GDT: Preseason – Sabres at Leafs – Sun Sep 22 – 7:00PM ET – TV: LeafsTV – Radio: 1520-AM

[Paxon]

Kessel will get two pre-season games, at most.

And no, I wouldn't agree with it.

I think 3-5 actual games is fair, with 3 being probably the most he would realistically get. No, they weren't huge slashes (and spear), but we're not talkin' about catchin' a guy on the shin around the net, either. This is slashing as part of a brawl, slashing a guy who was already busy fighting two other fellas. I get the first slash as a way to maybe keep distance from Scott while retreating, but everything Kessel did to Scott from then on was imo way worse than Scott going after him in the first place. Yes, I'd have said that if it were, say, Tyler Ennis and Colton Orr.

10 games for Clarkson is a hell of a lot when you compare it to the suspensions cheap shots to the head get, but at the same time every player at every level knows you absolutely can not leave the bench for a fight. Maybe you can if terrorists are on the ice, but that's only a maybe. Still, it'll be a joke when someone like Dustin Brown does a flying elbow to someone's jaw and gets 3 games.

This was two years ago, and Kessel proved he isn't intimidated with his phenominal playoffs against Boston this past spring.

I agree to an extent. It's too bad he didn't just fight Flynn (which he did a good job of) and leave it at that, instead of the slashing before and spearing after. I actually like Kessel, but that was a very ridiculous response to what was, fairly, pretty ridiculous of Scott.

 

[Kublakhan]

I was here to read the other side of the story from Sabres fans, some posts you just can't ignore though

Like half the posts on the Leaf board aren't way over the top..

 

[FanboySlayer*]

"No one is talking about the sick assist I got last night, the baby sauce pass in the middle.â€

 

[VaporTrail]

Buffalo Sabres ‏@BuffaloSabres 20h
WATCH: Zadorov's goal http://goo.gl/LVFbBW McBain's goal http://goo.gl/R0h2u6 Tropp's goal http://goo.gl/lpg3vj #Sabres

thank you....wasn't as bad as I was expecting...but none the less still from behind, and he should be suspended.

 

[jBuds]

thank you....wasn't as bad as I was expecting...but none the less still from behind, and he should be suspended.

Did he even get a penalty?

 

[VaporTrail]

Did he even get a penalty?

I have no idea

 

[Jacob582]

Kessel is the official laughing stock of the league right now.

Husqy Phil

 

[Jacob582]

thank you....wasn't as bad as I was expecting...but none the less still from behind, and he should be suspended.

You could say the same thing about the hit/push Kaleta gave Richards last year. He was suspended for that.

 

[Jacob582]

You might want to watch that fight a few times, it's pretty clear it was accidental. If the league had any reason to suggest it wasn't you would be hearing about a lengthy suspension for Devane.

Here's the thing about accidents. Accidents don't just happen; they are caused. They are caused by the actions or inactions (a series of decisions) by one or more people.

 

[PlamsUnlimited]

Nutty how they grasp at straws to justify it... But eh

 

[Lock3Boys]

I think you're missing the bigger picture. Carlyle sent Devane out to start something to get momentum back the Leafs' way. Its how he coaches. So Devane (6'5" 217bs) went out there with a mission and was lined up against Tropp (6' 195lbs).

Now some are saying Tropp should have ignored him but lets remember he is trying to make the team. If it was regular season I could see him feeling comfortable enough to step away. But not when he is in a dog fight to make the team. Carlyle and the Leafs know this so the fully expected him to rise to the challenge.

But the coup de gras was Devane's elbow/forearm increasing the force with which Tropp's helmetless head hit the ice. He basically drives Tropp's head into the ice with his forearm. That more than anything did the damage to Tropp and set off the Sabres.





Oh please.

If Scott wanted to truly do something to Kessel he would have. Instead he warned him what was coming and basically shoved him away instead of grabbing him and pounding on him. Then turned and took on half the Leafs on the ice.



I'm guessing if Scott was the one that came to his aid you would be whining about that. Btw Miller thought it was fun and it really wasn't a big deal. Its not like Bernier is a heavyweight goon.



I'm disappointed in the way some Sabre fans have reacted. When you break it down Scott didn't do anything dirty and injured no one. Get used to this because the Leafs play aggressive goon hockey and this will be a recurring theme all year. You don't send a message by having our fighter take on theirs. You send a message when you go after anyone on their team. As in, if you do something we don't like to a player on our team your entire team is fair game.

And its comical to see Leaf fans up in arms when Orr has gone after noted tough guys Plekanec and Gionta.

Great post and so true.

I loved what the Sabres did last night after watching Tropp get KO'd and the cheap forearm Devane finished him with.

Any Sabres fan that has a problem with how the team responded should be ashamed. This is a team building moment and sends a message to other teams.

 

[Clock]

Carlyle will probably think twice about sending his softest players on the ice in hopes that it will quell retaliation next time. The indignation that he lost that gamble is funny.

 

[Revelate]

That as a phenomenal goal by Zadorov. Seeng him next to Scott durng the celebration is impressive. Scott is bigger, obviously, but not by much.

 

[haseoke39]

I don't get this line about how John Scott just decided to run a smaller man. It's very clear from the video that Scott only turns on Kessel when Kessel reaches for Scott first. That's the kind of move that would be very fair, under the circumstances, to interpret as an invitation to fight. You don't start pushing a guy like that before the faceoff, especially a brawler like Scott who's out on the ice in that situation, because you just want to mind your business.

 

[Jacob582]

Carlyle will probably think twice about sending his softest players on the ice in hopes that it will quell retaliation next time. The indignation that he lost that gamble is funny.

I think Carlyle took a gamble that it would either diffuse the situation or if Scott decided to do something stupid that it would embarrass the Sabres (because it was against an All-star- not just a skill player- but their BEST player).

He definitely lost that gamble just by losing Clarkson for 10 games. Lets see what Kessel gets. Hopefully it is more than just 3 (preseason) games.

I can see the league not wanting to sit an all-star and put their big revenue team in further salary cap peril.

 

[Jacob582]

I don't get this line about how John Scott just decided to run a smaller man. It's very clear from the video that Scott only turns on Kessel when Kessel reaches for Scott first. That's the kind of move that would be very fair, under the circumstances, to interpret as an invitation to fight. You don't start pushing a guy like that before the faceoff, especially a brawler like Scott who's out on the ice in that situation, because you just want to mind your business.

Now that you say that, I don't think that Carlyle/Kessel was looking to diffuse the situation. By the action's of Kessel it seems that he was trying to start a brouhaha.

 

[Djp]

I think Carlyle took a gamble that it would either diffuse the situation or if Scott decided to do something stupid that it would embarrass the Sabres (because it was against an All-star- not just a skill player- but their BEST player).

He definitely lost that gamble just by losing Clarkson for 10 games. Lets see what Kessel gets. Hopefully it is more than just 3 (preseason) games.

I can see the league not wanting to sit an all-star and put their big revenue team in further salary cap peril.

Match penalty related suspensions must be for regular season games....otherwise that gives incentives to teams who happen to play division rivals an attempt to injure players without worrying about them missing regular season games.

 

[haseoke39]

Now that you say that, I don't think that Carlyle/Kessel was looking to diffuse the situation. By the action's of Kessel it seems that he was trying to start a brouhaha.

I don't know that he was trying to start the whole brouhaha, but taking your hands off your stick and putting them to your opponents upper body before the puck is dropped is not a move you make when you're trying to avoid a fight. He looked as though he was definitely inviting a confrontation with Scott, and Scott would have been foolish not to accept.

 

[Jacob582]

Match penalty related suspensions must be for regular season games....otherwise that gives incentives to teams who happen to play division rivals an attempt to injure players without worrying about them missing regular season games.

That's good to hear. I didn't know that.

I read that Clarkson is eligible for the remaining preseason. His suspension has to be served in the regular season.

 

[Jacob582]

I don't know that he was trying to start the whole brouhaha, but taking your hands off your stick and putting them to your opponents upper body before the puck is dropped is not a move you make when you're trying to avoid a fight. He looked as though he was definitely inviting a confrontation with Scott, and Scott would have been foolish not to accept.

Bold is my point too. He was probably running his mouth from the time Tropp was unconscious.

 

[vcv]

Toronto Fans, you have your own forum to vent. Thanks.

If you don't get it, read the site rules.

 

[Liferleafer]

I agree the Kessel doesn't belong fighting Scott, but how do you think Scott should have responded when Kessel is the first one getting his arms up? Who does that when they're not looking for a fight?

Seriously?? If i'm Kessel, (1 fight in my whole pro carreer) and a stonehanded meathead likes Scott tells me he's coming at me....i probably try to be ready to defend myself pretty early as well.

Unless you are saying that Scott had no choice when the vicious beast that is Phil Kessel threatened his very being.....then i get it.

 

[haseoke39]

Seriously?? If i'm Kessel, (1 fight in my whole pro carreer) and a stonehanded meathead likes Scott tells me he's coming at me....i probably try to be ready to defend myself pretty early as well.

Unless you are saying that Scott had no choice when the vicious beast that is Phil Kessel threatened his very being.....then i get it.

I would say any player, regardless of reputation, has a right to defend themselves, and a right to fight when challenged.

But if you do that, you can't act like the fight was one-sided or involuntary. Kessel had a right to skate away and that's not what he chose to do. When Kessel gets his arms up first, it's totally reasonable for Scott to take the fight that's being offered.

 

[CreeksideStrangler]

I would say any player, regardless of reputation, has a right to defend themselves, and a right to fight when challenged.

But if you do that, you can't act like the fight was one-sided or involuntary. Kessel had a right to skate away and that's not what he chose to do. When Kessel gets his arms up first, it's totally reasonable for Scott to take the fight that's being offered.

If i tell a child that i will fight him... he does what he can to try and save himself whatever way possible... then it is not 1 sided?

 

[haseoke39]

If i tell a child that i will fight him... he does what he can to try and save himself whatever way possible... then it is not 1 sided?

If you're a professional hockey player, you're not a child, and you don't have to do anything more to "save yourself" than skate away.

I think you're the one making a silly drama out of this, as though Kessel had no choice but to start pushing the big man because his life was in danger or something. It wasn't. If Phil Kessel wants to say "I'm not fighting you" and goes about his business, there's no fight.