2010-2011 NHL season

I'm going out on a limb here but I am guessing he was involved in some capacity on the Bertuzzi and McSorley incidents. Also early on in his reign of dickheadedness he was involved in the Probert/Domi main event.

 

Bettman needs to take a deep breath here. Good or bad, the NHL has probably got more pub out of these three fight filled games (NYI@Pit, Mtl@Bos, Pit@NYI) than at any other time since the Winter Classic. And while there are the bleeding hearts who will go on and on about how the fights are bad for the game, I am willing to bet the vast, vast majority enjoyed it far more.

 

When you've got a guy skating up behind another guy, dropping the gloves and blasting him in the head from behind his back ... that's bullshit. That's not just a game with a bunch of fights.

I'll be the first guy to say that Matt Cooke is a dirty player. And I like to think I can call bullshit bullshit when it comes to the Pens (though I'm probably not 100% impartial). But there were entirely too many instances in that game where guys with no talent whatsoever were looking to do nothing more than injure people. The lack of respect in some of the dustups was pretty astounding.

 

Interesting take on this lack of respect by Roy MacGregor. Reason is simple: money. The marginal players (like Cooke) will do ANYHTHING it takes to keep a roster spot since they know they can be replaced by four different but essentially the same guys

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/opinions/roy-macgregor/marginal-nhl-players-lack-respect/article1897945/

This high price for superstars, says one lawyer who has worked with the National Hockey League Players’ Association, has yet another effect. “On most teams,” he says, “five or fewer players are making half the total of the salary cap, leaving about 20 others to share the rest. The bottom half of the team are totally interchangeable and know it, and they will do anything to get noticed.”

 

Bettman has been running NHL for more than fifteen years, number of players affected by concussion has increased during every year of his tenure and he is yet deal with the problem effectively. PR type crap but very little substance.

 

The definition of concussion has also gotten wider and wider every year of his suspension. Incidence versus prevalence are two very different things.

I would bet very, very good money that a very comparable number of players were affected by concussions in the 1970s and 1980s. They just called it getting their bell rung and did not miss any time.

 

Martin 4, Gillies 9, Godard 10. 100k fine for NYI.

 

Evidence on hard it is to male the playoffs out west: The flames lose in regulation for the first time in 11 games and find themselves in ninth place, one point out. The Four teams in front of them: Phoenix 67 points (6-4-0 last 10), San jose 66 points (8-1-1), Anaheim 66 points (7-3-0), Minnesota 65 points (8-2-0). Calgary has 64 points (7-1-2), LA is 10th with 63 (6-2-2) and Chicago is 11th with 62 points (4-4-2). The Blakhawks are only three points out, but with two teams in front of them and the way everyone else is playing, they may be hard pressed to get in to the playoffs, I know there are 26-28 games left for most teams, but it is getting pretty tough to make up any ground period. The Blue Jackets can pretty much start selling off everything that's not nailed down at six points back.

 

Chicago isn't as dangerous as they were last year, obviously, but you have to think they will get into the top 8 in the West. I watched their recent outing against Vancouver (terrific game) but they lost because of a flukey goal and Campbell looking very ordinary. Offensively they still come at you in waves but lack the extra secondary scoring talent they had last year, Buff and Versteeg especially. I would hate to think that Turco will be blamed if they don't make it but I guess he's a convenient goat if they need one.
I expect they will make the playoffs and, unless they meet Detroit in the first pairing, will win at least one series.

 

Completely underwhelming, shitballs performance by the Caps yesterday against the Kings. Brutal. The torch line is growing for McPhee and Boudreau in D.C. ...

 

Pride and passion are back in Toronto. Blue and white disease is no more.