Briere's spear

[inkman]

I know Bills fans to this day who will blame every loss on the officials. I know Buffalo teams have had their share of controversial calls but the lack of accountability by the fans is juvenile.

[mrjsbu96]

everything i've read on this one, i'm most with dwightdrane - what happened to getting a guy back with a clean, open-ice hit.

 

i do think ovechekin should have gotten a game for his check from behind, but that is over. i believe briere deserves at least a game for this. guys - he sticked him in the sac. cup or not cup, that's not cool. sticks are meant for scoring goals and nothing else - this was pretty weak on briere's part. to those that are playing the he was not injured card, spitting on opponent doesn't result in injury either, but it warrants a suspension. there is no place for stick work in this league.

[apuszczalowski]

I know Bills fans to this day who will blame every loss on the officials. I know Buffalo teams have had their share of controversial calls but the lack of accountability by the fans is juvenile.

Not every loss, no one blamed the officials last week, it was all blamed on Jauron for not attempting the field goal and Royal for not getting his feet in bounds :nana:

 

Was it the right thing for Briere to do? NO

Was it payback for a cheap shot on the ice in a previous game? YES

Was it worse then what Ovechkin did? NO

Does it deserve a suspension? Only for as long as Ovechkin was suspended for

 

If it was any other player on the team doing that to Ovechkin in retaliation for the other cheap shot, then yes a suspension is in order. But this was a player who received a cheap shot giving one back to show the other player he didn't appreciate the first one. He took care of it himself instead of taking the wusses way out and having someone else do it for him (like send Peters out to do something to him)

 

It won't get a suspension cause the only people talking about it are Caps and Sabres fans, its not a league wide discussion

 

If your ashamed of the "Bush league fans" in Buffalo, go find some other fans to cheer with who are more up to your standards. i wouldn't want you to be embarrased all the time by your fellow fans

[Done]

 

If your ashamed of the "Bush league fans" in Buffalo, go find some other fans to cheer with who are more up to your standards. i wouldn't want you to be embarrased all the time by your fellow fans

 

It is sort of setting itself up that way for me. I won't go root for another team....I'll just slowly lose interest in a team and a sport which doesn't conduct itself in a manner I find condusive to my lifestyle, (i.e. NBA).

 

Hockey used to be a great thing....one place in society where logic and justice prevailed. If someone behaved like a thug, it would be frowned upon and the thug would have to deal with the concequences. Watching this little soap opera unfold, I now understand this is the new NHL and I should deal with it.

 

I always suspected we were a soft team, and now I have proof. I'll assume Danny had to spear him because of Little Man's Syndrome...because the Briere I see off the ice leads me to believe he is a classy human being. For Ruff and others to think this is nothing.....Bologna. Any "cause" to believe in is a joke after hearing his reply. Rally around a hard working team and a blue collar city?????? I'd rather rally around my grandma's left-over Christmas cookies.

[Bmwolf21]

everything i've read on this one, i'm most with dwightdrane - what happened to getting a guy back with a clean, open-ice hit.

 

i do think ovechekin should have gotten a game for his check from behind, but that is over. i believe briere deserves at least a game for this. guys - he sticked him in the sac. cup or not cup, that's not cool. sticks are meant for scoring goals and nothing else - this was pretty weak on briere's part. to those that are playing the he was not injured card, spitting on opponent doesn't result in injury either, but it warrants a suspension. there is no place for stick work in this league.

And there's your winner. Like I said earlier, I couldn't care less if it was a "nudge" or if AO embellished it - Danny made a spearing motion with his stick and made contact with AO's groin/midsection. While I believe that Danny was justified for getting back at AO, this isn't the way that I wanted to see him retaliate. Lowering the boom with a big open-ice hit or a great hip-check? Absolutely. Knocking him on his ass in a goal-mouth scrum? Definitely. Trying to spear him like he's wearing the B&G of the Charleston Chiefs? Not so much, no. Stickwork (and hits from behind) need to be completely eliminated from the league, and it sucks if a Sabre gets caught in the crackdown, but I won't justify or rationalize what Danny did by saying "it wasn't that bad" "he had it coming" (my favorite) or "he barely hit him." That kind of mindset belongs in beer leagues and the minors, IMO.

 

I do believe that if this had been an isolated incident - assuming AO hadn't already been fined by the league for his hit - I think Colin Campbell would have already announced a fine/suspension for Danny. But by not suspending AO to begin with, the league has effectively tied its own hands here - they'll look like a bunch of idiots if they decide to lower the boom on Briere after essentially giving AO a free pass.

 

As for the talk about idiot fans embarrassing us - that's nothing exclusive to the Sabres or Buffalo. Every fan base has their share of good fans and morons who you wish would talk off your team's jersey. I've seen it with college football, NFL football, hockey, baseball, etc., and it's pretty stupid, IMO, to get worked up over the actions/comments of a vocal minority. Whenever a call goes against a team, and that team's fans get upset, they get labeled as whiners. I look at Leafs, Sens, Flyers and Canes fans as all being whiners & criers. Does that make it true? Not at all. And it certainly doesn't mean all Sabres fans are whiners because we have complained about getting more than our fair share of horrible calls.

[Done]

Wolfie.....I know there are Homers for every team, but what is most disappointing is the reaction, or lack thereof from Ruff and the rest of the Sabres. I respected Ruff as a player, but he coaches nothing like he played. He knows he has a bunch of soft players, so he has to complain to the league all of the time. Just the fact that he let Derrick Roy dive all over the place last year without telling him to cut the crap is a sign that he will do whatever it takes to win. Seems this year Roy has better balance.....he must have really worked on strengthening those quads.

 

Yes there is minor stickwork all the time in hockey....a tug here, a craftily placed blade between the skates there.....but to go after a guy's groin when he is not looking with a sharp object? The only thing worse is spitting on someone, or poking their eyes. All three of those are nukes in my opinion.

 

Ovechkin made a stupid decision by shoving Briere from behind....but that wasn't intent to injure. He took his medicine when Mair and Gaustad jumped him and he shut up about it.

 

We don't play Washington until the last week of the season. I've got $20 Ruff scratches Briere unless we need the game for home ice.

[mrjsbu96]

lindy would not be coaching anymore if he coached like he played; but IMO you have to give him credit for changing with the times.

 

That said, i firmly believe that - while knocking a few back with guys like playfair, schony, etc - deep down inside he would love to have gotten back at Ovechekin. Policing the league like the old days....but times have changed and while he probably does not always agree with some of his own players' tactics he will always stand behind them 100%.

[Bmwolf21]

We seem to be in agreement that the spear was unnecessary and not something we want to see from one of our boys - just like Andrew's golf swing last year. Apples & oranges to be sure, but both incidents show a lack of judgment and class.

 

As for Lindy & the players' responses - I don't really have a problem with what they are saying about it, simply because they shouldn't call out one of their own in public, especially when the Caps could use that to help influence the league's decision on what, if any, discipline should be handed down. If a player (or coach) did that, he would lose a lot of respect in the dressing room, IMO.

[wudden]

...just like Andrew's golf swing last year. Apples & oranges to be sure, but both incidents show a lack of judgment and class.

 

Maybe this makes me classless, but the golf swing was one of my favorite moments from last season...

[Bmwolf21]

I don't think it was classless to laugh your ass off at the Leafs and the swing (I certainly did); its just probably something that is frowned upon by the guys in his own dressing room, management, the NHL, etc.

 

Besides, I filed that one under "poor judgment" and not classless... :thumbsup:

[SHAAAUGHT!!!]

There should be no suspension for that since the refs didn't call it. The NHL has already set the precedent that the punishment is ALWAYS less severe than the crime. If Bertuzzi can mug a guy from behind, break his neck, end his career, and only miss 20 something games, Briere should be able to pull out a blackjack, smack Ovechkin in the nuts for 10 minutes with it, piss on him and walk away with only a $1000 fine.

 

I'm not saying that Briere actions were correct or just, I'm just saying its the leagues fault for having such low accountability for its players actions.

[deluca67]

There should be no suspension for that since the refs didn't call it. The NHL has already set the precedent that the punishment is ALWAYS less severe than the crime. If Bertuzzi can mug a guy from behind, break his neck, end his career, and only miss 20 something games, Briere should be able to pull out a blackjack, smack Ovechkin in the nuts for 10 minutes with it, piss on him and walk away with only a $1000 fine.

 

I'm not saying that Briere actions were correct or just, I'm just saying its the leagues fault for having such low accountability for its players actions.

 

OK! I will.

 

You can't divorce the two incidents. There was the action then the reaction. I have no problem with it.

 

If nothing else the OV hit was careless. And to say it wasn't intentional is foolish. I've seen the kid stop on a dime, carve his name in the dime with his skate then score a goal. And he is trying to say he didn't have time to stop? Please.

 

When you do what OV did there has to be a reaction or he will do it again and maybe the next time he cripples someone. OV showed a great lack of respect with the hit. The only difference between that hit and what Scot Nichols did is that OV still had his gloves on.

 

In the end what did Briere do? He jabbed his stick to the most protected part of the kids body. If Briere really wanted to put him out he could have gone to the eyes like 'Dr Hook Tim McCraken', gave him a Dale Hunter slash or a spear to the unprotected stomach.

 

Briere answered the cheap shot. I have more respect for him for doing so. Now both players can go on. :thumbsup:

[drnkirishone]

What Briere did was about the mildest payback I could have thought to do. 20 years ago OV would have missed at least a few shifts from the payback given to him. So suspension? No the hit from behind got taken care of oldtimer style.

[inkman]

Just saw the spear for the first time, no flash at work=no youtube at work, I thought it was as Lindy described it, a "non-issue".