NHL Melting Its Own Ice

There is "something called hockey, which I think is being threatened by global warming," says the New York Press in an article on the Isiah Thomas trial (which is a good gateway to stories and videos about that trial, if you're interested). The writer doesn't know enough about hockey to understand that there is an apt metaphor in that lame joke, that the NHL is in fact cooking its own goose with pollutants of its own making. With little to glean from the Rangers' 5-2 rout of an Islander squad that had the minimum allowable eight NHL players, we turn to the renewed nastiness in this game. In concert with the fallout from prior meetings between the two teams, the Steve Downie suspension, and MSG's lawsuit against the NHL over control of the Rangers' web site, we get a mostly Ranger-centric view into how the NHL undermines itself at almost every turn.

It all starts with Ryan Hollweg. The Islanders, the referees, and the league all seem to think that Hollweg was the one who swung the stick last fall, not Chris Simon. In two pre-season games, every time Hollweg threw a check, the Islanders responded. In the first meeting, Simon was assessed a match penalty for charging Hollweg from behind, but he was not assessed the requisite one-game suspension for intent to injure, nor subject to further review over his run at the same player he tomahawked last season for a 25-game suspension. Although Hollweg was properly assessed a high-sticking minor after checking Chris Campoli, he received two other penalties that were unwarranted, one when a player tripped over him after backing up into him, and one for charging when he did no such thing -- it's as if the referees have bought into the notion that Hollweg deserved the Simon hatchet job because he hits people.

Meanwhile, with three Islanders jumping him after the charge that wasn't a charge, and with something bearing the unlikely name of Bootland twisting his helmet by its straps, there were no calls against the Islanders -- indeed, the referee stood right beside the two players as Bootland twisted Hollweg's helmet and did nothing, and made no call against Bootland other than coincidental majors with Hollweg. This situation can only favor the Rangers in the regular season, with the Islanders so distracted by Hollweg to their own detriment. But the treatment of Hollweg by the league and its officials is curious at best.

At the same time, Downie was punished severely for his hit on Dean McAmmond, while Andy Sutton got no more than a fine for his headhunting on Ryan Callahan. Now Downie is someone I and all other Ranger fans will elevate toward the top of our most hated list if he ever plays regularly for the Flyers -- the guy is a lunatic. And he deserved his punishment. But contrast his act against Simon's -- yes, it was a dangerous hit, a shoulder to the head while leaving his feet after taking a long run into McAmmond, but it came during the course of play and was exacerbated by McAmmond hitting the boards with his head. It was a far cry from Simon taking a measured swing to Hollweg's head or throat, one which could have been tragic had Hollweg not been fortunate to avoid major injury. It was no different than what Scott Stevens was praised for doing to Eric Lindros, and the penalty was equal to Todd Bertuzzi's after his mugging of Steve Moore. Simon was allowed to play in pre-season, but Downie is banned from tonight's match between the Rangers and Flyers match (so Hugh Jessiman would be safe, were he to play). Makes no sense.

Meanwhile, Sutton got off with a slap on the wrist for his elbow to Callahan's head, the play that Tom Renney singled out for igniting the Ranger-Islander war last Monday. Why? Because Callahan (fortunately) emerged unhurt. "As far as a legal blow to the head, that wasn't legal, that was illegal," Colin Campbell said of Sutton's hit. "But there was no injury. I don't think he made complete contact from what I saw." In fact, Callahan staggered away from the hit, so there was something there, but why should injury be a factor in enforcement of a rule? "Andy Sutton was suspended before for a hit like that against the glass," Campbell said. "This is an elbow he launched that did not injure the player -- the player ducked to get out of the way. I fined Andy Sutton for that play itself, and warned Andy Sutton that this is a suspendable offense. Whether you're 6'6 and he's 5'8, it doesn't matter." But he only warned him and fined him for what he admits is a suspendable offense.

Then there is the lawsuit against the NHL over control of the Rangers' web site. As further details emerge, the AP reports that the NHL forced the Rangers to stop "making Rangers-branded merchandise available through the Rangers web site and making Rangers games available to subscribers on its web site" during last spring's playoffs, and withheld $200,000 in funds due to the Rangers when the team refused to pay fines imposed for doing those things. While the Rangers are clearly taking this action to protect their financial interests in their web offerings, the NHL has in the process taken away valuable web-based opportunities for fans. And they wonder why they are taking a back seat to NASCAR, horse races, and no limit Texas Hold'em.

For more on all of these issues, including last night's game, see the Daily News, Newsday here and here, Post, Blueshirts Blog, Blue Notes, Rangers Report, NYR.com here and here, and the Canada.com. See Jess's prospect update for last night at Prospect Park.

In Blueshirts Blog, John Dellapina discusses the strange case of Andrew Hutchinson. Not to contradict him, but when he asked the question of when Hutchinson was placed on waivers, the answer was, "He went on today, at noon today [Friday], I believe." The delay, it was explained, was for strategic reasons, to get him on waivers when he was least likely to be claimed (or perhaps most likely?). "My decision to place him on waivers was strictly hockey," said Renney. "There's a part of his game came to the forefront as we thought it would that at this point in time prevents him from playing as a Ranger." We were told that he was in Hartford, but reports from there say that he is not actually with the Wolf Pack. He has not worked out with the Rangers since Wednesday.

Comments

[imitation]

DUBI maybe somebody can explain & get it thru Colin's head that it's called "INTENT TO INJURE". Maybe players will have to name him, Bettman, & the NHL in a lawsuit for him to figure out what CYA means in the 21st century. It's been fairly obvious that the NHL goes out of it's way to hurt the NYR, and protects the bad guys more than the victims. And the refs are basically clueless on how to control a game, usually tightening up after the facts. Crediblity is something the NHL needs alot more of.

[ant]

I never knew Downie played for us

[K]

I definitely agree with imitation...match penalties are assessed for INTENT to injure. Plus, Hollweg wasn't actually injured in the Simon incident, but Simon was suspended. And I also agree that they tend to protect the aggressor more than the victim, though I think the NHLPA is mostly to blame for that.

[Colton Orrrrrrr said Knock you Out, Your gonna get Knocked Ooooout]

This pisses me the hell off. I dont wanna sound like a whiner complaining about how his team never gets the brakes. but its been the case. NYR has been getting screwed in these situations. Like the Orr / OV / Brash / Ward incident. Orr cross checked Ov's face and got 5 games, which seemed fair, but Ward gets sucker punched by Brash, open fisted and he gets a 1 game suspension. Then this BS with Simon, he should have gotten 30 - 40 games, and an extra 5 games for coming up with that BS saying he didnt know what he was doing at the time, and blamed it on a concussion, get the fugg out of here. The the Sutton hit, if this moronic league wants to get rid of hits to the head which they've been bitching and moaning about, then they would come down hard on any player that head hunts. Whether its an accident or not, you have to have full control of your hits. Just like Hollweg getting the accidental high sticking penalty, he swung his stick by accident obviously, but was called for 2 minutes, rightfully so. So i dont see why a player who "accidentally" throws a hit to the head shouldnt get at least a 1 game friggin suspension. So what if Cally didnt get hurt, the point is he could have gotten hurt. This garbage gets me pissed off. And this Simon playing in pre season crap adds to it. If he wasnt allowed to play in the playoffs, then he shouldnt be allowed to play in pre season. Its sickening. I hope Orr ends Simons career with a right hand to the jaw.

[MikeA]

It's a joke, a complete joke. I remember Mike Gartner getting suspended once in the early 90s when he played for the Rangers for an accidental high stick; this was Gartner, a finesse speed sniper. Campbell even admitted Sutton had a history of headhunting, what gives?

The NHL under Bettman is hypocritical; they want to distance themselves from the tradition with new high tech jerseys, the unbalanced scheduling, etc yet they still employ all these good ole' boys and puppets in high powered positions. If/when Shanny becomes commissioner, this would not be tolerated.

[rangerbill94]

Rangers fans, get used to it, there's lots more to come from where this comes. The Rangers are the BIGGEST of the big market teams. The Bettman league wants expansion into the smaller markets in the US, so the last thing they want is NEW YORK, NEW YORK! Gomez said it clearly, "Everybody wants to play on the New York stage", or something pretty close to that. Drury came close to saying the same thing. The league has just figured out that the new CBA and CAP plays right into the Rangers dominance of the top players and at a younger age. If Nashville has a great 28 year old player going to free agency, under the cap they can't pay him any more than any other team can. So he now picks where he wants to play. If the Rangers have a need for that guy, then where is he going to go if the Rangers are a cup contender and they have one of the brightest stages in the NHL? The league will make it as tough as they can for the Rangers. We see now that the Bettman Dictatorship is attempting to run each teams business. Bettman's intrusion, on the part of the NHL into the Nashville sale could be viewed as influencing the free market. I believe that his comments, as reported and if true, then he broke the law.

The league has got to get control of the obvious hits that are nothing less then an attempt by some teams to even out the playing field. It is the obvious intent to injure plays that keep this game off TV, not fighting. There is no way to explain those kind of hits and after awhile, they filter down to youth hockey. How do mom's and dad's respond...encourage their kids to play some other sport! I, for one, would love to see a real hockey man at the helm of the NHL. Say, somebody like Craig Patrick?

[rangerbill94]

Mike A

Yes, Shanahan would be a great one!

[rangerbill94]

An observation and opinion after last night

I understand what we were playing against, but. It was very refreshing to see two centers that carried the puck with speed into the zone, stickhandled very well while on the fly and then made pinpoint passes. That's what I've been looking for. As for the defense. I liked what I saw, for the most part. The six played pretty good, with Girardi looking the most solid. The two not suited were Pock and Mara. I really don't see a bucket of pucks difference between these two. Both have an upside offensively, Pock has shown some promise there while Mara seems to have been more of a disapointment. At almost $2.5 million difference, I'd keep Pock and send Mara down. I'm not too sure anybody would want him, even at half the salery. If he was claimed, that would give us another million of cap space and move a player that doesn't figure in the long term plans of the Rangers anyway.

[oleosmirf]

The reason the majority of people in the U.S. don't watch hockey is because of media coverage. The average American has no idea who Ovechkin, Crosby, Lecavalier are. The NHL is not covered on any major networks except for Sundays on NBC. I have no problem with the NHL having games on Versus but not as a replacement for ESPN. The solution is have games on ESPN or ESPN2 on a wednesday and thursday. It should create more revenue than re-runs of the World Series of Poker. Have commercials showcasing the players on ESPN. The average sports fan could care less how many games a player gets suspended for or the tean website but like in other sports it needs to be covered on ESPN.

[ant]

Are they showing tonights game anywhere

[LI Joe]

rangerbil - if Mara is claimed on the way down there is no cap hit to the Rangers. neither is there if he's kept in Hartford if he went unclaimed. why would the team then try to bring him back so we could be hit with 1/2 his salary vs our cap if he was claimed. can't assume that a team wouldn't want him at 1/2 his salary, he's not that bad (especially if a by product would be to hurt our cap situation). they would leave him in Hartford until the end of the season where the 1/2 cap effect would not be that great. remember not every team is up against the cap window like we are - and some might even have minimum cap concerns.

that's assuming they waive him which is doubtful at this time in my opinion. more likely a salary dump trade to a team with a minimum cap situation. the next few days will tell.

[laurie]

Ant, the game is listed on Center Ice online: http://www.nhl.tv/team/

According to Sam Weinman, the plan to play Anisimov tonight has changed to allow Dawes and Dubinsky another opportunity to duke it out for the final roster spot. He also says Jagr will play, while Avery will once again be out. Prucha, Rozsival and Malik will get the night off, while Mara and Pock return to the lineup. Ludqvist will play a least part of the game.

[oleosmirf]

curious why not sit Betts and put Anisimov in. The Rangers know what Betts is going to give them unless they are wondering if he can center the third line. If Jagr plays tonight it should be an indication of the lineups for the first game minus a few changes. I personally believe Orr won't be needed against Florida but he might get rewarded for his efforts in the preseason.

[Jess]

From a selfish standpoint I should be jumping for joy that the NHL is taking over the Ranger website. No other NHL team offers as much prospect coverage as the Rangers do at their website.

Anyone who has visited the generic websites of the NHL Network will tell you that the smarter move by the NHL would have been to hire the webfolks who run Rangers dotcom and let them give each of the teams a makeover geared to their own market.

When we wake up one day and discover that the NHL is gone it will be because of stupid decisions like forcing the Rangers to give up control over their own website, marketing and advertising

[ANT]

THANKS LAURIE

[cwgatti]

What happened to the Blueshirt Bulletin Fantasy Hockey league?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!??!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?

[rangerbill94]

LI Joe

Maybe I didn't understand you. Do you mean that if the Rangers send Mara down, they still have to count him against the cap? If that's the case, then I didn't understand that. I thought that the cap counted only the 23 players with the big club plus any residuals, like deferred salery or the over 35 multi-year thing. As for why would the Rangers call him up, simply because of an injury or maybe someone like Pock or Staal or Struduick has their game go into the crapper. My reasoning was: if they send him down and he doesn't get claimed, we are $3M to the better and if he does (on a recall) then we are $1.5M to the better. My comments are no reflection on Mara, simply a money thing. Well, that's not exactly true. If he was performing at a 2nd pair D'man level and making a good impression, then this discussion would be unnecessary. Either Pock or Strudwick would be on the bubble.

[MikeA]

I think a reason the NHL isn't as big in the US is because of xenophobia; a lot of the stars are not American and the average American can't relate to them. I remember in HS, some of the real hardcore jocks (who couldn't play hockey in gym class by the way haha) used to always bust on me when i was wearing a Rangers jersey and say "I can't pronounce half those guys names" or some lame excise like that. It's a dumb reason overall, but I think there's some validity. Too bad everyone is missing rooting for the best game on the planet.

[Marge]

cwgatti

The fantasy league draft was early yesterday and scoring started today. The url is http://blueshirt.hockey.sportsline.com

[nyr1994ever]

-rangerbill

Mara would never, I mean never, get waived because why would you waive him. Although he is overpaid he does have a rocket of a shot and would be much better if he got a little more physical. Worst comes to worst, we trade him for a bag of pucks like we did getting rid of Cullen.

[LI Joe]

rangerbill - no if waived MAra would not count vs our cap (whether claimed or not). if the team makes that decision they will not try to bring him up until late in the yr when 1/2 his remaining salary wouldn't be that much. they should fire whoever is their cap guy if they tried to bring him back soon after being sent down. I'm sure he, Sather and co are much smarter than that. There is absolutely no reason for a dead money hit to our cap of up to $ 1.5 mm. We can not afford that this yr or next since any amt of Shanny's bonus not counting vs this yr will count vs next.

if the team feels they need to save on Mara's salary of $ 3 mm they will not settle for 1/2 that savings while he plays for another team.

[kogan]

NHL Video Portal doesn't broadcast the game.
Any idea how see or live radio?

[angry]

Be patient. It takes a while, but you can get through. I'm watching now. Zero-zero about four minutes left in the first. Game is just starting to heat up physically.

Hollweg in the middle of the action, boarded Kapanen (I think) sparking a big scrum...Mike Richards just hit Jagr high and Drury dropped the gloves and jumped him.

[angry]

Drury got tossed for instigating.

[Matty]

It is really heart-warming to see, to me, Chris Drury just jump Richards like that because so far this pre-season we have seen that doesn't matter who's the Ranger ... if our guys see one of our own being targeted that they are not having it ...

They have outshot the Flyers 16-6 but 0-0 so far ... we are getting the scoreboard feed from the Flyers ... annoying

[angry]

Hollweg and Drury have game misconducts. These lunatic Philly announcers are talking about a 20-game suspension for Hollweg. His hit wasn't that bad, trust me. Borderline, really.

[kogan]

Tnx angry !
I got that.

[K]

I didn't know Drury could fight. Of course, I didn't see it happen, so maybe he CAN'T fight, but is just willing to. How did he do?

[Matty]

"Drury got tossed for instigating."

Well he did instigate it ... but I think, even though is only preseason, this sends a message to a team like the Flyers that we will not take the physical abuse that they dished out to us last season and do nothing about it ...

NHL.tv was down so I only saw the last 3 minutes of the period ... how did Drury do on Jags' line before he was tossed?

[angry]

Richards got the first few pops in - he's bigger, took advantage of his size - but Drury hung in close, threw a few jabs, then shot a leg and took him down.

[K]

Renney must be slightly pissed off...first Jagr was hurt so he couldn't see Jagr/Drury in a game, and now Drury gets tossed!

[Matty]

K,

Drury really didn't throw out too many punches before he was down but he grabbed Richards with that intent ... I was surprised to see it because he's not a fighter but he is known to stick up for his teammates ...

angry,

Last season I was unfortunate to put on a Flyer game when there was nothing else to watch and had to change the channel ... the level of whinning from their announcers about the unfairness of what the League let other teams get away with toward the Flyers was enough to turn my stomach ..

I am sure that this season everytime one of their guys gets a big hit, regardless of if it's legal or not, they will be complaining about a suspension ...

[BackCheck]

" how did Drury do on Jags' line before he was tossed? "

Straka gave him a nice feed for a shot from the blue line... A little later Drury made a quick pass to Jagr in front of the net. Looks to me, if I had to make a decision, that Drury would center Jagr and Straka.

This occurred just before the rough stuff.

[Matty]

Thanks BackCheck ...

The other day Drury was interviewed and it seemed to me that he wants to play on that line, at least with Straka as he singled him out as far as someone who he feels he has chemistry with on the ice ...

[Colorado Mark]

Umm. Hollweg got a 2 minute penalty (the announcers overstated the situation in their predictions). And Drury got 17 minutes (including a 10minute misconduct.) Drury and Jagr look pretty good together actually.

No hesitation on Drury's part, but he was overmatcher. But like Jessiman getting Whooped by Downie (and a gift), it's the thought that counts!

Orr Smoked Smith in his fight.

[K]

Wait. So neither got thrown out?

[Alan]

one alarming (i think) trend that has developed in preseason and i can certainly see continuing come thursday and beyond is teams that don't have the ability skill-wise to compete with us will just do what the isles and flyers have done, which is force us into brawls and instigator penalties and potentially injure our skill guys. drury coming in for jagr was noble, but jeez i don't want to see him pummled taking one for the team. and our skill level at least in the east will only be matched by a few teams; the majority i see taking the same tact as filly tonite. how can this team address that is in my eyes one important factor heading into the season.

and as far as staal? send him back. he's great with the stick, but if he doesn't break up a play with his stick i don't see that he has the strength to play up here yet. i'd rather see pock in the lineup who is believe it or not stronger than staal. with malik and staal in the lineup on two separate d pairings we have two guys that i think would get knocked around more than we'd care to see. send staal down and get him stronger and away from just relying on his stick.

and biron looks to be a ranger killer the few times we've faced him. i hope our coaching staff can deal with adversity at the start of the year better than the baseball team in queens has at the end of the year. and i know it's only preseason as many of you keep pointing out and most spots on the teams are taken and safe but still i'm not seeing a lot of chemistry and can guys really just turn it on come thursday that haven't shown much so far? we will see i guess.

[Alan]

nobody was thrown out and orr indeed smoked smith. it was great!!!!

[Colorado Mark]

K- From what I heard, nobody was tossed. Again, it was wishful thinking by the announcers. There was no instigator. Drury got 5 for fighting, 2 for roughing and a 10 minute misconduct. The Hollweg penalty was announced as 2 minutes for high sticking.

[K]

Ok, thanks for clearing that up Colorado Mark.

[angry]

Sorry. I effed up the instigator rule. It's just the last five minutes of the game gets you tossed. And I got mooked by the Philly announcers on Hollweg. I'll just shut up and watch the game now.

[K]

LOL. That's ok, angry. The sad part is that it's totally believable that Hollweg would get tossed for a bad hit. Sometimes he makes it hard to defend him.

[ANT]

Shanny just fought and oh man those commentators suck

[eric]

anyone know were i can get the game

[K]

I finally got NHL TV working, just in time to see Shanny defend Dawes (love it!) and Strudwick take on Cote.

[ANT]

eric on http://www.nhl.tv/team/

[Colorado Mark]

These Flyers announcers just love the instigator penalty. They keep crying whenever it isn't called.

[Matty]

Ok Shanny just fought Jason Smith ... the Philly announcers are going nuts because they are acting incredulous that Shanny would fight in a preseason game for a hit that was "Clean" on Smith's part ...

It's funny cause right away they go "He should get the instigator" LOL I guess everyone who challenges any Flyer to a fight should get the instigator never mind that they both dropped it at the same time ...

Then Struds fought .. someone ...

[angry]

Smith nearly took Dawes's head off with what looked like an elbow and forearm to the head.

[ralph]

does this mean anisimov is making the team cause i would be really happy he looks really good and hes got size