Calgarypuck Forums - The Unofficial Calgary Flames Fan Community - View Single Post - [News] Kassian to have hearing with NHL **Assessed a two-game suspension**

Calgary4LIfe · 01-12-2020, 10:52 PM

I don't agree with most of the sentiment that "You shouldn't have to fight if the hit was clean" argument. My take is that if a player delivers a BIG hit on another player, even if it is 100% within the rules, then it is simply more than just trying to separate the player from the puck - it is an attempt to injure. I have never had a problem with any player that chose to stick up for himself or another team mate. In fact, I HATE it when Calgary didn't have much of a response throughout the years and felt that this team is too soft and gets taken advantage of too much.

However, Kassian was an absolute moron there. You don't jump a player and start engaging in that way. This is the SECOND time he has done so. Tkachuk could have been seriously hurt there, just like last season. That's bush league from the 80's and early 90's when players would sucker-punch one another.

Game is tied 3-3. You don't like the hit? Should have kept your head up. It happened. You take a number, and try to repay the favour as the game progresses. If the game gets out of hand, you challenge and face-wash, etc. You start running around hitting everything if the challenge gets refused - but within the rules. You don't put your team down, and you don't rag-doll a player around all over the ice.

I am still a proponent of fighting in the game. I think there is a place for it, even for pseudo-enforcers who have limited skills like Lucic now and some others. However, every damn time an idiot like Kassian does something this blatantly ugly and dangerous, it becomes more difficult to side with the fighting side of hockey. He is damn lucky that Tkachuk wasn't seriously hurt - if he had been, the script may have played out very differently in the media and he would be facing a life-time ban, perhaps face some off-ice legal issues (assault charges have happened for stuff that was 'in the game' after all), and the NHL would be facing yet another blight on its' troubled image. Stuff like this makes all the other 'enforcers' look bad, and it gets everyone's throat a little. He is essentially putting himself out of a job in the long term.

I always felt that idiots like these don't belong in the NHL.

As for people saying that Tkachuk deserved what he got since those hits are dirty, please explain to me what makes them dirty. I agree that they were NASTY, but clean. If Tkachuk hit Kassian in the head during the first hit, his head would have snapped the other way. Think about it - hit that damn ugly melon, and it would have forced it to move AWAY from Tkachuk, not towards him. Obviously the head was NOT the principle point of contact, so the hit is NOT dirty, so the NHL can NOT 'police' that hit, since it is 100% legal by definition.

Once again, I am NO ISSUE with players taking exceptions to hits - dirty or not - if they either cause an injury or seem to be the type that really could cause an injury. That's part of the game. That's part of the intimidation factor, and part of what happens on the ice. The second that Edmonton traded Lucic to Calgary, it quickly tilted the 'physical' favour to Calgary's side, and jumping a guy was the only thing that Kassian could do to avoid a reprisal from Lucic. Lucic is smart enough not to engage in a tied game and put his team down. I am sure that next game that Lucic will be going after Kassian, however, at least once the game gets out of hand or if Kassian is trying to do something stupid.

I would be surprised if Kassian tries anything. If he doesn't get the 5 games - which I think he SHOULD be getting if the NHL is serious about cleaning up this crap - I am sure they will explicitly tell Kassian that they will be monitoring his next games against Calgary and will not hesitate to give him a very lengthy suspension if he repeats what he did.

The 'code' is a real thing in the NHL. Somehow in Edmonton, it disappears. Kassian and Nurse both did what I consider downright stupid cowardly acts in their time there with 'jumping' guys. You haven't really seen much of it since the 80's, and for good reason - careers were destroyed.

Challenge Tkachuk to a fight. If he refused, tell him you are going to start running guys through the boards as well. That's usually how it works. If that doesn't do the trick, find a guy to take on that will fight, and beat him up and then point at Tkachuk and say "it is your fault". Etc., etc.. You don't fricken jump a guy. Tkachuk has been twice lucky not to have been seriously injured in his two altercations against Kassian. How this idiot is still in the league is absolutely amazing - a waste of a human being by the sounds of it on and off the ice.

This is really how I see it - he should get a really lengthy suspension here with a stern warning that he is facing banishment if he repeats his actions. I vehemently still disagree with McSorely (yep, I can't believe I was on his side after his ban), since I didn't see an 'intent to injure'. I really saw a 'tap' to get Brashear's attention - both hands on the stick, but it wasn't anything like a 2-handed patented "Dino Cicarelli" swing. Still the NHL chose to ban him for life.

This could have been uglier in my opinion. You just don't jump guys in the NHL. If this is allowed, why wouldn't the Flames tell Rinaldo, Lucic, Bennett, Hamonic or anyone else that is a decent fighter to just jump McDavid? Next time he pushes another player (like Backlund last season, or Tkachuk this season), then immediately have people jump him and start pounding him. After all, you can't let a guy get away with stuff, right? Imagine what that would do to the Edmonton Oilers' season. Imagine what that would start doing to hockey in general.

Kassian better get a big suspension. He lost control and went so far beyond 'the code'. It is insulting to every other 'tough guy' in the NHL and makes them all look bad. It is an incredibly dangerous thing to do. He is cutting his own throat there, but also taking down all the other fighters in the NHL. Actions like his will ensure that this league will eventually become a complete non-physical sport because one of these times he will cross the line and there will be consequences - not only for him, but also for the entire league, and they will make changes.

Everybody loves to see a 'rat' get their 'comeuppance'. That's not how it gets done though. I am completely against the garbage that Kassian showed last night, and I am of the mindset that if you lay a big hit - even a clean one - the other team has every right to make an issue of it on the ice. Always felt that way, and to me, that is part of the fabric of hockey. A big hit opens the floodgates of emotion on the ice, and it can be both beautiful and ugly at the same time. What ended up opening up was neither of those - it was an embarrassment of an act that all hockey players should feel the heat on. You can almost feel the league tightening that noose around fighting after Kassian lost his marbles.

01-12-2020, 10:52 PM	#241
Calgary4LIfe Franchise Player Join Date: Jun 2010 Exp:	I don't agree with most of the sentiment that "You shouldn't have to fight if the hit was clean" argument. My take is that if a player delivers a BIG hit on another player, even if it is 100% within the rules, then it is simply more than just trying to separate the player from the puck - it is an attempt to injure. I have never had a problem with any player that chose to stick up for himself or another team mate. In fact, I HATE it when Calgary didn't have much of a response throughout the years and felt that this team is too soft and gets taken advantage of too much. However, Kassian was an absolute moron there. You don't jump a player and start engaging in that way. This is the SECOND time he has done so. Tkachuk could have been seriously hurt there, just like last season. That's bush league from the 80's and early 90's when players would sucker-punch one another. Game is tied 3-3. You don't like the hit? Should have kept your head up. It happened. You take a number, and try to repay the favour as the game progresses. If the game gets out of hand, you challenge and face-wash, etc. You start running around hitting everything if the challenge gets refused - but within the rules. You don't put your team down, and you don't rag-doll a player around all over the ice. I am still a proponent of fighting in the game. I think there is a place for it, even for pseudo-enforcers who have limited skills like Lucic now and some others. However, every damn time an idiot like Kassian does something this blatantly ugly and dangerous, it becomes more difficult to side with the fighting side of hockey. He is damn lucky that Tkachuk wasn't seriously hurt - if he had been, the script may have played out very differently in the media and he would be facing a life-time ban, perhaps face some off-ice legal issues (assault charges have happened for stuff that was 'in the game' after all), and the NHL would be facing yet another blight on its' troubled image. Stuff like this makes all the other 'enforcers' look bad, and it gets everyone's throat a little. He is essentially putting himself out of a job in the long term. I always felt that idiots like these don't belong in the NHL. As for people saying that Tkachuk deserved what he got since those hits are dirty, please explain to me what makes them dirty. I agree that they were NASTY, but clean. If Tkachuk hit Kassian in the head during the first hit, his head would have snapped the other way. Think about it - hit that damn ugly melon, and it would have forced it to move AWAY from Tkachuk, not towards him. Obviously the head was NOT the principle point of contact, so the hit is NOT dirty, so the NHL can NOT 'police' that hit, since it is 100% legal by definition. Once again, I am NO ISSUE with players taking exceptions to hits - dirty or not - if they either cause an injury or seem to be the type that really could cause an injury. That's part of the game. That's part of the intimidation factor, and part of what happens on the ice. The second that Edmonton traded Lucic to Calgary, it quickly tilted the 'physical' favour to Calgary's side, and jumping a guy was the only thing that Kassian could do to avoid a reprisal from Lucic. Lucic is smart enough not to engage in a tied game and put his team down. I am sure that next game that Lucic will be going after Kassian, however, at least once the game gets out of hand or if Kassian is trying to do something stupid. I would be surprised if Kassian tries anything. If he doesn't get the 5 games - which I think he SHOULD be getting if the NHL is serious about cleaning up this crap - I am sure they will explicitly tell Kassian that they will be monitoring his next games against Calgary and will not hesitate to give him a very lengthy suspension if he repeats what he did. The 'code' is a real thing in the NHL. Somehow in Edmonton, it disappears. Kassian and Nurse both did what I consider downright stupid cowardly acts in their time there with 'jumping' guys. You haven't really seen much of it since the 80's, and for good reason - careers were destroyed. Challenge Tkachuk to a fight. If he refused, tell him you are going to start running guys through the boards as well. That's usually how it works. If that doesn't do the trick, find a guy to take on that will fight, and beat him up and then point at Tkachuk and say "it is your fault". Etc., etc.. You don't fricken jump a guy. Tkachuk has been twice lucky not to have been seriously injured in his two altercations against Kassian. How this idiot is still in the league is absolutely amazing - a waste of a human being by the sounds of it on and off the ice. This is really how I see it - he should get a really lengthy suspension here with a stern warning that he is facing banishment if he repeats his actions. I vehemently still disagree with McSorely (yep, I can't believe I was on his side after his ban), since I didn't see an 'intent to injure'. I really saw a 'tap' to get Brashear's attention - both hands on the stick, but it wasn't anything like a 2-handed patented "Dino Cicarelli" swing. Still the NHL chose to ban him for life. This could have been uglier in my opinion. You just don't jump guys in the NHL. If this is allowed, why wouldn't the Flames tell Rinaldo, Lucic, Bennett, Hamonic or anyone else that is a decent fighter to just jump McDavid? Next time he pushes another player (like Backlund last season, or Tkachuk this season), then immediately have people jump him and start pounding him. After all, you can't let a guy get away with stuff, right? Imagine what that would do to the Edmonton Oilers' season. Imagine what that would start doing to hockey in general. Kassian better get a big suspension. He lost control and went so far beyond 'the code'. It is insulting to every other 'tough guy' in the NHL and makes them all look bad. It is an incredibly dangerous thing to do. He is cutting his own throat there, but also taking down all the other fighters in the NHL. Actions like his will ensure that this league will eventually become a complete non-physical sport because one of these times he will cross the line and there will be consequences - not only for him, but also for the entire league, and they will make changes. Everybody loves to see a 'rat' get their 'comeuppance'. That's not how it gets done though. I am completely against the garbage that Kassian showed last night, and I am of the mindset that if you lay a big hit - even a clean one - the other team has every right to make an issue of it on the ice. Always felt that way, and to me, that is part of the fabric of hockey. A big hit opens the floodgates of emotion on the ice, and it can be both beautiful and ugly at the same time. What ended up opening up was neither of those - it was an embarrassment of an act that all hockey players should feel the heat on. You can almost feel the league tightening that noose around fighting after Kassian lost his marbles.