Great article by Eric Engels
Very strongly put! And I love the way Sedin cuts through the bullshit flying around this issue.
http://www.hockeybuzz.com/blog/Eric-Engels/Bettman-Offends-All-Sponsors-Most-Notably-Molson/82/34380
3) Here's the closer from Dave Stubbs' morning column:
"As Max Pacioretty heals his broken body, he might want to consider this:
It's possible that his injury could finally stir the NHL into action on the stupidity that's overtaken hockey. This could, at long last, be the tipping point in a game that's crying out for a little balance."
I'd like to take the "possible" part out of the sentence, though I concur it's only responsible to phrase it as such.
The haunting image of Pacioretty motionless for several minutes, face-down and in a position where doctors and attendants would have no choice but to immobilize his neck, had almost as profound of an effect as him actually dying or being paralyzed.
We are eternally thankful that the worst did not occur, but that it entered everyone's mind that he could plausibly be dead in the moment-- this is the tipping point Stubbs refers to. It has stirred the people that won't relent until change is implemented, let alone discussed.
The power of that image is beyond words. It provokes the deepest emotional response, and in this case, emotions shouldn't be separated from the issue. Those emotions will fuel the movement for immediate and explicit change.
Geoff Molson's statement; his emotional and incredibly well-framed letter won't be ignored.
That this happened in Montreal--where the game is forever enriched by the passion of Canadiens fans--is more significant than it happening in any other NHL market other than Toronto. Because these fans won't let it go. The important hockey people of Montreal, with tremendous influence on the game, won't let it go.
I do believe this is the final straw that will set in motion the drastic re-evaluation of hockey's state, and that change is waiting on the other side of that long-winded discussion.
4) Stephen Brunt of the Globe and Mail has taken aim at Gary Bettman once again. It's so easy to do at this point, but honestly, who does it better than Brunt?
The man is open about despising Bettman, and yet he still offers a clear-cut, well-evidenced case for the commissioner's removal , without his opinion outweighing the facts.
You know what's funny?
I'm not sure anyone's mentioned this, but in light of Bettman's comments, how much angrier do you think Geoff Molson was by the end of yesterday?
This isn't just about his Canadiens anymore. We're less than a month removed from Molson being named the NHL's official beer...
Bettman's arrogance and his inability to control his own temper in response to Air Canada's call for progress on the issue was a shot across the bow of the league's corporate citizens.
The message he sent to virtually every other sponsor/potential sponsor would have had him canned before day's end if he was the CEO for any multinational corporation other than this failure of a league.
Instead, the Globe and Mail reports his contract was secretly extended for five years, in November.
5) I keep coming back to it. The NHL isn't going to change this endemic of unnecessary violence without the players spearheading the movement.
There are a couple of owners who care about the safety of the players. And let's not kid ourselves, Mario Lemieux and Geoff Molson are much more important than whoever the shmohawk is that runs the Phoenix Coyotes (Gary Bettman?).
But most the owners don't care enough. If they don't care enough to remove Bettman from the equation despite the abysmal state of his Sunbelt strategy; if they don't care enough to remove him after his league embarrasses itself time and time again with impotent regulation; if they don't care enough to remove him after he shoots from the hip without their approval--like he did yesterday in front of a U.S. Congressional contingency....well you get the point...
The players, who have no problem showing solidarity when it comes to fighting for what % of the revenue they own rights to, have to find a way to do so as it pertains to their own safety.
To all the players who have publicly stated they have no problem with Chara's hit, that they won't question his intention because proof is too hard to come by, that it's "just a hockey play", I view your statements as cowardly.
It is cowardly, and irresponsible at this point to not use this opportunity to change this game for the better. Next time, it could be you laying face-down on the ice while your family in attendance has your life flash before their eyes. But don't worry, you won't remember the incident...
6) “I'll tell you this: if you say that you don't know where things are around the ice, I think you're not telling the truth,” Henrik Sedin said. “You play the game for 20 years, you know it's there.
“I don't think players know where the limit is. That's the bottom line.”
“What are you doing to do the next time Trevor Gillies comes down and runs a guy into the thing? You can't give him anything. And you tell the guys [Chara] has no history, so the next time he does it he still has no history because he didn't get suspended. I don't see the reasoning behind it. Give him at least something to show that's not acceptable.”
read the article.
Boy am I happy Henrik Sedin said it.
Doesn't matter if I say it.
I was reluctant to voice my pure hockey opinion on this incident because I couldn't prove it. I didn't want to stir a controversy by alleging I believe to the core that Chara knew exactly what he was doing, that he knew it was Pacioretty, that he could've rubbed him out well before they got to the stanchion, and that he followed through on the hit to send a message (not with the intent to break Pacioretty's neck).
I'd have been met with "you're biased", and though I'd staunchly retort that I'd feel the same way if it were Pouliot or Cammalleri on Krejci, you likely wouldn't believe me.
Instead I presented why I thought the results of an illegal play were devastating enough for Chara to receive some kind of punishment for them.
Sedin agrees: "It's gotten to the point, you have to suspend guys if you hit the head. You have to do it even if guys say they didn't mean to do it or it's an accident. You have to start somewhere."
So thanks for doing that Henrik. Thanks for having the balls too many other players don't have. Will never agree with another person who thinks you're a soft player...
