Quote:
Originally Posted by curves2000
I think the situation with Tkachuk isn't so much this specific act but more along the lines of rubbing salt in a wound when perhaps it didn't need to be done in the eyes of the league.
We all know and we all love the game that he plays but the truth of the matter is that he does push the envelope in same cases and when you play with fire, once in a while you will get burnt.
I know when he had his beef with Doughty in LA a lot of people were on board, loved it and didn't think too much about it. On subsequent broadcasts, interviews and other media reports I do recall hearing that Flames management had very stern talks with him about his conduct and he has been warned several times from the league about taking it too far.
Yesterdays incident I suspect was loved by Red Wings fan's on what Mantha did to Hamanic but that doesn't make it right overall. If you watch the video closely you can see Andreas Athanasiou grab Hamanic's from behind while he was going at it with Mantha and than Justin Abdelkader pushed him back and made a reference to "leave them alone"
Like I said when it comes to Tkachuk I love the guy, he's a heart and soul player and he might even be a future captain but I do think he may get a game or two in this situation. He has developed in the league's mind a little bit of a reputation for some handy work considering he's been in the league a grand total of 13 months.
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Disagree here.
Tkachuk stood up for his team at that point. Maybe if Witkowski after the fight just skated off, things might have been different, but Witkowski was chirping the bench. Tkachuk came in to give him a tap. Maybe he was hoping for a reaction. Now that goon has a less likely chance of getting NHL time, and furthering his career, as it is likely that the other Wings players that were hurt return and he will be sent down again.
With the LA thing, yes, Flames' management asked him to pick his spots better. That was in regards with that 2nd game after his incident with Doughty. Tkachuk was too ready for the retribution, and he was looking for it everywhere trying to answer the bell and make his mark. They talked to him then, and he has since not had an issue, even against LA in subsequent games.
I don't think that Tkachuk did anything wrong here. Sure, maybe you can argue that it sparked the whole thing, but I also don't doubt that at that point, had Witkowski went to the locker room, the subsequent shift would have been chaos. The Flames were blown out, the other team's goon just beat the crap out of the Flames' rookie, and the Flames became pissed off. I would have bet that there would have been some pretty chippy play followed by a fight or two.