Detroit Red Wings & the NHL

[Optimus Prime]

2 minutes roughing, $ 2500 League fine, case closed. Weber pulled down 7.5 M and now his paycheck has been garnished. Detroit better figure out how to match Graceland' s physicality and quick.

[madootra]

Stallion defenseman? A little Man-Crush going on? What will Cindy think?

[Tony G]

Craig Custance Blog



Analyzing the NHL's Weber decision

April, 12, 2012Apr 12
4:56
PM ET

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NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- There was dizziness the moment after his head hit the glass. The impact was enough that Henrik Zetterberg's helmet cracked. The hit from Shea Weber was severe enough that the Detroit Red Wings' star forward needed to pass a baseline test after the game.
In the NHL's eyes, it wasn't enough to suspend. There was relief in the Nashville dressing room that Weber was only fined, and not much surprise in the Red Wings' room.
"Not really," said defenseman Brad Stuart. "Hank wasn't hurt, thankfully, so I wasn't completely surprised. I figured he would get some kind of fine. You'd like to see those type of things taken out of the game. But I don't know, I'm not going to question the judgment calls [of the] guys making the decisions."
The message from the NHL and disciplinarian Brendan Shanahan in fining Weber rather than suspending him makes it clear that the threshold for earning a postseason suspension is much higher. One playoff game probably would have been enough.
During the regular season, it probably would've been closer to three or four games. But during a time in which the NHL has constantly focused on removing head shots and still has stars missing time with concussions, hits like this don't look good.
The Red Wings took the high road, but the move surprised some.

Said one NHL source simply: "What a joke. What a joke."
Another source was a little more understanding: "It's the Stanley Cup playoffs. Everybody understands the intensity of the moment."
That was the message coming from Weber on Thursday. In a Game 1 in which the two least-penalized teams in the NHL combined for 17 penalties, discipline will be key in Game 2.
"The playoffs -- everyone is excited and ramped up. I think emotions got the best of everyone," he said. "We expect a lot more discipline and barely any penalties tomorrow."
Give the Red Wings credit in how they handled this. Coach Mike Babcock had two opportunities to criticize the hit and passed on both. On Thursday, he said he took a jog and got rid of any negative feelings he had about the league's decision. Maybe it's an offshoot of some of the criticism that has come the Pittsburgh Penguins' way for their outspoken stance on head shots, but there was no politicking coming from the Red Wings.
They also made it clear from the outset that Zetterberg wasn't hurt, rather than drag that news out while the league investigated the hit.
"I couldn't pretend that long. There's a game tomorrow," Zetterberg said. "I think that would come back to haunt you in the end."
But even if he's fine now, there's no guarantee that Zetterberg doesn't wake up Friday morning with a headache. Or maybe it'll be a hit in Friday's game that does more damage, beyond any damage done by Weber's hit. Blackhawks center Jonathan Toews said he played in a number of games before he realized the seriousness of his recent concussion.
That's the risk in tying supplementary discipline to an injury. With head injuries, the results aren't always clear.

"They made a decision," Zetterberg said. "We have to move on from there."

[Paul L]

Perhaps I could get off as lightly after a bat to the back of Mr. Weber's head.

[Optimus Prime]

What goes around comes around, remember this one? Zitterburger is actually lucky, Weber at 6 ' 4" & 235 lbs, probably the best defenseman in the League, shook Hank like a rag doll. Surprised he didn't put his face through the glass in retaliation for that hit from behind, got off lucky....bet he wet himself.

May 23, 1996: Game 3, Western Conference Finals, McNichols Sports Arena, Denver -- Red Wings forward Slava Kozlov slams Avalanche defenseman Adam Foote face-first into the glass in the first period, opening a large gash on Foote's forehead. He bleeds profusely and needs 20 stitches to close the cut, but he returns and scores a goal. None of the on-ice officials see the hit, so no penalty is called. Colorado forward Claude Lemieux is assessed a minor roughing penalty for retaliating with a sucker punch that bloodies Kozlov's mouth. The Red Wings win 6-4, cutting the Avalanche's series lead to 2-1.

After the game, Red Wings coach Scotty Bowman shouts obscenities at Lemieux from the team bus as Lemieux walks through the parking lot with his wife and child.

[youtube]MdKusPhRHAM[/youtube]

[Optimus Prime]

Oh and he can score too!

[youtube]wRdKNO_JubY[/youtube]

[madootra]

LOL

Pathetic........

[madootra]

Boston squeaks by Washington in OT 1-0, and NY easily handles Ottawa. San Jose and St. Louis in OT.......good game.


EDIT: Oh, and Chicago up early on Phoenix.

[WingsFan]

I have yet to watch, read, or listen to anyone in the world of sports, who doesn't think that Weber should have been suspended....except for OP.

Same here, in fact almost everyone has inserted or said "This is a Joke"

OP your really just starting to be a flamer here, not good for your creditably. I hope that karma thing you talked about is true.

[WingsFan]

Isn't Gary Bettman almost encouraging more of the gamesmanship they protest? You could argue the Red Wings would've been better off keeping Zetterberg under wraps Thursday and exaggerating the concerns about a possible injury just to try to draw a suspension.

"But I think that would come back to haunt you in the end," Zetterberg said, shaking his head. "So you've just got to be fair about it."

I suppose he's right. But at the moment, that doesn't seem to be a fair trade-off, does it?




From The Detroit News: http://www.detroitnews.com/article/2...#ixzz1rtf9VAP5

[Tom W]

OP may be on to something here by bringing up the hit on Adam Foote. LOL. It's not like Foote was either poor or innocent, He was as much of a jackass as anybody on that team. But waxing over the Quasi-war against Colorado is, along with the 1984 Tigers, is getting pretty tiring for me- for as great as they were to witness (and they were), the nostalgia factor sucks- When you can’t match something in the present, you go back to your past. This is probably why the RRod era was especially brutal for most of us.

Look, Weber made a cheap shot and needs to pay for his actions, just like Colorado was held accountable in the late 90s. I couldn’t care less that the NHL went as soft on him as they did on Malkin in the finals back in 09. In fact, let the joke that is Bettman keep getting vetted (hum, like showing at up a game where an obscene number of penalties are called against the two LEAST penalized teams in the NHL, and where one team showed to be significantly better on special teams).

Crying for a suspension is a Pittsburgh sort of move- settling it on the ice, by neutralizing the punks and putting more pucks into the net is what great teams do.

[Optimus Prime]

NHL playoff intensity is unmatched in sports IMO. Players often target each other looking of an edge, any advantage they can find often via physical intimidation or contact, you will get no quarter out there, just ask superstar Jonathan Toews. "Setting the tone" or "sending a message" is nothing new to this sport.

Jonathan Toews was fine after in his first game after missing 22 straight with a concussion.
Toews was in on both Chicago goals in a 3-2 overtime loss to Phoenix. The Coyotes were tough on him, banging him around and shoving their gloves into his face at every opportunity but Toews came out of the game all right. "I felt as good as I possibly could," Toews said afterward. "You know it’s going to be a fast, intense, physical game and you do everything you can just to play smart. Just went to the net hard and try to let kaner and hoss make the plays." Look for more of the same the rest of the series as the Coyotes need to stop the Blackhawks best player. Apr 13 - 7:35 AM

[Optimus Prime]

Don Cherry, on "Coach's Corner," said there was no excuse for what Weber did, but the fine was plenty, Zetterberg started it and Weber "wanted to really hurt him -- a guy 230 pounds, 6-foot-4 -- if he wanted to really hurt him, he'd have put his head right through the glass."

Weber signed a one-year 7.5 M extension with Nashville, Detroit would be well-served to take a serious run at this guy in replacement of Lidstrom. Sure partisan fans are hot at the moment but frankly all will be soon forgotten. Weber is at the top of his game and it's clear he wants out of Graceland. Which NHL Club lands the guy has a "real gamer" and as tough as they come.

[Hannibal]

IMHO we should have gone after Webber this season.

The lack of a suspension is a joke. The NHL just sent a message that they don't care about headshots when the games actually count. if anything, the penalties in the post season should be stiffer, since it hurts to be out for 10 days in the playoffs a lot more than the regular season.

The victim being from Gary Bettman's least favorite team certainly didn't hurt matters any.

[Mike]

The victim being from Gary Bettman's least favorite team certainly didn't hurt matters any.

This is what it all boils down to but what's done is done. The Wings just need to get the split tonight and all is well. It sucks that Helm is out for the rest of the playoffs though.