2010-2011 NHL season

I've been saying all year that I expect the Hawks to make the playoffs, but it keeps looking less likely. I hope I'm wrong though.

 

The Blackhawks didn't get that much out of the peripheral players in the regular season. It was the postseason where they started to make up for whenever one of the big stars had a slump.

The difference between this regular season and last is that Keith and Seabrook have gone from complete shut-down pairings to iffy.

 

This is all very much overlooked, especially when it comes to Byfuglien. Buff was a healthy scratch at times last year, and spent much of it as a sixth or seventh defenceman, especially down the stretch.

 

Jesus, that was some old time hockey.

So a few weeks ago Cooke brushes the Isles goalie (who raised his stick, BTW outside the goalie box). Isles goalie goes to meet Johnson (who looks like he initiated the fight) and gets dropped with one punch. The Isles goalie looked horribly overmatched in the fight.

A few questions to the hockey gurus.

1. Did DiPietro have to fight Johnson there? Could have just met at mid ice and locked up or do the unwritten rules say he has to fight? Johnson did not pile it on. In fact it looked like he almost felt sorry for the kid before throwing the first punch.

2. Should Johnson have fought that goon the Isles called up one-on-one? Did the Pen the came from the side overstep? I'm pretty sure skaters do not fight goalies, but you should also never run in once a lock up has started.

Mario weighs in...

http://www.postgazette.com/pg/11044/1125200-100.stm

 

Damn

 

Was Mario outraged when NHL suspended Cooke for only four games?

 

And one of the Governor's commented,"If Mario wants to change the game, maybe he should show up at some of the Governors' meeting"

 

"Tut-tut-tut," says the NHL.

".....but it's a total coincidence that we decided to replay this game that everybody is talking about for all of the wrong reasons! Wrong, wrong, wrong!!" :

 

I'm assuming you're referring to Eric Godard here - he didn't just "overstep," he deliberately and knowingly broke a rule that is clearly stated in the book by coming in off the bench to enter the fray. His ten-game suspension was automatic, because that is exactly what's prescribed for that specific offense.

As for Johnson, well, he's known to be a little more looney tunes than even your average goalie. I wondered aloud at the game I worked today why he didn't get some sort of discipline for getting into two significant scraps in less than two weeks, and I was reminded that "you can't discipline stupid."

 

Great point, but I do agree with Mario here.

 

Lisa, the call up goon skated down to take on Johnson. That was the hockey etiquette I was asking about.

And coming off the bench or not, was the extra Pen justified in going two-on-one there?

 

Speaking of stupid, Brent was above the circles skating toward center ice when Haley charged him.