Jordin Tootoo tattoo's Robidas

[HurlyBurly51]

BS. I turn around and someone is flying up on me, I'm not waiting around to see what he's going to do to me. Who knows what Robi had intended to do....

[Bmwolf21]

He could have threw off the gloves, grabbed Robidas and wrestled him into a fight like 99% of the scrums that turn into fights...

[Stoner]

Do you really expect fans of any team to riot when one of their guys does something stupid? Like Vaive said, if one of our boys did something like this, I would be disappointed and would hope that the team and/or league would discipline them. (That leads to another debate - why doesn't some team stand up and say "we don't care if the NHL says that hit was OK/legal/acceptable, that isn't how our organization plays and so-and-so was fined/suspended/whatever.")

 

As for the Mair hit - not a sucker punch, but a shoulder to the chin after charging in late - it wasn't borderline criminal; late, yes, a charging penalty, yes - but criminal? That's a stretch. None of us were celebrating the hit, at least not that I remember, and that should be indication enough that Sabres fans felt there was something wrong with the hit. But which of us is going to advocate one of our guys being suspended? Is Lindy going to call the ref over and tell him that Mair should have been punished more than the two minutes?

 

I don't know whether you're playing devil's advocate or just being argumentative, but the bottom line is that no matter what our reaction was (or wasn't) to previous incidents, it doesn't excuse or mitigate current or future attacks, and shouldn't factor into their discipline.

 

We all argue, debate, etc. every day, so why am I the only who is accused of being argumentative or contrary? I believe everything I write, most of the time, sort of. :)

 

Are we talking about Mair's "hit" on January 30? Because there was another controversial hit on Bruin by him... Mair absolutely sucker-punched the Bruin player whose name I am too lazy to look up. The kid was out before he hit the ice, and if this had been the incident in which the NHL's luck ran out, absolutely Mair would be "on the bottom bunk" in prison right now. :) It wasn't a shoulder to the chin, it was his fist or forearm. Late. From behind. Sound familiar? Probably not, to most of you.

[X. Benedict]

BS. I turn around and someone is flying up on me, I'm not waiting around to see what he's going to do to me. Who knows what Robi had intended to do....

You are going to throw a haymaker with your gloves on?

 

You are responsible for your actions on the ice.

 

Bmwolf21 said it right I think, the guy wasn't coming in punching, he was going to get pushed and grabbed.

[TM8-PL16]

Drop your gloves.

 

exactly!

[Stoner]

These guys are hard-wired to do certain things. I don't care if the penalty was death, Simon was going to hatchet that guy, and Tootoo was going to slug the dude. How do you prevent these things?

[HurlyBurly51]

You are going to throw a haymaker with your gloves on?

 

You are responsible for your actions on the ice.

 

Bmwolf21 said it right I think, the guy wasn't coming in punching, he was going to get pushed and grabbed.

 

I don't agree with that assesment at all. The guy was coming in as an aggressor, and it was obvious to me he planned to do something when he got there.

 

I'll put it to you this way. If some guy on the street comes up to me in an aggressive manner that threatens my safety, I'm not playing by Mr. nice guy rules. I ain't waiting around to see what his intentions are, I'm employing street fightin' rules and protecting myself. If I wait to see what the other guy is gonna do to me first, it won't make me feel any better if I'm laid up in the hospital consoling myself that I was gentleman enough to wait and see what the other guy was gonna do to me first.

[Bmwolf21]

We all argue, debate, etc. every day, so why am I the only who is accused of being argumentative or contrary? I believe everything I write, most of the time, sort of. :)

 

Are we talking about Mair's "hit" on January 30? Because there was another controversial hit on Bruin by him... Mair absolutely sucker-punched the Bruin player whose name I am too lazy to look up. The kid was out before he hit the ice, and if this had been the incident in which the NHL's luck ran out, absolutely Mair would be "on the bottom bunk" in prison right now. :) It wasn't a shoulder to the chin, it was his fist or forearm. Late. From behind. Sound familiar? Probably not, to most of you.

I know exactly what hit you are talking about - it wasn't from behind, and it most definitely was NOT a punch. It was, at best, a forearm or shoulder that came after the whistle, and the rookie (Krejci) left the game with a concussion. It happened just in front of the Bruins' net, to the goalie's right, and Mair came in from the boards, just between the goal line and the bottom of the faceoff circle, and blasted Krejci, who was in front of the net watching his goalie cover the puck. The Boston players just stood around and did nothing, and even Mair said afterwards that he was surprised by the Bruins' lack of response.

 

If there was another hit that apparently all of us missed, please find a clip and share with the rest of us.

 

Should Mair have been fined and/or suspended? Probably, yes. But how does our lack of outrage at one of our players' acts impact whether or not we think Tootoo should be suspended? It doesn't.

[inkman]

scott nichols

My old man would scream his name incorrectly at every Amerks home game. UGH!!

[X. Benedict]

My old man would scream his name incorrectly at every Amerks home game. UGH!!

whoops :lol:

 

 

I don't agree with that assesment at all. The guy was coming in as an aggressor, and it was obvious to me he planned to do something when he got there.

 

I'll put it to you this way. If some guy on the street comes up to me in an aggressive manner that threatens my safety, I'm not playing by Mr. nice guy rules. I ain't waiting around to see what his intentions are, I'm employing street fightin' rules and protecting myself. If I wait to see what the other guy is gonna do to me first, it won't make me feel any better if I'm laid up in the hospital consoling myself that I was gentleman enough to wait and see what the other guy was gonna do to me first.

 

Fine. But then you aren't playing hockey, you are a street fighter.

 

Hockey allows fighting within the context of the game and there is a way to go about it.

[Bmwolf21]

These guys are hard-wired to do certain things. I don't care if the penalty was death, Simon was going to hatchet that guy, and Tootoo was going to slug the dude. How do you prevent these things?

I don't buy it that these guys are hard-wired to do these things - that excuse is as weak as Simon's "I was groggy from the hit so I didn't know what I was doing" defense.

The best the league can do is punish the perpetrators as severely as possible, so as to deter the borderline guys from doing it, and by setting up an incremental punishment scale, so that habitual line-steppers get punished more every time they do something stupid.

[connee]

The old boys that rule the NHL like "slapshotism". You don't see this garbage in any other sport. There are no baseball players who can't play baseball and are only on the team to attack other baseball players. There are no goons on basketball teams who play 20 seconds a game and square off pulling each other's jerseys over their heads. The problem is the league, not the players. They want this in the game.

[jayg]

I haven't seen anyone mention Pete Weber's time in Buffalo.

 

http://www.nashvillepredators.com/pressbox/broadcasters.asp

 

Weber spent two seasons (1995-97) as the radio play-by-play announcer for the Buffalo Sabres, three seasons (1978-81) as the color analyst for the Los Angeles Kings and also served as host of "Hockey Night with the Buffalo Sabres" from 1990-93. In addition to his NHL experience, Weber has served as a play-by-play voice in baseball (Buffalo Bisons, 1983-95), basketball (Seattle SuperSonics, 1981-82) and football (University of Buffalo, 1992). He called the hockey action for the University of Notre Dame (1974-76) and the University at Buffalo (1976-78) and was part of the Buffalo Bills' broadcast team during their four Super Bowl seasons (1990-93).

 

Weber was inducted into the Buffalo Baseball Hall of Fame in the summer of 1999

[Kristian]

These guys are hard-wired to do certain things. I don't care if the penalty was death, Simon was going to hatchet that guy, and Tootoo was going to slug the dude. How do you prevent these things?

 

How about not letting them back on the ice?

 

I for one think Simon should be banned for life for his infraction. You take a two-handed swing at someones head, you're a #%^$#!ing lunatic. Groggy from the hit my ass, he sure as hell wasn't too groggy to get back on his feet, identify the guy who hit him, line up for him, and execute a perfect swing.

 

People who are groggy from hits, end up at the wrong bench, stumble over repeatedly, or just dont get up, they sure as hell don't look to get even.

 

Somebody's gonna get killed one day....

[Seth Greenstein]

Well, I've read that it's 5 games for punching. A little on the light side, but I really only thought 6 to 10 was necessary so it's good to me... Punk.

 

And by the way, being afraid of Robidas is like being afraid of the angry 2nd grader. Robidas was honorable in his intent to go and get into a scrum with Robidas after the Modano hit, but the dude is small for most high school hockey leagues. Tootoo claiming "self-defense" against him is even more deplorable, and somewhat laughable...

[JoeFerguson]

First of all, those announcers were being overly blinded by their loyalty to the Predators. You can be objective while still being a homer in regards to an incident like this.

 

Now, does anyone remember the Pittsburgh-Buffalo game that took place after Barnaby was traded? Rob Ray was trying to provoke Barnaby into a fight and I recall that he punched him in the head before the gloves were dropped. Barnaby knew it was coming, but still, is this dishonorable? I don't even think Barnaby ever dropped the gloves during this incident.

[X. Benedict]

First of all, those announcers were being overly blinded by their loyalty to the Predators. You can be objective while still being a homer in regards to an incident like this.

 

Now, does anyone remember the Pittsburgh-Buffalo game that took place after Barnaby was traded? Rob Ray was trying to provoke Barnaby into a fight and I recall that he punched him in the head before the gloves were dropped. Barnaby knew it was coming, but still, is this dishonorable? I don't even think Barnaby ever dropped the gloves during this incident.

 

Barnaby and Ray are best friends too.

[LexLuthor871]

The "homers" you talk about include none other than our very own Pete Weber.

 

If the shoe fits...

 

Webber has always been a homer dating back to his Bisons days. Good announcer IMO but a homer nevertheless. He definitely glossed over that one.

 

What's Tootoo supposed to do? IMHO, the guy coming up on him to attack him deserves what he gets. If you want to come to the aid of your teammate, better buck up and be prepared for a confrontation. Don't expect someone to just let you waltz up and "get even" for the the hit you just laid down.

 

That punch was bad. It reminds me of when Kermit Washington leveled Tomjanovich during the Braves' NBA days (A whole book was written about it). Is anyone awake in the NHL league offices?

 

ALSO

 

These refs are incompetant in meting out penalties as other people on here mentioned and of course they're swallowing their whistles again so all the obstruction and holding stuff they had been enforcing is out the window. This league has major problems that won't be solved until Bettman's is jettisoned which the owners in their own self interests probably won't take up until the tv ratings are in negative figures :lol:

[darksabre]

First off the punch was cheap. No question there.

 

Should Robidas have seen it coming? Absolutely.

 

You should always know your enemy before you engage them, and if Robidas had bothered to do a quick google search on Tootoo before the game, he would know that Tootoo is a dirtbag.

 

The problem is that the NHL should have done something about Tootoo a long time ago, but they haven't. Look at his track record of dirty hits and it's a mile long, but he's still here?

 

If I'm Robidas I'm not going charging in after Tootoo, I'm gonna come up cautiously, because this guy is dirty. I wanna fight Tootoo? I better be ready for anything. Punch to the face with the gloves on, fingers to the eyes. Heck, I'd be wary of him trying to take off his skate and stab me with it!

 

Tootoo is a virus that the NHL has to do something about and other teams need to know that until the NHL does something, they should be wary of him.

 

Robidas was being a good team mate going after Tootoo. He just went about it the wrong way and should probably have expected something dirty from Tootoo.

 

Study your opponents, not just your play books.

[MBD]

The Bishop has been suspended 5 games.

[Bmwolf21]

From NHL.com:

TORONTO/NEW YORK (March 19, 2007) -- Nashville Predators forward Jordin Tootoo has been suspended for five games, without pay, for striking Dallas Stars defenseman Stephane Robidas during Game #1074 at Nashville, March 17, the National Hockey League announced today.

 

Under the Collective Bargaining Agreement, and based on his annual average salary, Tootoo will forfeit $16,032.80. The money goes to the Players’ Emergency Assistance Fund.

 

The incident occurred at 16:21 of the third period. Tootoo was assessed a double minor penalty for roughing for his action.

 

"In reviewing this incident, Stephane Robidas appeared to be initiating a confrontation by approaching Jordin Tootoo," said NHL Senior Executive Vice President and Director of Hockey Operations Colin Campbell. "While a player is entitled to defend himself, Mr. Tootoo's forceful blow to Robidas' head was an overly aggressive and inappropriate response. The fact that Mr. Tootoo's actions resulted in an injury to his opponent also was a factor in this decision."

 

Tootoo will miss Nashville games March 21 at Vancouver, March 22 at Calgary, March 24 at Edmonton, March 27 vs. Edmonton and March 29 vs. Detroit.

Sounds like what a lot of us were saying - you can defend yourself, but within reason. If he would have grabbed Robidas and then they started fighting, no biggie.

[connee]

Mr. Neil's forceful blow to Drury's head was an overly aggressive and inappropriate response. The fact that Mr. Neil's actions resulted in an injury to his opponent also was a factor in this decision."

:huh:

[Stoner]

Mr. Neil's forceful blow to Drury's head was an overly aggressive and inappropriate response. The fact that Mr. Neil's actions resulted in an injury to his opponent also was a factor in this decision."

:huh:

 

Come on, connee. Time to let it rest. Most people stopped whining when Drury came out and said he didn't have a problem with it.

[Bmwolf21]

That's right, connee. PA let it go as soon as it happened - while Drury was still bleeding on the ice... :thumbsup:

 

Seriously, I think connee is just pointing out the lack of rhyme or reason to the NHL's logic and reasoning for suspensions (and length thereof)...

[inkman]

"...The fact that Mr. Tootoo's actions resulted in an injury to his opponent also was a factor in this decision."

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Why don't the executives in the NHL office understand how short sighted this sounds? It doesn't matter what a player is trying to do? If a player takes a Chris Simon like swing at another player and misses, it doesn't matter because no one was injured. These guys are stupid. Not just normal stupid but some extraordinarily moronic stupidity.