GDT March 3rd, 2010 - Habs @ Sharks

[BCHabnut]

If you are talking about Markov being taken down, gotta agree with you! Loved how there was not outcry by the TSn announcers on that one.

That's the one. He just swung back with his stick and chopped Marky down like a tree.

[hab29RETIRED]

Well, we dropped all the way to 10th with this loss. Man it's getting tighter!! Last year, the LAK game could be expected as a win, that's no longer the case.

[The Chicoutimi Cucumber]

The game I saw tonight was ultimately more about the Sharks just being better than us and wearing us down. Once they ratcheted up their game in the third, we were toast.

Heroic effort by Price.

Edited March 5, 2010 by The Chicoutimi Cucumber

[rafikz]

Why oh why.........

[bar]

Still though we lost...it was a helluva entertaining game...the habs were playing fiesty, Pleks the superpest!

I'm not gonna lie to you..I loved when Laps cross checked buddy. It was dirty, uncalled for, should have been a penalty, but it's what he has to do. I really like that third line now.

[brobin]

They definitely sat back in the 3rd and you knew Chris Lee would screw us a bit, but they didn't play that badly given it was a road trip against one of the top teams. What killed them was a couple PP changes that lacked effort and urgency. No pounce! They bury one and I think they win it, but they spent most of their PP cycling in their own zone.

I am also tired of watching little #### dingle, dangle, and get no shot. Less fancy crap, more drive to the net.

I don't know why people are surprised given we all know the Habs are a marginal team and the sharks are king of the regular season. Price did what he could, but there were just too many chances to expect him to win it by himself.

[Fanpuck33]

Game will be on Yahoo Sports in the US. I doubt I'll be able to stay awake after only sleeping 4 hours last night.

Stayed awake just long enough to see Gomez's goal. Woke up again at the start of the 3rd and was asleep again within minutes. Why'd you have to pick a late game one of the only times I can't stay awake, Yahoo?

[Habsfan]

I really thought they could do it, but they held back in the third and were dominated.

The Habs became too passive towards the end.

You can thank Jacques Martin's passive-aggressive style that he asks his guys to play! Sit back and let the other team come at you... Drives me nuts! When we have a lead going into the thrid period our boys should be forechecking most of the time!

Just because the "defensive passive-aggressive" system worked against a team that can't score(ie: the Bruins) it doesn't mean that it'll work against a good team like the Sharks.

Carey deserved to get the W for this one, but the team let him down.

My guess is that Carey gets the start on Saturday, and Halak gets the start on Sunday!

Edited March 5, 2010 by Habsfan

[dlbalr]

Lapierre's hit caught the NHL's attention, he'll be meeting with Colin Campbell later today. We'll know soon enough if he gets suspended or not.

[jackp]

I'm not gonna lie to you..I loved when Laps cross checked buddy. It was dirty, uncalled for, should have been a penalty, but it's what he has to do. I really like that third line now.

This quote makes me happy that I'm usually at odds with you. I guess it's corny to demand good sportsmanship and winning by out-skating and out-playing your opposition?

The Habs of the mid 70s showed the goons from Philadelphia how hockey should be played. 4 straight in the final and "goon hockey" was dead. It's truly sad to see some modern-day Habs fans cheering this kind of roller derby hockey.

You think this kind of hockey is fine? Great! I don't. As far as Lapierre is concerned, it's sad to see a guy who almost always "just misses" when the opponent is facing him, but manages to hit him bang on when his back is turned.

[bar]

This quote makes me happy that I'm usually at odds with you. I guess it's corny to demand good sportsmanship and winning by out-skating and out-playing your opposition?

The Habs of the mid 70s showed the goons from Philadelphia how hockey should be played. 4 straight in the final and "goon hockey" was dead. It's truly sad to see some modern-day Habs fans cheering this kind of roller derby hockey.

You think this kind of hockey is fine? Great! I don't. As far as Lapierre is concerned, it's sad to see a guy who almost always "just misses" when the opponent is facing him, but manages to hit him bang on when his back is turned.

Teams that do this are successful. The playoffs are a different animal than the regular season, the team that is more physical and borderline dirty wins. Whistles go away in the playoffs, if not the most skilled teams would always win, that is not the case. The last couple years, the habs almost lost to a less skilled, but more dirty Boston team, and we all know what the Flyers do to the habs in the playoffs.

Another thing, you want good sportsmanship...how did that work out against the Sharks? They were manhandling Plek all game, Pouliot got accosted behind the net by like four sharks...didn't retaliate at all, you know what happened? No extra penalties called. You tell me what being a boy scout gets you in the NHL? Like I've said...wheres the outcry on the Moore crosscheck? The out cry from Plek getting his face mashed into the ice? That's what you get for playing the 'nice guy', you get rolled over. If Max does this and the other team gets off their game, I'm cool with that.

This is my opinion, I don't expect anyone to share any/all of it.

[jackp]

Another thing, you want good sportsmanship...how did that work out against the Sharks? They were manhandling Plek all game, Pouliot got accosted behind the net by like four sharks...didn't retaliate at all, you know what happened? No extra penalties called. You tell me what being a boy scout gets you in the NHL? Like I've said...wheres the outcry on the Moore crosscheck? The out cry from Plek getting his face mashed into the ice? That's what you get for playing the 'nice guy', you get rolled over. If Max does this and the other team gets off their game, I'm cool with that.

This is my opinion, I don't expect anyone to share any/all of it.

In a different thread, I agreed with you about the Moore hit - should've earned a suspension too.

You know, there is some truth in your argument about dirty play, but the good skilled teams still win more than the goon teams. When is the last time a Boston or a Philly won the Cup, as opposed to Pittsburgh or Detroit? I think the last time was Anaheim, and that's why I laugh when I see the goon-master, Burke, trying to build another Anaheim in Toronto. When I played, I was a scorer and was therefore subject to "goonery." I settled it with my fists which is why, though I'm generally opposed to fighting in hockey, if they're going to have it, then get rid of that stupid instigator rule. It only protects thugs like Lapierre.

And finally, let me ask you a question: didn't you prefer that beautiful hockey displayed in the Olympics to the garbage you usually get in the NHL? Good clean hitting, along with great skating and playmaking. A guy like Lapierre would never get within a country mile of making teams like those. This is what hockey should be like. This is what it could be if the NHL started calling all penalties and not just hooking and interference.

[JoeLassister]

In a different thread, I agreed with you about the Moore hit - should've earned a suspension too.

You know, there is some truth in your argument about dirty play, but the good skilled teams still win more than the goon teams. When is the last time a Boston or a Philly won the Cup, as opposed to Pittsburgh or Detroit? I think the last time was Anaheim, and that's why I laugh when I see the goon-master, Burke, trying to build another Anaheim in Toronto. When I played, I was a scorer and was therefore subject to "goonery." I settled it with my fists which is why, though I'm generally opposed to fighting in hockey, if they're going to have it, then get rid of that stupid instigator rule. It only protects thugs like Lapierre.

And finally, let me ask you a question: didn't you prefer that beautiful hockey displayed in the Olympics to the garbage you usually get in the NHL? Good clean hitting, along with great skating and playmaking. A guy like Lapierre would never get within a country mile of making teams like those. This is what hockey should be like. This is what it could be if the NHL started calling all penalties and not just hooking and interference.

The problem is that most players in the NHL don't have the talent or skills to play hockey like we've seen in the Olympics... You can't expect the same level of hockey being displayed.

[bar]

To be honest, the olympics were cool for the nationalistic reason, not so much for the gameplay. I like the fiestiness, I like the chippy stuff after the whistle, heck I like fights. I like the fact that when you target a player clean hit or not, if they are a skilled player, someone will likely jump in. It's the intimidation factor...every sport has it.

I get a laugh out of people who clamour about the old days of hockey, how there was more respect. Bobby Clarke showed respect in '72, the Oilers teams protected Gretzky, there was no respect for the great one, players were scared to hit them because Semenko (sic) would pummel them into the ground if they did, not respect, fear was what it was.

[jackp]

The problem is that most players in the NHL don't have the talent or skills to play hockey like we've seen in the Olympics... You can't expect the same level of hockey being displayed.

Granted. But Joe, can't we expect the refs to call the game properly? After the lockout, they started calling interference and hooking properly and, despite braindead protests from knuckleheads like Cherry, the game improved immensely. If they started calling the thuggery properly, we'd see more skilled play and the game would improve even more.

Bar says he likes feisty play. So do I. Legal feisty play, like that check Robinson put on Dornhoeffer when he broke the glass with the force of the check. No one is advocating removing hitting from the game. Hell, I liked to hit, having also played football. But hits from behind, which require no guts and can seriously injure a player, have no place in the game. Anyone can hit from behind. A guy 5'2" can hit Chara from behind. It doesn't take guts; it takes a mean, cowardly spirit.

Didn't Grabowski hit Markov from behind and kill any hope we had in last year's playoffs? Can anyone seriously advocate this?

[jackp]

I get a laugh out of people who clamour about the old days of hockey, how there was more respect. Bobby Clarke showed respect in '72, ...

Years later, when I found out Clarke had purposely broken Kharlomov's ankle in '72, it took a lot of satisfaction out of what I had gotten out of that series. After the '76 (?) series, H. Richard refused to shake Clarke's hand. He said something to the effect of that what Clarke was playing wasn't hockey.

I've always thought that when someone has to cheat in order to win, then they don't believe that they can win fairly. And I don't understand what satisfaction anyone can get, knowing that they cheated in order to win.

Hey, if this is what you believe in, then let's bring it to its logical conclusion. If we play Pittsburgh in the playoffs, let's get a 4th liner like Maxwell, to swing his stick and break Crosby's ankle. Is this what you want? Would you get satisfaction out of winning the series afterwards?

[bar]

Is that not what happens though, in a turnabout way? Players crash a player hard. Heck world juniors '06 I think it was, the Canadian team went after Ovie and knocked him out of the game. Be it legal or illegal players are attempting to injure someone when they throw a check, should the method really change your opinion of it? If you knew Crosby had a bum shoulder you're telling me the team wouldn't go after it?

[jackp]

Is that not what happens though, in a turnabout way? Players crash a player hard. Heck world juniors '06 I think it was, the Canadian team went after Ovie and knocked him out of the game. Be it legal or illegal players are attempting to injure someone when they throw a check, should the method really change your opinion of it? If you knew Crosby had a bum shoulder you're telling me the team wouldn't go after it?

If you hit a guy legally, then that's part of the game, even if you hit him hard enough to hurt him. Legal hits give the guy being hit a chance to defend himself. Illegal hits (like hitting from behind or clipping in football) do not give the victim a chance to defend himself and the nature of the hit is in itself inherently dangerous (which is why the rules of the sport ban it).

If I'm in a game, and the opposition is constantly hitting me legally, then it's up to me to "suck it up" and play through it. But if someone slashes at my ankle or pushes me from behind head first into the boards, there is absolutely nothing I can do about it. And anyone can do an illegal hit. It takes talent and grittiness to perform legal hits.

That's why, as mentioned, Lapierre seems to always miss when the guy is facing him. (How many times have you seen him slamming into the boards right beside the guy.) Yet he's great at slamming someone from behind.