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3 game suspension for Pacioretty


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Because Shanny has decided that Pacs was TARGETING the head with intent to injure. Malone had no intent (we must ignore him running around all game headhunting, it was all Campoli's fault).

Once again, they can use any excuse they want to justify their decisions.

Deveaux hit... not Malone.... Deveaux.... he clearly targetted head or he wouldn't stick out his elbow like that.

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We need to hire some "headhunters" of our own... I think Kip Brennan might be available soon since their KHL-team Vityaz might get banned from the league for just fighting all the time and he dont seem to bother much what he does on the ice.

That way we can at least get back at "protected" teams like Boston.

I think Pacs deserved a 2-3 game suspension but if others can do the same things and NOT get suspended then whats the point? Might as well go back to "heads-up" hockey again.

btw. the Kip Brennan part is more of a bad joke...

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I would suggest to you that the suspensions are not realitive to what happens on the ice, but rather the number of Tweets the subject renders. After all even negative press is good for business. How long before we enlist the rules for ringette?

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It's a hard pill to swallow when you compare Patches' hit to all the other ones out there, but in my opinion, the suspension fits. The blindside hits, where the head is the focal point, need to be eliminated from the game. I agree with the message that Shanny is sending, but it does suck for us Habs (and Patches) fans.

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I'm glad that most of the people here think that it was worthy of a suspension. The headshot rule was implemented t prevent this very type of hit...aka the Cook or Mike Richards hit. What aggravated me was that this was the only hit that Pacioretty distributed the entire game. In other words he is not a physical player but waited for his opportunity to hit a vulnerable player.

With that said I am getting more and more fed up with he NHL and Campbell and Shanahan. How f,.ing difficult is it to create a standard set of rules with head shots. How can the Malone hit be worth nothing, the Deveaux hit be worth 3 and Pacioretty hit be worth the same. There is absolutely 0 consistency.

Another amendment must be written that no matter what a head shot is a head shot is a head shot and as such has to be suspended X amount of games (2 games is reasonable I believe). Give additional games depending on the severity of the player.

Don't give me the argument that it is a fast game and there is no reaction time......a player can be skating full flight and then stop on a dime in front of the goaltender or the boards......how can he not do the same with a player coming his way.

When I play the game (nowhere near professional mind you) I am a very physical defensemen. I regularly distribute 4-5 big hits a game. I have been amidst big hits when a player either turned his back or lowered the head and had the ability to either stop before hitting or peel off and avoid the big hit. If I can do it with limited skating and ability then there is no argument that an NHL player cannot do the same.

So yes Max deserved to be suspended but come on Shanahan and NHL let's start seeing some consistency here.

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1. Malone = TBay = Yzerman, a close friend of Shanny

2. Deveaux = NYR = Bettman, whose ear Sather and NYR management has

3. Patches = Mtl = Years of preferential treatment with the draft, and therefore Cups which many believe they'd never have without those rules. You can also comment on the favouritism with the reefing, either because Mtl is a hated team by the ref, or because there's an unofficial rule stating that Mtl has to have the short end of the stick for a while to make up for the preferential treatment they received over many years. No one will admit to this. Many here will poo-poo this. Watch a few hundred games a year and then compare infractions for teams. Inevitably you'll see calls go against the Habs far more than they get the benefit of the doubt - more than any other team. Again, poo-poo it all you want, but have a long, long look at the history then the current games. I suggest an eye-opening will occur.

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Is this the preferential treatment you speak of? The preferential treatment that landed Montreal all of two useful NHLers (Reggie Houle and Marc Tardif) and thats it... the only two guys Montreal ever got because of the so called "preferential treatment" that other team's fans have complained about for years.

http://www.liam.ca/ed20040319.html

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1. Malone = TBay = Yzerman, a close friend of Shanny

2. Deveaux = NYR = Bettman, whose ear Sather and NYR management has

3. Patches = Mtl = Years of preferential treatment with the draft, and therefore Cups which many believe they'd never have without those rules. You can also comment on the favouritism with the reefing, either because Mtl is a hated team by the ref, or because there's an unofficial rule stating that Mtl has to have the short end of the stick for a while to make up for the preferential treatment they received over many years. No one will admit to this. Many here will poo-poo this. Watch a few hundred games a year and then compare infractions for teams. Inevitably you'll see calls go against the Habs far more than they get the benefit of the doubt - more than any other team. Again, poo-poo it all you want, but have a long, long look at the history then the current games. I suggest an eye-opening will occur.

Huge misconception. http://www.habseyesontheprize.com/2008/12/2/678036/debunking-the-canadiens-fr

I am also not a big conspiracy theorist when it comes to the NHL. Just raise eyebrows with limited Boston Suspensions when you're son plays on the team

Is this the preferential treatment you speak of? The preferential treatment that landed Montreal all of two useful NHLers (Reggie Houle and Marc Tardif) and thats it... the only two guys Montreal ever got because of the so called "preferential treatment" that other team's fans have complained about for years.

http://www.liam.ca/ed20040319.html

Beat me to it.

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It has nothing to do with the draft, but I can guarantee you that the league was very pissed that Montreal went to the press when they let Chara off. This really embarrassed the NHL. I am not sure it has anything to do with reffing, but I can guarantee you that when Pacs came in, they were not going to cut him any slack. They could easily have said two games. They could have said one or two games and noted that Letang made himself vulnerable and Pacs tried not to kill him. Instead, they made the ludicrous statement that Pacs moved to target the head. That is just a joke.

With Malone, they looked for any excuse not to give him a suspension. Every single commentator was expecting 5 games for Malone.

While I think Shanny has been better then the crap we saw before, when it comes to Montreal he has been of the mark. Get use to it. If you break the code of silence in this league, you will get blackballed.

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I feel that, with this, one almost needs to split their mind in two.

On one hand, the league is wildly incosnsitent. Lucic on Miller, Wolski on Alfie. The list of unpunished offenses goes on. On the other hand, Pacs hit was violent and was to a vulnerable player. It deserved a suspension. As a fan, though, it is frustrating to see the league miss the mark so often and, when they get it right, it just so happens to be on the Habs best winger. Regardless, it is the correct call, in my opinion.

Until the league sets guidelines defining which infractions warrant what punishment, it will be like throwing darts and we will keep measuring silly things like 'intent' and 'sudden moves'.

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3 games is no surprise, he plays for the Habs and not the Bruins

But, not that far off of what i figured he would get, deserved just a fine, but this is the entertainment business

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Huge misconception. http://www.habseyeso...he-canadiens-fr

I am also not a big conspiracy theorist when it comes to the NHL. Just raise eyebrows with limited Boston Suspensions when you're son plays on the team

Beat me to it.

Myth or not, the perception of it colours hockey today, which is exactly my point.

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Okay, it seems that I am in the minority on this one. I don't think that this hit warrants a suspension at all, imo. And if it does by definition of the new head shot rule, than that rule is terribly flawed. The reason it was a "headshot" is because Letang was in the motion of shooting. Max was flying towards him at 100mph and was going to hit him regardless if he was going to shoot or not. He made his mind up well before the hit occurred. I don't understand what is expected of Max in that situation. Stop on a dime? Move around him? Try and stick-check him? It wasn't going to happen. One of the best offensive defensemen in the league is driving towards your net in a good scoring area, what are you supposed to do, let him? What is this league coming to? No more crushing guys with open ice hits I guess. Every single hockey player in the world has been taught to keep their head up. You have to be aware of your surroundings, as hitting is "supposed" to be allowed. Max didn't target his head, it was just the point of contact when it happened. There has to be an onus on the receiving player in these situations. Hypothetically a guy could skate around the ice, bent over with his head down at all times and not be allowed to get hit according to the new headshot rule. It just doesn't make sense, two guys can square off and punch the crap out of eachother with their fists but heaven forbid someone finishes a check on a guy who put himself in a dangerous situation cutting across the middle with his head down. This is frigging hockey folks. There are risks involved when you play and everyone knows it. It is a very lucrative career choice but it comes with inherent risks. It's like someone working in a coal mine, they know what they are getting into when they sign up. They will breathe in toxic chemicals and might die in a shaft explosion. If you don't want to get hit in the head, don't play hockey. Or at least what used to be called hockey.

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I would hope that league executives are a little more educated on the subject matter than the average fan who brings it up.

If the NHL is basing their decisions based on myth or old wives tales then this league is pathetic and all that it represents is pathetic.

It's rarely been addressed by the "regular" media. Who cares if a bunch of bloggers write about it? Anyhow, perception rules the world, we should all know that. The whole world is run on perceptions rather than reality. I direct your attention to excessive Conservatism, Global Warming, religious wars... I could go on and on. And honestly, do you really believe that executive know the reality of the situation? These are the same people that defend hits that are blatantly against the rules *coughHarrySindencough*. They perceive that they were wronged as a league (which they were, it's even in those blogs - even if it didn't amount to much) and have acted accordingly for years since. How many times have you heard the opposition talk about the Forum Ghosts with disdain when they lost in Montreal to a Habs team they should have beaten? Hockey people are superstitious and a great many are traditionalists.

Oh sure, talking about this a horrible faux-pas, but it's the elephant in the room when it comes to the Habs. If you're so convinced it isn't true, then why, oh why, does everyone complain when the Habs (continually, though admittedly not completely globally) get the short end of the stick on calls most nights? Are we really a dirty team, our team of mini-me's? Or do the refs ensure they call every infraction against the Habs to, at the very least, ensure they aren't accused of bias for Montreal. Is there a bigger sin in hockey than being a Habs fan or having the perception about you that you are lenient to this team of "entitlement?"

I find it amusing that people argue the point, then on the other hand complain bitterly about the calls against the Habs and the non-calls that should go our way. If you seriously believe everything is done equally, then stop complaining about things like the Campoli hit because they'll "even out in the end." Did you notice how Neal was fined a massive $2500 for high-sticking Subban? That's appeasement. It's a non-penalty penalty designed to give the perception that the league is protecting Montreal - seeing as how it came right after the Patches suspension.

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Did you notice how Neal was fined a massive $2500 for high-sticking Subban? That's appeasement. It's a non-penalty penalty designed to give the perception that the league is protecting Montreal - seeing as how it came right after the Patches suspension.

To be fair, that is the maximum fine that a player can get in the CBA.

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Colin. In my opinion, you're up there with The Chicoutimi Cucumber for contributions to this site. But I can't do it, I can't read that stuff. I'm 40 years old, life is too short. I love a good conspiracy theory, how the hell did that 3rd building collapse at the World Trade Center when it wasn't hit by a plane, and seemingly had a manageable fire comes to mind. But to think a bias like you described exists? Forget it, that would drive me nuts.

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Pacioretty's agent on twitter @aschall21

@NHLShanahan said of Max Pacioretty "This was an illegal hit to the head in which the head was recklessly targeted". We disagree.

Max made clear that he DID NOT target Letang's head. He's sorry that Letang was hurt. @NHLShanahan clearly did not think we were truthful.

For all players safety, we are against head shots. The NHL should remove the gray area and not force @NHLShanahan to make judgements.

With the current rule, the hitting player has to target the head, and Max did not do that. @NHLShanahan made the wrong judgement.

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Colin. In my opinion, you're up there with The Chicoutimi Cucumber for contributions to this site. But I can't do it, I can't read that stuff. I'm 40 years old, life is too short. I love a good conspiracy theory, how the hell did that 3rd building collapse at the World Trade Center when it wasn't hit by a plane, and seemingly had a manageable fire comes to mind. But to think a bias like you described exists? Forget it, that would drive me nuts.

99% of the time I can't do it either. It's that unwritten truth that we refuse to admit exists. Like my neighbours. Our house was a complete disaster when built - and their houses were built by the same builder at the same time. They refuse to even examine their houses. It's willful ignorance. "The world can't possibly be like that, so therefore it isn't." Problem is that 1% of the time, we're forced to acknowledge the truth - like the couple of neighbours who have completely freaked after checking things out AFTER their warranty had expired. Watch enough games a few times over again, take enough notes...

But the good news is that, when we win the Cup again, or even when we beat the Pittsburgh's and Washington's and Boston's of the league during the playoffs, we can say that, not only did we win the series, but we beat the system.

Anyhow, time to turtle and disavow. ;-) I'm with you, would drive me nuts if I thought about it all the time.

Incidentally, why did the workers at the Pentagon clean up the debris before crime investigators worked the scene? So many discrepancies, so little time. :D

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To be fair, that is the maximum fine that a player can get in the CBA.

Hopefully that is something the league and PA can address in the next CBA. The cap on fines is ridiculous. It's like if I got fined 10$. I can barely get a pint on Friday night for that...

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Hopefully that is something the league and PA can address in the next CBA. The cap on fines is ridiculous. It's like if I got fined 10$. I can barely get a pint on Friday night for that...

It's the PA who pushed to keep it at $2,500 last time, I suspect that won't be changing, at least significantly, in the next CBA. The owners will have 'bigger fish to fry.'

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The problem is that no one man should be deciding the suspendable offences. It should be a review board made up of one representive from each team and a vote held.

1 game too many for Pacs, not surprised, none for "connected" players, less surprised.

I would suggest Shanny not show up at The Bell. There may be a smoke bomb thrown....... Sorry, there was never favoritism towards the Habs, the team has excelled against all odds since the early days of the English run NHL.

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