[News] Gaudreau will have surgery to repair fractured finger (out ~6 weeks)

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by CaptainCrunch

Why wait until tomorrow, the time to unload on the NHL is today.

Probably discussing directly with the NHL today to get their take and possible remedial actions first before going public.

[codynw]

Originally Posted by JiriHrdina

Who represents Johnny.
If one member of the PA hurts another member of the PA then why is it the hurter gets the support.
Who represents the victim?

Injured players get paid. Suspended players don't.

Stupid, but that's probably how they think about it.

[monkeyman]

The refs and the league should be embarrassed.
You'd think the NHL would want to promote an American born, college and international champion, highly-skilled, two time all-star player.

[CaptainCrunch]

I still remember that it felt like the PA completely abandoned Steve Moore as did the players and flocked to help out poor Todd in his hour of need.

I would just like to see for once where the PA washes their hands of a player

[D as in David]

Originally Posted by JiriHrdina

Who represents Johnny.

Gaudreauvertime

[Cleveland Steam Whistle]

Originally Posted by Parallex

You're letting them off easy... unless there is a suspension I will be fully disappointed if both Staal and Suter are able to leave the ice under their own power. If the NHL does nothing I would not be upset if Keegan Kanzig is called up and something 'accidentally' happens to Suter/Staal's knee.

As angry as I am, I think that's a little much. It's not about retribution (and I agree with your NHL / NHLPA suspension thoughts) but it's more about the message it sends moving forward. Teams need to know that taking that tactic with our players, will not be easy. If you do it, you are going to be forced to fight and likely sit in the box for 5mins.

Suter and Staal don't want to fight, and don't want to be off the ice, it will remedy quickly.

[Jetfire]

Wow, someone should have thrown a few punches at Staal during the game, he was hacking away at him all night, no calls from the refs, nobody stepping in to defend Johnny.

[Hot_Flatus]

Originally Posted by monkeyman

The refs and the league should be embarrassed.
You'd think the NHL would want to promote an American born, college and international champion, highly-skilled, two time all-star player.

If the refs called every single slash that occurs you'd have about 1 minute of 5-5 per game. Yes, they need to do a better job of catching the big ones like this one last night but the ultimate responsibility lies with the team to police this issue on the ice.

Guadreau gets whacked then you better be damn sure that Parise takes one right back or someone has to drop the mitts and answer for it. Sooner or later the really bad ones will be fewer and farther apart. Not one player that I saw stepped up and did anything to answer it on Johnny's behalf....appalling. If I'm Guadreau I'm definitely feeling like no one has my back.

[united]

This all reminds me of two things:

First, last spring Kerry Fraser wrote an article expressing his disappointment with the current state of NHL officiating. Setting aside any negative feelings toward the author and focusing on the content, I was absolutely floored by his findings.
http://www.tsn.ca/c-mon-ref-examinin...aatta-1.482272

At the time, of the most recent 24 incidents which resulted in either a fine or a suspension:
11 resulted in no penalty at all
7 resulted in just a minor penalty
6 resulted in a major penalty

That isn't just bad, that is stunning incompetence by the officials tasked with enforcing player safety. In almost half of the incidents which were deemed bad enough for supplementary discipline, NHL officials apparently thought the offender didn't do anything wrong at all. Baffling.


The second reminder, which is related to the first, is a talk I had with a Hockey Operations member of an NHL team. He said in theory, there is no need for the instigator or retaliation anymore as the officials will police the game and protect the players. Any cheap shot will result in a lengthy (five minute) powerplay and be followed-up with supplementary discipline. The problem is the NHL's officials are so incompetent at their jobs there is no semblance of policing. They are inconsistent, more often than not miss things outright, and endeavor to "even things up". On top of that, NHL fines and suspension are so small they don't make a sizeable difference for players.

[Stay Golden]

Crap news. Infuriates me that the refs did Zero to call those slashes early in the game. Makes me even more p####d that Gulutzan didn't even mention anything to the refs from the bench. He didn't do Jack squat about it at all. Until it was of course too late.
Just how many times did Johnny get slashed this game and last? It wouldn't surprise me if the tally was 15.

[Azure]

I think the players who slash should be embarrassed as well. You don't break a finger with a whack. It takes an intentional attempt to injure in order to inflict this kind of damage.

Makes you wonder why you are in the league to begin with....

[Corral]

my apologies if this has already been canvassed in the thread, but if you want to understand why the refs look the other way on slashes to JG - look no further than D Wideman.

Wideman should have been cut loose by the Flames if only to ensure NHL refs didn't try and extract some revenge on the team. Revenge is currently underway.

[djsFlames]

Screw Staal.
Screw this league.

The slashing was clear as day. Has been all season.

[united]

Probably already posted, but worth mentioning again the Flames raised the issue before the slash even happened and the officials still ignored it. Gross incompetence.

Kristin Hallett @Kristin_Hallett
Gulutzan said Gaudreau and team spoke with refs, after initial slash to his hand. The second should have never come.

[codynw]

Originally Posted by djsFlames

Screw Staal.
Screw this league.

The slashing was clear as day. Has been all season.

Forget this season. It's been bad since Johnny's rookie year.

[Mister Yamoto]

Originally Posted by JiriHrdina

This is one of the biggest problem with the league. It is THEIR job to protect players. It is THEIR job to enforce rules.
But they don't do it consistency.
And here's the really neat thing. If the league had the stones to suspend a player over this type of thing, WHICH THEY SHOULD, then who would be first in line to appeal it on behalf of Eric Staal....the NHLPA.

The entire system if flawed to the very core.

The ONLY players that get protected are the ones that break the rules - because the PA at least has their back.

A joke.

So you want the NHL to suspend Eric Staal for what should have been a 2 minute minor? Might as well just get rid of the 2 minute slashing minor and go straight to suspensions.

If you need to blame someone for this how bout take a look at at the Flames. It's not like the Wild came up with this bold new strategy of taking it to Gaudreau physically yesterday morning. This has been going on for a long time. And other than a few rare exceptions, the Flames never do anything about it.

[Cube Inmate]

Originally Posted by Hot_Flatus

If the refs called every single slash that occurs you'd have about 1 minute of 5-5 per game. Yes, they need to do a better job of catching the big ones like this one last night but the ultimate responsibility lies with the team to police this issue on the ice.

Can you explain why hockey players would be incapable of learning a bit of self-control? Is "OGG! Hit enemy with stick!" so ingrained in our DNA that the idea of a game without slashing is a fantasy?

Baseball players have adapted to the new restrictions on 2nd-base slides within the first year...and "breaking up the double play" has been a part of baseball for decades. Why couldn't hockey players adapt?

[Ashasx]

Originally Posted by Hot_Flatus

If the refs called every single slash that occurs you'd have about 1 minute of 5-5 per game.

Yes, at first there will be a ton a penalties.

But that's the whole point. Slash somebody? Your team is now down a man.

So players learn to stop slashing, because they have to. Players will be safer, and eventually (pretty quickly) penalties will go down again.

That's what I want. This isn't like big open ice hits. There's no entertainment value from this stuff.

[CaptainCrunch]

Originally Posted by Corral

my apologies if this has already been canvassed in the thread, but if you want to understand why the refs look the other way on slashes to JG - look no further than D Wideman.

Wideman should have been cut loose by the Flames if only to ensure NHL refs didn't try and extract some revenge on the team. Revenge is currently underway.

Thats just plain dumb. I'm sorry but if the refs are carrying a grudge and can't do their jobs then the league has really big problems, and if this is the case last nights crew needs to be fired along with the entire player safety department.

I would hope that last night was just another case of incompetent poorly trained and managed officials, but if its because they're running a vendetta then there are huge problems with the integrity of the league.

[Cleveland Steam Whistle]

Originally Posted by Hot_Flatus

If the refs called every single slash that occurs you'd have about 1 minute of 5-5 per game. Yes, they need to do a better job of catching the big ones like this one last night but the ultimate responsibility lies with the team to police this issue on the ice.

Guadreau gets whacked then you better be damn sure that Parise takes one right back or someone has to drop the mitts and answer for it. Sooner or later the really bad ones will be fewer and farther apart. Not one player that I saw stepped up and did anything to answer it on Johnny's behalf....appalling. If I'm Guadreau I'm definitely feeling like no one has my back.

Maybe, for a month, then it would stop. On a breakaway, the tinniest slash results in a penalty shot, almost every time it happens. Why not at other times. The players will adjust, and it's not like any of us will miss the "slashing" like some of us may miss the hits.