deluca67 Posted April 22, 2012 Report Posted April 22, 2012 Watching the Rangers struggle mightily against the Sens is just making me more and more bitter that the Sabres didn't make it. Ditto for the Caps and Bruins series. Why? The Caps and Sens are better teams than the Sabres. There was a great sequence at the 5 min mark of the second period in the Sens/Rangers game. 5 consecutive hits in about 5 seconds of play. Ranger cleared the zone, hit. Ranger chipped the puck in the Sens zone, hit. Sens plays puck around the net, hit. Sens play the puck up the boards, hit. Sens clear the zone, hit. You're right, it makes no sense. I suppose we could just disparage the Rangers instead of giving Ottawa any credit. Torres was disciplined twice this season alone for hits like this one. Not to mention his history before this season. I really don't care about the length relative to NHL history...a severe message had to be sent to Torres to get him to alter his behavior, as clearly the standard suspensions simply weren't getting the job done. There is no message sent. This is Shanan buckling to outside pressure. This 25 games and the 3 games to Shaw are more embarrassing to the NHL than of the suspensions thought to be too lenient.
TrueBlueGED Posted April 22, 2012 Report Posted April 22, 2012 Why? The Caps and Sens are better teams than the Sabres. There was a great sequence at the 5 min mark of the second period in the Sens/Rangers game. 5 consecutive hits in about 5 seconds of play. Ranger cleared the zone, hit. Ranger chipped the puck in the Sens zone, hit. Sens plays puck around the net, hit. Sens play the puck up the boards, hit. Sens clear the zone, hit. Going by the standings, the Sabres are a hell of a lot closer to the Sens and Caps than those teams are to the Rangers and Bruins. And yet the significantly worse teams (by the standings) are winning. And I fail to see your point on the hits. The Rangers are out-hitting the crap out of Ottawa....and losing.
SwampD Posted April 22, 2012 Report Posted April 22, 2012 You're right, it makes no sense. I suppose we could just disparage the Rangers instead of giving Ottawa any credit. Torres was disciplined twice this season alone for hits like this one. Not to mention his history before this season. I really don't care about the length relative to NHL history...a severe message had to be sent to Torres to get him to alter his behavior, as clearly the standard suspensions simply weren't getting the job done. Whatever. If Hossa didn't have a glass jaw it would only have been two minutes. I'll say it again, 25 games is ridiculous.
TrueBlueGED Posted April 22, 2012 Report Posted April 22, 2012 Whatever. If Hossa didn't have a glass jaw it would only have been two minutes. I'll say it again, 25 games is ridiculous. Except for the fact the refs didn't see the hit, and called no penalty at all, sure. It would have been less if no injury resulted from it (which is retarded, but whatever), but there absolutely would have been a lengthy suspension given Torres' history.
nobody Posted April 22, 2012 Report Posted April 22, 2012 Of course the 25 games for Torres will include 9 preseason games (assuming there is a new CBA) so it isn't really as bad as it sounds.
Punch Posted April 22, 2012 Report Posted April 22, 2012 Of course the 25 games for Torres will include 9 preseason games (assuming there is a new CBA) so it isn't really as bad as it sounds. From the sound of it, while he will not be eligible to play in any preseason games, those games are not included in the 25.
darksabre Posted April 22, 2012 Report Posted April 22, 2012 Of course the 25 games for Torres will include 9 preseason games (assuming there is a new CBA) so it isn't really as bad as it sounds. Do pre-season games count?
SwampD Posted April 22, 2012 Report Posted April 22, 2012 I don't know why, but of all of Shamahan's inconsistencies, this has made me the maddest.
JJFIVEOH Posted April 22, 2012 Report Posted April 22, 2012 Do pre-season games count? I remember Boyes got suspended early this year and got to serve them in pre-season.
Punch Posted April 22, 2012 Report Posted April 22, 2012 http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=629019&print=true "Torres will be prohibited from playing in any preseason games until he has served this 25-game suspension (playoff and regular-season games)."
darksabre Posted April 22, 2012 Report Posted April 22, 2012 How about that Craig Anderson? This feels wrong.
nobody Posted April 22, 2012 Report Posted April 22, 2012 http://www.nhl.com/i...9019&print=true "Torres will be prohibited from playing in any preseason games until he has served this 25-game suspension (playoff and regular-season games)." Thanks for the clarification!
Iron Crotch Posted April 22, 2012 Report Posted April 22, 2012 How about that Craig Anderson? I love it! No one gave the Sens a chance in this series, but they're more than holding their own.
TrueBlueGED Posted April 22, 2012 Report Posted April 22, 2012 I love it! No one gave the Sens a chance in this series, but they're more than holding their own. But....but....but....they're being out-hit! The Rangers are so physical! I thought hitting won championships, cured world hunger, and solved all global conflicts?
bunomatic Posted April 22, 2012 Report Posted April 22, 2012 I have to agree with trueblue on this one. Obviously Torres wasn't getting the message. Suspended or fined on 5 previous occasions and he continues to be reckless in regards to others players safety and wellbeing. For once Shammy got it right imo but truth be told I was expecting at least 10 for that hit by that player. 25 sends a clear message but will Shammy follow it up or will he simply continue with token punishment?
TrueBlueGED Posted April 22, 2012 Report Posted April 22, 2012 I have to agree with trueblue on this one. Obviously Torres wasn't getting the message. Suspended or fined on 5 previous occasions and he continues to be reckless in regards to others players safety and wellbeing. For once Shammy got it right imo but truth be told I was expecting at least 10 for that hit by that player. 25 sends a clear message but will Shammy follow it up or will he simply continue with token punishment? I honestly think this was a special case with Torres. I'd be totally shocked if anybody else without a nearly identical rap sheet got anywhere near this. I fully expect the token punishment to continue.
Bmwolf21 Posted April 22, 2012 Report Posted April 22, 2012 I have to agree with trueblue on this one. Obviously Torres wasn't getting the message. Suspended or fined on 5 previous occasions and he continues to be reckless in regards to others players safety and wellbeing. For once Shammy got it right imo but truth be told I was expecting at least 10 for that hit by that player. 25 sends a clear message but will Shammy follow it up or will he simply continue with token punishment? This is pretty much how I feel. This CAN send a message, if he follows up and starts hammering players consistently after this. If he goes back to one game and/a small fine ($2500 is nothing for these guys) then it was all about punishing Torres. Here's an excerpt from the article I linked earlier: You kind of had the feeling Shanahan was never going to win no matter what he decided on Torres. If he went too light, we'd be hammering him for continuing what has been an inconsistent spring for NHL supplemental discipline (see James Neal, 1 game; Shea Weber, no games; Nicklas Backstrom, 1 game). By implementing a punishment this severe, the criticism is that Torres was the easy target; big whoop. Personally, I certainly prefer the latter. Shanahan made the right call here. Never mind whether this sends a message to the 700 other players in the NHL. I doubt it does. It's meant to send a message to one player: Torres. And I think he got it loud and clear, just like Cooke did a year ago.
shrader Posted April 22, 2012 Report Posted April 22, 2012 It does send one message anyway... You will be severely punished if you break the same rule four times
rickshaw Posted April 22, 2012 Report Posted April 22, 2012 Expanding on the Nashville 1st-round draft pick, the best-case scenarios for the first round are: Preds lose to Detroit LA closes out Vancouver SJ somehow comes back against St Louis Ottawa beats the Rangers Philly holds on to beat Pittsburgh In the West, it is looking like LA-StL and Nash-Pho, so we would want LA and Phoenix to win. The most important being, of course, the latter. In the East, we just want the Rangers and Pittsburgh to lose one of their first two rounds. Philly has two more shots, so hopefully they don't become the first team to come back from and then blow a 3-0 leaf. The Ranger-Sens series is up for grabs. If all of those work out, then the four teams making the Conference Finals round fall from before the Preds to after them, leaving the Sabres with the 22nd overall pick. If the Preds make it out of the second round, the best the Sabres get it the 27th overall pick. If the nucks lose and Phoenix wins their series then the West is going to have 4 very ugly, defensive teams remaining. Sad really.
darksabre Posted April 22, 2012 Report Posted April 22, 2012 The Raffi suspension is great. Look at the NFL. If you do something crazy and get suspended for two games, that's 12.5% of a regular season. 25 games of an 82 game season is 30%. When you put in "potential" playoff games it almost evens out. I think the NHL could learn from this. If future suspensions don't align with this precedent I will be disappointed.
rickshaw Posted April 22, 2012 Report Posted April 22, 2012 That's how long it should be. Too bad they all aren't this long. Makes Keith's blatant elbow to Sedin's melon look like a slap on the wrist. Torres was an inch too high and a half second too late. Keith was full on trying to hurt Sedin. I guess Toews is ok with that type of play though.
TheChimp Posted April 22, 2012 Report Posted April 22, 2012 BullCh!t That hit absolutely did not deserve the third longest (tied for 2nd) suspension in the history of the NHL. Period. It does if you, being the NHL brass, are sick and tired of crap like this. Makes Keith's blatant elbow to Sedin's melon look like a slap on the wrist. Torres was an inch too high and a half second too late. Keith was full on trying to hurt Sedin. Yup. And next time Keith does anything even remotely like what he did to Sedin, he'll probably get 20+ games, too. Good. Hits are great. High hits on players without the goddamn puck? Bush league ######.
bunomatic Posted April 22, 2012 Report Posted April 22, 2012 How does everyone feel about the hit by Neil in the Ottawa New york game tonight ?
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