[News] Kassian to have hearing with NHL **Assessed a two-game suspension**

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by Rikster

You're starting to ramble which is another way of saying that you are trying to swim uphill against the masses ...

Which is understandable given your position that every hockey fan has a bias, in your case and the few others who are arguing with you it's a bias that gets you in a tither when its the other teams players who are doing it but contort themselves defending their player whose doing it...

While I agree with Paul Stewarts blog on the incident, https://www.hockeybuzz.com/blog/Paul...ule/196/103704, what bothers me the most about the incident is the cowardly nature of the hit followed by the turtle...

Tither? You mean tizzy? Dither? The hit was neither cowardly nor was the "turtle". What was cowardly was the attack from behind.

[devo22]

thinks the hits were dangerous, but is completely fine with punching a defenseless guy in the head repeatedly from behind ("I'd do it again"). Sound logic.

[Patek23]

I feel like there is bias for sure. I think a lot of people fail to see the other end of the spectrum. If Kassian laid out someone on our team twice in what is a legal however blatantly obvious targeted hit and didn’t answer the bell we would be clowning on him.

You don’t have to answer for legal hits. But if your going to target a guy and go out of your way to lay him out you should expect to drop the mitts. And at the least when his gloves are off and punches are coming to defend yourself.

Did I personally lose respect for Tkachuk? Nope. He knew what he was doing and he knew he’d get mocked for turtling and I’d imagine he was hoping the result would be the penalties that Kassian wound up getting or more. But I can’t help but wish that he’d of whooped Kassians ass instead either.

And on a whole other note, man am I pumped that Kassian is back for the next BOA. Either way you look at this, it’s an awesome time to be a fan of either team with gasoline poured right back all over this rivalry again. A lot of the games in the past couple years haven’t felt they used too even a decade ago. So I for one welcome all of this as a fan .

[Psytic]

He masterfully psychologically manipulated a known ape man into taking a penalty that won us the game. One player has a high hockey IQ, the other doesn't. This was the only way Kassian could save face after being thoroughly embarrassed over and over. If Kassian was smart he would take a number and get Chucky back with a big hit. Even Tippett was /facepalming. Everything Chucky did was legal. Yes he is an annoying pest but you play his game and hit him back you don't go ape man and put your personal vendetta above the team. Kassian needs to grow some brain cells its a team game.

[crazy_eoj]

Paul Stewart: " It's not a smart hockey play to make. "

Um really? The flames received a 4 min power-play as a direct result of this action, resulting in the game winning goal.

Sounds pretty smart if you're interested in winning....

[bluck]

This is where you would expect Lucic or Rinaldo to step up. I hope they do

[Yoho]

Originally Posted by bluck

This is where you would expect Lucic or Rinaldo to step up. I hope they do

Waste of time Kassian only “answers the bell” to guys he thinks he can beat up.

[Igottago]

The level of butthurt in the hockey world right now is incredible and shows there is a severe lack of logic within the sport and how many perceive and apply their definitions of honor, the code, and all of that vague stuff.
Almost everyone is now acknowledging the hits were legal. Even Kassian had an interview today where he said that's fine, the hits were legal, he doesn't mind being hit. He went on to say that Tkchuck needs to answer the bell. So basically the hockey world is saying that legal hockey hits need to be followed up with a fight, particularly if you are an agitator. Can any of these people define which clean hits don't require a fight, versus which clean hits do?

[JJolg]

Im curious to hear Rinaldo's thoughts on the matter, im kinda shocked there's no good soundbite from him as he doesn't hold back

[btimbit]

Originally Posted by JJolg

Im curious to hear Rinaldo's thoughts on the matter, im kinda shocked there's no good soundbite from him as he doesn't hold back

I think the Flames mostly not even acknowledging the clown show makes it all the more hilarious to me. Just move on and play hockey, let the idiots throw their temper tantrums in the corner

[TheIronMaiden]

By Oiler fan's logic you should be allowed free passage to the front of the net so long as you are skating with your head down and leading with your face.

[Infinit47]

Originally Posted by Rikster

You're starting to ramble which is another way of saying that you are trying to swim uphill against the masses ...

Which is understandable given your position that every hockey fan has a bias, in your case and the few others who are arguing with you it's a bias that gets you in a tither when its the other teams players who are doing it but contort themselves defending their player whose doing it...

While I agree with Paul Stewarts blog on the incident, https://www.hockeybuzz.com/blog/Paul...ule/196/103704, what bothers me the most about the incident is the cowardly nature of the hit followed by the turtle...

Let's stop appealing to a higher authority. A handful of people does not equate to "the masses". Further, the governing body for this sport ruled in the exact opposite of the position you claim is beyond reproach.

Two things happened here.

1. The Oilers lost in an embarassing fashion with a player totally losing his mind on the ice. This was the second loss in a row to their rival and further demonstrates they don't have the depth to win consistently. Instead of taking a look in the mirror they revved up their well practiced media spin machine to create a narrative where they are the honourable victims, where they can't catch a break, and if only the league was fair they would be a dynasty with multiple cups. This is to distract from the fact they have built a horrible team, and McDavid is nowhere near the player they need him to be.

2. A segment of ex players saw this spin about "the code" and took up the call to arms to explain why "in their day" this would never happen. How they played in the golden era of hockey and the league today is a shadow of its former self. The very fact they have hitched their wagon to Kassian as a defender if honour and the code shows how willing abandon reality they are.

Clean hits are clean. You don't need to fight, ever. Lucic got rocked last night, and he took it like an adult and skated to the bench. He didn't throw a hissy fit and start throwing punches.

[Robbob]

Originally Posted by TheIronMaiden

By Oiler fan's logic you should be allowed free passage to the front of the net so long as you are skating with your head down and leading with your face.

Might as well do that cutting to the middle at the blue line as well.

[Ashasx]

Originally Posted by Igottago

The level of butthurt in the hockey world right now is incredible and shows there is a severe lack of logic within the sport and how many perceive and apply their definitions of honor, the code, and all of that vague stuff.
Almost everyone is now acknowledging the hits were legal. Even Kassian had an interview today where he said that's fine, the hits were legal, he doesn't mind being hit. He went on to say that Tkchuck needs to answer the bell. So basically the hockey world is saying that legal hockey hits need to be followed up with a fight, particularly if you are an agitator. Can any of these people define which clean hits don't require a fight, versus which clean hits do?

Don't forget the twitter pundits with #BellLetsTalk in their bios calling Tkachuk a ##### for not fighting

[Infinit47]

Originally Posted by TheIronMaiden

By Oiler fan's logic you should be allowed free passage to the front of the net so long as you are skating with your head down and leading with your face.

Only if you are an Oiler. At the other end of the ice Kassian can rock you as hard as he wants, because he's willing to fight smaller skill players.

[GioforPM]

Why do we assume a ref (especially one who retired in 2003 before the lockout changed the rules) knows what a "smart hockey play" is. Paul Stewart wasn't good enough to play more than 21 games in the NHL, for one of the worst teams, in which he got 2 points and 74 pm. Never coached a game.

[N-E-B]

There is nothing cowardly about throwing a clean hit. There is something cowardly about grabbing a guy from behind and beating on him when he doesn’t want to fight.

[Cleveland Steam Whistle]

This I know about this incident:

- The hits were legal as defined by the rule book, which is all that matters. The NHL has no bias towards the Flames or Tkachuk, so they wouldn't pretend they weren't if they didn't think they were. So, now we are in the realm with all this talk about these hits are whether they SHOULD be legal or not moving forward.

- Tkachuk definitely targeted Kassian...........and managed to stay within the rules. He picked the target he thought he'd get the most bang for buck out of, and he was right. It's part of his game. I understand how this pest role is annoying to opposition fans (it would be to us roles reversed), but credit to Tkachuk for doing it masterfully within the rules. That show's part of his growth since Doughty round 1 where he failed to accomplish that perfectly.
- If I was an Oilers fan, I'd be very happy, outside of the result, that Tkachuk is targeting a player more than physically capable of handling the hits Tkachuk is doling out.

Things I believe about this incident.

For the first part of exercise I will replace Tkachuk as the offending Flames player, with Mark Giordano (I know as a D man he might not have the same opportunity on the hits, but this is more about the names).

- If Giordano made the same 3 hits on Kassian..............there might be some minor complaints coming out of Edmonton..............but other than that there would be 0 talk from anyone about whether these hits were suspect. People would be praising Gio for being the physical leader the Flames need and being a difference maker. People be going on about that's why he's the captain and why he won a Norris, so versatile. There would also be 0 talk about him having to "step up" to Kassian in a fight.

- If Kassian would have ragged dolled Gio in the same fashion (I think Gio would respond mind you), he would have received a minimum of a 5 game suspension. He would also be the hands down bad guy in this scenario in the media (outside of Edmonton) and the talk would all be about how Kassian is what is wrong with the NHL.

Now I'm going to replace Kassian with McD.

- If Tkachuk hit McD the way he did Kassian, first of all there would have been penalties on the ice. Tkachuk would have also received a suspension for sure, the NHL would have found a way to flop their stance on the hits.

- If McD started to rag doll Tkachuk (not that Tkachuk would have let that happen), he'd also be praised for sticking up for himself and his leadership.

Point being, nothing out of the ordinary happened in this event. The hits are only in question because of who laid them out. The NHL isn't responding to clean hits with discipline because of who they were on. And the Oilers overreaction to their tough guy taking some contact ignited the whole thing.

[Enoch Root]

Originally Posted by Philly06Cup

I have a feeling the NHL wants to market the animosity and intensity, but the next Battle of Alberta has a Bertuzzi vs Moore vibe all over it. That's not a good thing.

Edmonton fans / media seem to be insanely outraged and want more vengeance. Kassian has publically stated he wants revenge. Kassian has no problem suckerpunching defenseless players in the back the of head. The NHL barely cares that he does this.

The NHL should be trying to de-escalate the situation and remove this buffoonery from the game. Instead they remain happy to be carnies catering to this sideshow. Its embarassing and people are gonna get hurt.

Exactly. Edmonton fans and media want blood (for some idiotic reason), and Kassian is more than stupid enough to give it to them.

This is why I thought he should have gotten 3 games, and not 2. Because I think there is a serious chance that something moronic is going to happen and someone is going to get hurt.

If so, it will be on the NHL as much as Kassian.

[Textcritic]

Originally Posted by Rikster

You're starting to ramble which is another way of saying that you are trying to swim uphill against the masses ...

Speaking of "rambling," this sentence here is just entirely incoherent:

Which is understandable given your position that every hockey fan has a bias, in your case and the few others who are arguing with you it's a bias that gets you in a tither when its the other teams players who are doing it but contort themselves defending their player whose doing it...

"Tither"? Beyond that, I just don't even know what to do with this.

I would appreciate a response to my request, though...

Originally Posted by Textcritic

...Please elaborate on this "questionable conduct." Beyond a handful of borderline hits—very similar to the sorts delivered by DOZENS of other NHL players—I am very interested to hear about this controversial resumé that Tkachuk is compiling.

Hopefully you can come up with something intelligible.