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Tony Scott from SabreSpace wrote a great column yesterday, which defends B. Thomas Golisano (Buffalo Sabres owner) and his writing of a letter to Gary Bettman about the dirty head shots taking place in the NHL.
I really like the point that he makes about owners needing to protect their teams… if players/investments aren’t being protected, how are the teams supposed to compete if those players/investments are constantly injured and aren’t looked out for?
I just don’t understand why we haven’t gotten more of a response from Gary Bettman and the NHL on this issue. They are gung-ho about removing fighting from the NHL, but not cheap, blind-sided head shots that can seriously injure people?? It doesn’t seem good for the game, good for teams, and thus, good for fans. As I’ve stated, it seems like the players need to have a little more respect for one another, and use a little more common sense. I don’t think that’s going to happen unless Gary Bettman and the NHL address the issue, and start heavily penalizing players for being such cowards and ruffians.
Or is Bettman too much of a wimp to step up to the bullies??
First things first, the hit on drury was clean. CLEAN! I love drury being a fan of the avs, I know a bit about him. Had he not been admiring his pass he would have seen that coming. I gaurandamntee you that had it been mair nailing lets say spezza, golisano would not have written a letter. So stop your friggin whining already. One thing that these players are taught is to keep there head up, dont sit and admire a pass. Second they are taught to finish there checks, thats exactly what neil did. Tough luck Drury, sad to see you get nailed, but I dont feel sorry for you. Good on the league for making the right decision. However, if that had been Crosby in Drury’s shoes, not only would Neil have been suspended, he probably would have been banned from the league, that is something that the league needs to change, they need to stop looking at stats, they need to focus on the infraction, not the player who a. was on the recieving end, or b. was dishing it out.
Yeah, will see what happens after the hit in the “Mecca of hockey” tonight, Toronto. The hit on Drury may have been deemed clean by the NHL, but it was a cheap shot. The players have lost respect for each other. What your opinion of the hit on kaberle? Must of been clean right? No penalty called. Me? personally I’d rather see the likes of Drury and Kaberle playing, not the no talent cheap shot artists.
The hit on Kaberle was definatley cheap. There was nothing clean about it. Again, Kabby shouldn’t have been watching his pass, but he didnt have the puck for quite a when he got nailed. Count the seconds, I live near T.O. but despise the leafs, regardless as a hockey fan whether its my favorite team or most hated team, I never like seeing players carried off the ice like that. Something should definaltey be done about that hit. Drury’s was similar, the difference, he didnt get hit 5 seconds after he passed the puck.
Watch it on Youtube and watch the clock. It was less than 2 seconds, but we can argue that ’til the cows come home. I think they were both crap hits. A 3 game suspension doesn’t mean jack. Heck Janssen only plays 3 minutes game. All it means is it’s going to continue. I like a good hard hit as much as the next guy, but the cheap blatant hits lately are getting out of control. A player knows when he is going in to make a hit, whether it’s a good hit or not, and if they say otherwise, they are a flat out liar. Granted sometimes guys get hurt on good hits, but the players, teams, fans, and the league can live with that.It’s cheap shots like this that hurt the game. If I want to see guys get carried off on a stretcher, I’ll watch UFC.
that column is completely illogical. if he focused more on the actual game of hockey rather than how great of a man golisano is, he would have been more effective in getting his point across.
lets put it this way, had the hit been at center ice, we would not be having this discussion, the fact of the matter is, he got hit, flew head first into the boards, and that what knocked him out. I respect your opinion pal, really i do, but like you said we can argue til the cows come home, but I think wed both prefer not to, so again, ur opinion i can respect, but it doesnt change mine. peace out!
on the drury issue: NEIL. IS. A. RETARD.
surely you can do better than just NEIL.IS.A.RETARD.
the hit on kaberle was cheap, and so was the hit on drury. jansen and neil should have gotten something huge, 20-25 game-ish. Bett’s gotta do something. after Bertuzi, neil, jansen, the slash on holweg… its too much. but it ain’t gonna happen.
what i mean by that is bettman isnt gunna do anything
The only hit that was cheap of the ones you mentioned was Kaberle’s, that was super late. For the record I hate the leafs, being a habs fan and all. Im also an Avs fan, so Im familiar with Drury and was super pissed when I found out about the trade. I think hes one of the most underated players in the league, however like I said before he shouldnt have been admiring his pass. Simon was cheap to.
Bettman does need to be in charge of a different sport, seeing as how he doesnt seem to know what he’s doing as far as hockey is concerned. I dont know how Simon’s suspesion is the longest in league history when Bertuzzi effectively ended somebody’s career with the cheap shot of all cheap shots.