James Neal fined for diving

[Shakey Rustie]

Can't wait for the "Neal's a diver" chants the next time the Preds are in Winnipeg.

 

[kingdok]

it's bush-league BS

what damage does it do? it can give the diving team a power play if the refs miss the dive, which can have a tremendous effect on the outcome of a game.
duh?

Don't duh me if you want to have a discussion about it. I understand your point and I'm fine with giving out 2 minutes for it. But I find anything beyond that unnecessary. There are much more missed calls or unfair calls due to non-diving then diving and it affect the game just as much. I find refs to actually be better at seeing a dive then a legit penalty. Proper and constent reffing is more of an issue imo.

 

[Beerfish]

They need to make him wear one of those dog shaming signs for a game.

 

[AstroDan]

Wrong call, IMO. It wasn't a dive. He was actually trying to knee the ice.

Nice!

 

[Lazlo Hollyfeld]

I'll never really understand the witch hunt against diving/embellishing.

Yes it looks kinda dumb, but what damage does it do really? No players gets injured. Refs see it more often then not, especially if the player has a reputation for it. I don't think it has particularly become worst then it used to. I also don't think it ruin the integrity or reputation of the sport, I mean, there's embellisment in other healthy sports and a highlight of a player diving makes the player look foolish, not the league.

Plus, everyone likes to watch diving highlights.

This attitude on diving more than anything makes me worry about the future of the NHL.

 

[Derrty]

Ferraro was just on the radio saying Getzlaf should be on the docket now for his flop.

I believe you get an unpublished warning before they fine you, so he could certainly be in the running for #2. Hopefully he pulls another one soon, so Neal doesn't feel bad.

 

[Lazlo Hollyfeld]

According to Lebrun at ESPN, here's an explanation of how the diving system works and why the first public shaming came this far into the season.

The reason the league waited until now to finally have its first public announcement is that it gave its system a dry run early in the season. The league gave players free passes, or mulligans if you will, but also were informing teams and players of how this was going to work once it became public. The other reason for the dry run in October and part of November was for the league to get right how it wanted to handle this.

The real deal began in the fifth week of the season with every player in the league having a clean state from that point on.

The league has a "tagging system" in place:

-- Any dive called on the ice is clipped and cataloged
-- Any potential dive that isn’t called on the ice but seen by the war room is also cataloged
-- All of these dive clips are distributed to nine individuals in Hockey Ops and NHL Player Safety and critiqued. Each of the nine members vote as to whether the tagged play was worthy of a dive/embellishment call. At least six votes are needed to qualify the play as being a dive/embellishment.

http://espn.go.com/blog/nhl/tag/_/name/lebruns-rumblings-12-18-2014

 

[YEM]

Don't duh me if you want to have a discussion about it.

you axed a silly question:

Yes it looks kinda dumb, but what damage does it do really?

if he drew a PP against yr team by diving and they scored the gamewinner on that PP, that's yr "damage." And then maybe you miss the playoffs by a point or 2? mucho "damage."

Best part about this is that Neal probably won't get the benefit of the doubt too often by officials anymore, which in turn may lead to him diving even moar!

 

[Brainiac]

OK, we've made some jokes and all. Neal got fined.

But why in the hell does Goodrow slashes Neal there? Goodrow's not after the puck, he's not doing anything relevant. Just a little slash to the guy who actually happens to have the puck?

I don't know...

 

[gopreds19]

So glad i don't have to defend this guy anymore

I don't think I've seen anyone defend this at all.

 

[Sleepy]

I'm ok with the supplemental discipline idea for diving. I've long been a supporter of it. I'm not sure if every one should be a separate one-off fine and announcement. How about just communicating to players, and then at the end of each month announcing all players who have been fined in one communication?

This feels a bit more spiteful and, if they *really* start enforcing this, cumbersome. 1 fine for the season doesn't feel like a lot of enforcement.

 

[Tyler Biggs*]

Thank you! Diving is so frustrating to watch, and I hope this negative publicity helps it get out of the game for good!

 

[Knotty Moog]

Didn't take long for his centerman to rub off on him ay?

 

[goalsniper]

James Neal got fined for diving? Why don't we fine fish for swimming, dogs for barking, or Crosby for crying? It's what he does...

 

[fiveAMpractice]

James Neal is out sick , not playing against the Wild.
The NHL will fine him $5,000 for possibly having the mumps.
Boston and Philly fans can't believe he has not recieved a call from the league yet.

 

[Classicnamesup]

James Neal is out sick , not playing against the Wild.
The NHL will fine him $5,000 for possibly having the mumps.
Boston and Philly fans can't believe he has not recieved a call from the league yet.

How upset are you that your team employs a diver who has been publicly shamed? Out of 10?


It reflects back on the team as well, does that change your answer?

 

[FlaPanthers11]

Malkin could be next. They teach diving well in Pittsburgh.