Here is what I don't understand about the league/our organization

[lastcupever75]

many years ago 66 was taking a pounding, when one rick t. skated up to their star player and told him that if they ever do that again that he would take his knees out. the stuff with 66 ended........it can be done if you have the guys that will do it.

it wasnt just talk.

the rangers were up to their usual shenanigans messing with mario. thats when, after a whistle, tocchet skated up to the 'messiah' and knocked his helmet off his bald head with a gloved left hand.

then kris king came to messier's defense and they fought. tocchet was wearing a football like helmet from a broken jaw he suffered and still knew what to do.
I still remember john davidson screaming "what the hell is tocchet doing there with a broken jaw"
he was winning, JD. A Win for the team

 

[lastcupever75]

I remember hearing that story.


It was against the Rangers, and Mario was getting a rough time on an early shift. Tocch let it be known to the entire Rangers bench, "next person to touch 66 and I take out Messier's knees." Apparently no one touched Mario the rest of the way.

IIRC, thats how it went. he said that from the bench. then later the scenario i wrote above occurred

 

[billybudd]

Not saying break his ankle, I would actually be very opposed to that... but sending Downie or someone else out to break his nose? Yes. Downie won't be sitting for 30 games and the message will be sent.

Downie tried that when Ovechkin boarded him with the lightning. Referees let Matt Bradley Pearl Harbor Downs from behind when he thought he was fighting Ovechkin. I think he got injured in this sequence, but because it was Downie, nobody at the NHL cared. About the board or the two on one fight.

 

[lastcupever75]

I prefer to take the words of current and former players over random internet guys that may or may not have ever held a stick. When agitators say they like tough guys because they enable them to do their jobs better, then I take their word for it. When the superstars say they like having tough guys because it gives them more space, and they have to deal with less cheap shots, I'll take their word for it. When every coach and player in the entire league say they want to police themselves, I'll take their word for it.

So you guys can hold your breath and stomp your feet all you want, wishing the league was more European. But those of us that deal in reality know that we were a much better team when we had a roster full of mean, tough SOBs, because those are typically the types of teams that have the most success.

Mike Rupp was on the Fan earlier and said there's only two ways to deal with this stuff. Either completely ignore it and beat them on the scoreboard, or answer the bell physically and violently enough to prevent it from happening again. The Pens do neither, and that's the problem.

Nobody is saying having a 4th line of Macintyre-Scott-McGratton would guarantee Sid and Geno never get messed with. But having even one of those guys, or a guy like Neil, Peluso, etc may certainly limit that stuff.

What's the teams biggest Achilles heel (beside PP)? It's teams getting under their skin right, and the Pens losing their minds. That issue only began occurring once we rid ourselves of any toughness. Was never a problem when we had Laraque, Ruutu, Roberts, Godard, Rupp, etc.

well said. I cant believe fans of our very own team forget the rosters we had when we made the cup finals/won the cup

 

[Jacob]

that has never been a solution. Cheap dirty injuries only get your own stars targeted next time you play... if we two handed ovie's knee, Crosby wouldn't make it out of his next shift without some stupid good taking a paul bunyan whack to his throat or skull...

They're already targeted.

 

[nothingbeatshockey]

You can argue about Ovechkin's intent. Caps fans will say it's was an attempt at a shot and Pens fans will say it was a flagrant attempt to injure LeTang. I have no idea what his intent was, but I don't think he really set out to try to break LeTang's ankle. I've watched NHL Live and listen to the NHL channel on Siriius and even they seemed split between an attempted shot and a minor penalty.

I've seen some sites publish the NHL rule book about what a slash is and how this didn't meet that standard. Then don't call it a slash. Call it a trip. Call it an unsafe hockey play/unsportsmanlike conduct/etc but that should have been a 2 minute penalty on the Caps.

But the Pens have to be more mentally disciplined than to let it disrupt the rest of the game. Kunits and someone else [Perron?] cross checked Ovechkin on the next draw to send the message. Downie drops Hillen with a punch. Some moron head butts the Caps third line center. Someone boards Ward. Letang slashes and breaks a caps stick. Self-inflicted injuries. In the first period Kunitz [or Letang] checks 92 on the Caps and then slams his head into the boards. The Pens ran Holtby all night and not only never got called on it, the end up getting two goalie intereference penalties, including the worst makeup call in the history of make up calls with the penalty on Laich with two minutes to go.

There was horrible officiating for and against each team. You can't let one play completely make you come unglued.

 

[Whale Mingo]

Thank you all for the replies. I'm honestly more frustrated now than I was before making the thread because so many of you are correct. We just won't be tough enough to stop this from happening and it certainly appears we aren't talented enough to make them pay on the scoreboard.

I've been a lifelong fan seeing my first game in 71 and I've seen some pretty bad years, but nothing as disheartening as this season. We get pushed around, we can't score goals and we lose every game against anything even resembling a rival. I think it's time for the Pens jerseys (I own a lot of them) to go in the back of the closet for a while. This team is rapidly approaching embarrassing.

If we miss the playoffs does anyone think things could change?

 

[wej20]

You can argue about Ovechkin's intent. Caps fans will say it's was an attempt at a shot and Pens fans will say it was a flagrant attempt to injure LeTang. I have no idea what his intent was, but I don't think he really set out to try to break LeTang's ankle. I've watched NHL Live and listen to the NHL channel on Siriius and even they seemed split between an attempted shot and a minor penalty.

I've seen some sites publish the NHL rule book about what a slash is and how this didn't meet that standard. Then don't call it a slash. Call it a trip. Call it an unsafe hockey play/unsportsmanlike conduct/etc but that should have been a 2 minute penalty on the Caps.

But the Pens have to be more mentally disciplined than to let it disrupt the rest of the game. Kunits and someone else [Perron?] cross checked Ovechkin on the next draw to send the message. Downie drops Hillen with a punch. Some moron head butts the Caps third line center. Someone boards Ward. Letang slashes and breaks a caps stick. Self-inflicted injuries. In the first period Kunitz [or Letang] checks 92 on the Caps and then slams his head into the boards. The Pens ran Holtby all night and not only never got called on it, the end up getting two goalie intereference penalties, including the worst makeup call in the history of make up calls with the penalty on Laich with two minutes to go.

There was horrible officiating for and against each team. You can't let one play completely make you come unglued.

If Refs had sent OV to the box then none of the stuff is likely to happen.