not trying to stir the pot but that hit last night reminded me a lot of the hit Phaneuf had on Sauer earlier in the year that left him concussed. Arms were down and looked more of a shoulder to the head.

Should Kronwall be suspended....I think so since he targeted the head. But will he, I don't think he will. My 2 cents.
- TPC

To say he "targeted the head" tells me his intended point of contact was the head. I don't agree.

+1

Heard on Espo on Sirius/XM last night saying that he talked to Donald Fehr recently, and Fehr had one question for him, "what do you think of the instigator rule?" Espo said that he hated it, and Fehr acknowledged that it was a common sentiment among the people he's talked to.

I think it's going to be a major talking point during CBA negotes.
- bradleyc4

I hope you're right.

To say he "targeted the head" tells me his intended point of contact was the head. I don't agree.
- MBFlyerfan

Agreed, I don't think the head was targeted.

To say he "targeted the head" tells me his intended point of contact was the head. I don't agree.
- MBFlyerfan

Fair enough, I only had a couple of quick looks at it.

Not trying to stir the pot but that hit last night reminded me a lot of the hit Phaneuf had on Sauer earlier in the year that left him concussed. Arms were down and looked more of a shoulder to the head.

Should Kronwall be suspended....I think so since he targeted the head. But will he, I don't think he will. My 2 cents.
- TPC

It was a clean hit.

Yes, the head was primary point of contact, but I like hitting in hockey and understand that sometimes the head will be the primary point of contact even when the hitter isn't making it so.

Jake has to keep his head up there.

To say he "targeted the head" tells me his intended point of contact was the head. I don't agree.
- MBFlyerfan

Regardless of whether the "intended" point of contact was the head or not, that's what happened, because he carelessly threw his body at him. And if you watch closely, he did leave the ice marginally, just before contact.

But really, where I'm stuck on this, is the reaction in the hockey world... It was a clean hit, apparently. But if that was a Rinaldo throwing the shoulder, how would it have been viewed?

Clear violation of Rule 48, but Shanny was a Wing, so can we really expect him to get it right? Doubtful...

I won't soon forget lastnight... I was starstruck for the first time in my life lastnight, being in the same building as MR Hockey left me speechless for about 10 minutes. Howes speech was very moving, almost had me in tears a few times. Seeing all the players wear his number in warmups was also amazing.

As for the game...Bill your spot on in your assessment of the game, I thought the refs called a very poor game, especially at the end of the game. On one hand it was nice they let them battle, but the wings got away with a bit more towards the end of the game. Bryz was LIGHTS OUT lastnight, I have been waiting for him to steal us a game like that for a long long time.

I also thought Schenn did an amazing job filling in on the top line, he had a few chances and was very very good in his own end. I also loved our 2 newest d men and how they are playing, I thought kubinas blocked shot that he gently directed into bryzs glove came at the perfect time.

Overall, amazing night everything about it was just great.

briere is starting to turn me off big time, he goes around saying how everyone should act and be, never downs himself for a horrible season, and now he is embelishing everytime someone comes near him, i hope he gets back to playing hockey.

Oh, and if this counts, former Flyer and current Modo Hockey head coach Ulf Samuelsson used to own a Jewish-style deli in Elkins Park, PA. I suppose it doesn't.
- bmeltzer

briere is starting to turn me off big time, he goes around saying how everyone should act and be, never downs himself for a horrible season, and now he is embelishing everytime someone comes near him, i hope he gets back to playing hockey.
- mydoglicks

Watching him last night, he doesn't seem to be moving like he normally does. Lacking the top-end speed and quick bursts.

Watching him last night, he doesn't seem to be moving like he normally does. Lacking the top-end speed and quick bursts.
- bradleyc4

He had a few good shifts, but he looked lost and out of place most of the game

+1

Heard Espo on Sirius/XM last night saying that he talked to Donald Fehr recently, and Fehr had one question for him, "what do you think of the instigator rule?" Espo said that he hated it, and Fehr acknowledged that it was a common sentiment among the people he's talked to.

I think it's going to be a major talking point during CBA negotes.
- bradleyc4

I sincerely hope so. It hasn't really protected anybody, except players with dangerous tendencies.

briere is starting to turn me off big time, he goes around saying how everyone should act and be, never downs himself for a horrible season, and now he is embelishing everytime someone comes near him, i hope he gets back to playing hockey.
- mydoglicks

Saving his game for the playoffs. Briere will be just fine.

briere is starting to turn me off big time, he goes around saying how everyone should act and be, never downs himself for a horrible season, and now he is embelishing everytime someone comes near him, i hope he gets back to playing hockey.
- mydoglicks

Danny has really got into the bad habit of trying to draw a penalty on every shift. He's falling all over the place, and acting like he's shot on every little bump. As soon as he gets back to playing hockey the goals will start to go in for him.

Did Bryz ever say anything about why he slammed his stick on the ice, after the Simmonds turnover? Hopefully it wasn't aimed at Simmonds ... but a more general "come on boys, we need to clear the zone" type of anger. In a way though, I want to see that out of him. He looks really focused, and is playing absolutely great.

Bill, your blobs are 2nd to none. Great stuff. Us Flyer fans are very lucky.

Regardless of whether the "intended" point of contact was the head or not, that's what happened, because he carelessly threw his body at him. And if you watch closely, he did leave the ice marginally, just before contact.

But really, where I'm stuck on this, is the reaction in the hockey world... It was a clean hit, apparently. But if that was a Rinaldo throwing the shoulder, how would it have been viewed?

Clear violation of Rule 48, but Shanny was a Wing, so can we really expect him to get it right? Doubtful...
- meckelangelo

No he didn't. Just like he didn't throw an elbow (as others have so righteously, and falsely pointed out)

No is debating that it was a head shot. But I am debating, and rightly so, that his head was not targeted for the hit, and if Voracek is being responsible himself, and has his head up like he supposed to, the contact is with his chest.

Does it make the hit the right thing to do? No, I don't think so.

When a player like Kronwall, who is clearly trying to do damage when he hits, can continually get away with it because the old mechanisms for policing it have been legislated out of the game, this will continue to happen.

Taking it out of the players hands has made it less safe for the players. because now discipline, if there is any, is always AFTER the fact.

There needs to be a code for immediate and quick policing put back in to the game. A Flyer SHOULD have been able to just grab Kronwall and wail on him without fear of getting an instigator penalty. Then after one or two of those incidents, you can guarantee Kronwall would tone his act down pretty fast.

As it is now, this stuff wont stop happening.

The hit was technically clean IMO, but it wasn't sporting, it wasn't respectful. The instigator has removed respect from the game.

briere is starting to turn me off big time, he goes around saying how everyone should act and be, never downs himself for a horrible season, and now he is embelishing everytime someone comes near him, i hope he gets back to playing hockey.
- mydoglicks

Considering all the embellishing never wins him a call he needs to just cut it out.

In other news, it appears the Rangers organization is done with Avery.

The 31-year-old forward was informed Tuesday that he would not be on the postseason roster of the AHL's Connecticut Whale, the Rangers minor league affiliate, and was told he no longer needed to report to the rink for practice or games, according to a Rangers spokesperson.

http://espn.go.com/new-yo...rk-rangers-franchise-over