Olympics: Should a player lay out his NHL teammate?

[Dan K211]

For example, if Marleau is entering the offensive zone and Doug Murray sees that Marleau's head is down, should Murray lay him out cold? Is it poor taste for when they wear the same uniform 2 weeks later once the NHL season resumes?

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[Jason MacIsaac]

Yes, if you don't play 110% hard for 60 minutes, your not representing your country properly.

 

[Minister of Offence]

Knock him into next week all you want, as long as your not being dirty.

As long as Douglas Murray doesnt make it a priority to knock one of his Sharks teammates out of a game, I see no problem if it happens as a result of a good clean hit, even an explosive one.

And of course this goes for any NHL teammates playing for opposing countries. This is the real deal...

 

[v-man]

Yes, as long as it's clean, but then again, I'd rather see more play-making and skill in the Olympics than crushing hits.

 

[Dan K211]

Yes, as long as it's clean, but then again, I'd rather see more play-making and skill in the Olympics than crushing hits.

I agree. It's just with the North American ice surface, there's going to be a bit more collisions than years past.

 

[jekoh]

During NHL games, players should never hit fellow countrymen because they will wear the same shirt in the Olympics.

 

[Kevin Forbes]

It's the same as hitting a friend who might be on another team or a guy who was recently traded elsewhere. You have to play the game as you always play it or you'll find yourself on the bench.

 

[vippe]

Yes!

 

[DetBigWangs]

There's going to be a rift here. I think especially for players from American hockey markets. I place more value in my NHL team than national team, but I'm sure it's different for Europeans or Canadians. I'd be completely shocked and appalled if say Datsyuk, crushed Rafalski in the Olympics.

 

[noobman]

There's going to be a rift here. I think especially for players from American hockey markets. I place more value in my NHL team than national team, but I'm sure it's different for Europeans or Canadians. I'd be completely shocked and appalled if say Datsyuk, crushed Rafalski in the Olympics.

Given the chance in the gold medal game, I'm sure Ovechkin would end Backstrom's career.

 

[Fugu]

There's going to be a rift here. I think especially for players from American hockey markets. I place more value in my NHL team than national team, but I'm sure it's different for Europeans or Canadians. I'd be completely shocked and appalled if say Datsyuk, crushed Rafalski in the Olympics.

Yeah, I agree. All this nationalistic rah-rah stuff is nice, but it's the NHL that pays most of these guys. They're the finely tuned instruments they are not because their countries are keeping them conditioned, but because there are businesses that employ them. My loyalty is to my team first too since I think of the Olympics as a nice, little money-making diversion (for the IOC and networks) that comes along every four years.


(I'll leave now that I've dared to write such blasphemy.)

 

[SeeBass]

If a player has time to think about who the person is they are going to hit they would have been too late.

 

[hototogisu]

Isn't this the reverse Ohlund/Zetterberg thing from a couple of months ago?

 

[SirKillalot]

Isn't this the reverse Ohlund/Zetterberg thing from a couple of months ago?

You mean McGuire's "Swede on swede violence"?

 

[v-man]

There's going to be a rift here. I think especially for players from American hockey markets. I place more value in my NHL team than national team, but I'm sure it's different for Europeans or Canadians. I'd be completely shocked and appalled if say Datsyuk, crushed Rafalski in the Olympics.

True, I guess. I for instance would be more pissed off if say Heatley took out Getzlaf before the Olympics than if Kessel took out Kaberle at the Olympics. Your national team will never change (well, except for a very few exceptional cases), while your NHL team could change tomorrow. The guy you loathe and crush in the NHL today could be your best friend and team mate tomorrow.

 

[JalapenoPeppa*]

Absolutely. This tournament should be pretty physical with the NHL ice and such.

 

[Dave is a killer]

I'm looking forward to a few of these "awkward moments"

 

[rye&ginger]

They are playing on different teams. If they dont hit a club teammate, they are traitors!

 

[Siberian]

Malkin is going to send Crosby into a deep knock out!

 

[PredsChik]

I'm looking forward to a few of these "awkward moments"

I'm really looking forward to a few "not so awkward moments" that include a certain Russian that bolted to the KHL.

 

[Jag68Sid87]

I think the only guy who admitted that he had trouble playing 100 per cent full steam against an NHL teammate was Mark Messier (surprisingly enough). I will always remember a comment he made during a World Cup of Hockey or Olympic tournament, when he admitted that he wasn't sure he'd be able to put Brian Leetch into the boards with a big hit. Or something to that effect.

I don't think there will be anything awkward at the Olympics. I suspect the awkwardness would begin when they all go back to their NHL teams. There could be a few moments of ill-will.

But honestly, isn't this part of what makes this mid-season tournament so awesome?

 

[puckfan13]

I'm really looking forward to a few "not so awkward moments" that include a certain Russian that bolted to the KHL.

I don't think Weber, Suter or Erat will be going out of their way to smoke Radulov into next week. First of all, Weber is the only one capable of that, and secondly, I hope Weber is concentrating at the larger task at hand during the gold medal game.

 

[Dave is a killer]

I don't think Weber, Suter or Erat will be going out of their way to smoke Radulov into next week. First of all, Weber is the only one capable of that, and secondly, I hope Weber is concentrating at the larger task at hand during the gold medal game.

I wouldn't put it past Pronger though

 

[puckfan13]

I wouldn't put it past Pronger though

Haha, you got me there.

 

[Obama]

Honestly, I would expect these guys to take it easy on their NHL teammates. Several NHL players, like Kessel for instance, have come out and said that their NHL team is a higher priority than their Olympic team. Kessel isn't going to go out their and murder Kaberle (or anyone for that matter), but it shows that these players are loyal to their NHL team first, their olympic team second. If Niklas Backstrom is skating down the ice with his head down, I would be surprised to see Ovechkin go 100% and crush him, he would probably tone it down a bit.