News Article: Around the NHL

We needed an around the NHL news thread

This just in.



Poor Tommy. He should've also been suspended for the hit on Marchy in game 1 of the SCF!

 

This is awesome to see! NHL DOPS really got this one spot on.

 

Regardless, I expect NHLPA to appeal (to Bettman) to reduce that # of games. (It's just something that NHLPA "has" to do, if player wishes it.)


2018-19 NHL Trade Tracker

Bookmark link -- it'll be updated through the season.

Minnesota and Montreal did a minor trade.

 

However, I think they threw the book at him for repeated suspensions.

 

That's exactly why they came down so hard. Someone on the main board mentioned him getting away with a cheap shot in Round 1 against Wennberg on Columbus. He also got away with the borderline late hit/cheap shot on Marchy in the Finals. He could've been easily looking at his 5th or 6th suspension in a calendar year.

 

Wilson suspended? Best news I've heard all day.

As much as I like hockey, all the Wilson apologists sicken me. (That includes you, NHL Network radio.) I'm tired of hearing about his being a "great Canadian player."

If hockey ever wants to be considered more than a freak show and mindless spectacle, they have to rid the game of mooks like Wilson.

Over a million dollars lost from suspension?

 

I get that they probably have to, but it puts the NHLPA in a tough spot. The only people he is hurting are the fellow union members. Should the NHLPA help the guy potentially end another player's career? Plus if (or when) there is a concussion lawsuit, it doesn't look good on the NHLPA appealing this suspension given the circumstances and history with this guy. Really tough spot.

 

Some pundits are comparing Wilson to Raffi Torres (who essentially played his way out of the NHL with a few ill chosen hits that the NHL ended up increasing lengths of suspensions and on ice officials would call "reputation" PIMs), but Raffi was at the end of his playing career, rather than Wilson who is younger but at the beginning of his.

I have not watched/researched Wilson specifically to know how good he could be.


But Raffi NEVER had four suspensions in a calendar year.

 

Yep. The league (owners) and public wouldn't nominally support such an action, but NHLPA always has this dichotomy to deal with as they "represent" both the victim and the accused/aggressor.

 

Its a "does the good of the many outweigh the good of the one" situation. If I were the players, I'd take a close look at what the NHLPA is allowed to defend. Perhaps escalation of punishment due to repeat offense, especially when the result is injury to another member, should not be grounds for representation at appeal. Maybe the players reps should have to approve the NHLPA's involvement in these situations? But I'm not a player or an NHLPA member.

I think they are definitely putting themselves is a position of weakness with regards to defending players on the issue of future brain injuries. To me, that would be a more important issue than representing a head hunter on an appeal that resulted from frequent rules violations and member injuries. But it is on the member players to recognize this and make the change.

 

Union required to do the representation per CBA in these situations.

So you're talking a much bigger can of worms than those outside might encounter. (First off, most employment situations/contracts/unions do not expect players to physically engage each other in the normal course of work. It enters the criminal field with prosecutors and public defenders with assault and battery, etc.) And if an aggressor had to hire a lawyer to represent him, it would get so much more expensive and complicated real fast.

 

I was listening to the Ducks postgame show last night. I heard VGK commentator Brad May defend Wilson's hit. In fact, he joked that the recipient of the Wilson hit (Oskar Sundqvist) should have been penalized, instead. (I think he suggested Sundqvist "should have kept his head up.")

Either May was intoxicated or he was just trying to be provocative.



That said, this league has got to get its act together concerning head trauma.

 

All players should play with their heads up.

Even the DoPS video indicated that the player in that area of the ice should be prepared to be hit.

 

You are correct, he should expect to be hit and if Wilson had blown him up with a hit on the shoulder there would have been no problem. But Wilson grazes the shoulder and drives through his head. That should never be acceptable and he deserved every game he got for his 4th suspension in the past year, 3 for hits to the head. I love Brad May as someone who grew up as a Sabres fan but he played in a different era and those kind of hits are no longer legal nor should they be.

Gotta love the victim blaming that goes on here and elsewhere.

 

So, might the Raiders do something similar for VGK?

 

After the merchandise fiasco, I’m pretty sure you won’t even hear the Raiders org say the name Vegas for the next two years.

 

Blade whisperers, on-ice tests and a Tijuana trip: How an...

Wanna know how players can improve their play?

Interesting Athletic (paywall) article on the blade whisperers, how hockey players use their sticks, and details of how sticks are produced.

 

The east coast doesn't even defense.

 

So LA kings Vs Ottawa today and a little something that made me laugh.

LA Kings defenseman Dion Phaneuf is Ottawas highest paid defenseman this game.

 

Awesome

 

This is just so many kinds of great. The reaction when they saw their sweaters and then to Sidney...just so cool!

Sweet stuff.

 

Brad May was suspended while in AZ for committing a very similar hit that wilson delivered. Got 10 games for it. So you shouldn’t be surprised by his attitude. Also his style of play he’s going to defend that because that was his style, he was just a bit smaller than wilson.

 

Tatar with his 3rd goal today

 

Great to see the Ducks blow a 2-0 lead to lose 4-2 to the Sabres. 45 SOG for the Sabres.

 

Only 3 points ahead. Only Calgary has been able to take advantage of the Pacific's lackluster start.