2010-2011 NHL season

It does no such thing. It was incidental contact that was Crosby's fault to begin with. If the ref had a good look at the play and called something on Steckel, he should have turned in his whistle immediately. This wasn't even borderline. It was a non-incident in terms of illegality. It wasn't a headshot. It was a collision where Crosby is the guy at fault in terms of right to ice.

Crosby, like other well known high-skill, low-physicality players (Datsyuk comes to mind immediately) will get the benefit of the doubt on nearly every borderline call. It's simply human nature. It's not unique to him now nor in the history of hockey, but it's certainly present. As far as discipline from the league, those players are also likely to not be reprimanded for things that might get other guys with different reputations at least fined (the fight with Atlanta where he was a clear third-man in plus aggressor a few years back).

The same trend is present for teams too. Teams that are considered "clean" will be allowed to engage in a lot more borderline things before behind penalized, most likely because the refs aren't subconsciously worrying about keeping the game in control.

It's human nature. To ignore that it happens is to be willfully blind to it.

 

Mild concussion for Sid. Out around a week.

The WC hit was just an accidental collision. Happens all the time.

The hit against Tampa that gave him the concussion was dealt a boarding minor.

 

Jamie Langenbrunner back to Dallas. As a longtime Stars supporter, I really like it. He's the right shot winger they needed, he's got playoff experience and leadership qualities, and the return was about what you'd expect. Good pickup.

 

Smash, you lose all credibility if you think Crosby is a low physicality player. He goes to the dirty areas as much as any star in the league does and consistently takes a beating. Your Crosby hatred is amusing. Comparing the physicality of the lady byng winner to Crosby is asinine.

 

Lou dances a jig as he gets 2.8 mil off the books.

 

He's considered a low physicality player on the scale of NHL superstars when it comes to initiating contact. That wasn't meant as an insult, honestly. Just to distinguish him from someone like Thornton or Iginla or Ovechkin when it comes to reputation with the referees. I could have compared him to Kopitar or Lecavalier in terms of style of play if it makes you happy.

Thornton is much more of a floater than Crosby but has the rep of being more physical because a.) he's huge and b.) he occasionally lays a stupid, illegal hit. He will always be considered a "power forward" and get less benefit of the doubt because of that while Crosby will likely always be considered primarily a skilled forward.

Datsyuk spends as much time along the boards and in the corners as Crosby and takes as much of a beating. Freaking out about a comparison to him is a bit much, don't you think?

 

Break up the Leafs! Nine goals!

 

Not to mention they scored four pp goals on Ben Eager's match penalty after the puke suckerpunched Colby Armstrong

 

Yeah, Eager was already in Craig Ramsay's doghouse. Tonight's (or rather, LAST night's as i type this) cement head act ain't going help him any.

 

Not to mention that came after the Leafs scored with Eager serving a double-minor for cross-checking and roughing in the first. Fourteen minutes in the box tonight.

 

When Eager played for the OHL's Oshawa Generals, he was suspended for something stupid, I forget what. He was slated to miss a key game against their archrival Peterborough Petes. A Petes fan actually wrote commissioner Dave Branch asking him to rescind the suspension for that game, figuring Eager's being in the lineup could only help the opposition.

 

well, Eager got four games.

http://www.sportingnews.com/nhl/story/2011-01-08/atlantas-ben-eager-suspended-four-games-for-punch