BOSTON, MA – After watching the first few games of various NHL playoff series, I’m starting to channel my inner Angry Ward as my efforts here on MTM are sounding pretty damn grumpy as of late. Previously, my beloved Bruins play heading into the post-season caused a mood swing that has now gone to the level of seeking out anger management classes as a handful of reasons are to blame and are as follows:
The Bell Centre crowd disdain for the Montreal Canadiens aside, the Habs changed from the old Forum to the new facility some time ago but the nature of their fans hasn’t and it’s pretty sickening. Yesteryear, there was the chant of “Na Na Na Na, Hey-Hey Hey, Goodbye,” to the current sissy chorus of “Ole, Ole, Ole.”
Ruining the atmosphere further is the constant badgering referees endure whenever a Canadiens player falls to the ice unabated or otherwise as a result of physical play. Fans do act this way across the league but have an understanding that this happens in hockey. Part of the reason I never got into soccer was because after physical battle, players faked what appeared to be death only to spring to their feet and stay in the game. Thankfully in today’s NHL a deterrent to this behavior exists as penalties can be called for embellishment (acting/diving).
For those of you who missed the Lars Eller bloodletting as a result of what I think is a valid open-ice hit, here it is:
Now that you’ve seen the play I’d be curious any comments and opinions. As in the past when a Montreal player is involved in a stretcher-exiting injury criminal charges have been filed on the perpetrator so stay tuned to this one.
Brendan Shanahan ,The czar of NHL Discipline, found Eric Gryba’s hit on Eller to be worthy of a tw0 game suspension. Eller’s head is down as he receives the puck in a dangerous area of the ice and is steamrolled by the defender. If the play was so egregious shouldn’t the suspension be lengthier? Compared to this violent hit is the Andrew Ference play on Mikhaill Grabovski which was not penalized during the game but reviewed and found to be worthy of a one game suspension.
Admittedly, Ference’s elbow met the head of the Toronto player but wasn’t penalized during the game. Justice came from Shanahan in the form of a deserved one game suspension. How exactly does an otherwise clean hit penalized during a game receive only one game better in punishment than one intentional blow to the noggin? Doling out justice is never easy but Brendan Shanahan apparently has no formula in handling these incidents. I’ve been waiting for the Bruins to show some nastiness but not at these measures. Toronto will goon it up in Saturday’s game for certain and will miss Ference if this occurs as Dougie Hamilton is a bit timid in his play should he get the expected start in Ference’s absence. Just more for me to be grumpy about, I guess.
DJ Eberle, tomorrow.
