2010~11 NHL season

[the King]

skip to about the 4:25 mark,

[YoshiEgg25]

skip to about the 4:25 mark,

And every word that came out of his mouth was absolutely true.

[ujnhunter]

I'm hoping the Red Wings can address their defensive/goaltending issues.

As a Blackhawks fan, I'm hoping they don't.

As a Blackhawks fan, you probably don't need to worry about the playoffs this year.

As long as Mario willingly employs Matt Cooke his message is hypocritical at best.

Apples & Oranges man... When has Matt Cooke ever tried to punch a guy who was skating away? When has Matt Cooke ever elbowed a kid in the head and then proceeded to punch him as he's falling to the ice from what was apparently a pretty obvious head injury and then taunt him as he's on his hands and knees. You might not like Matt Cooke, but he plays hockey... you might think he crosses the line sometimes... but he's never done anything like what the disgraceful Islanders did.

[ZenLogikos]

Mario would be a hypocrite if he came out with some statement after Sid was concussed...twice. He didn't.

Mario's statement was made toward a TEAM that had nothing but vendetta on it's mind. In the prior game, Talbot's hit was clean and DiPietro was knocked the fuck out - fair and square - goalie on goalie. Done. The Islanders couldn't deal with that, perhaps due to "hockey code" and "unwritten rules". THAT'S what's holding hockey back. Why is there gray area in the rulebook to allow a team to take that kind of approach to a game?

[the King]

Yeah, Cooke will just elbow a guy(like Savard)in the head and pretend he didn't do anything. A cheapshot is a cheapshot whether it's a punch or taking out a guy at the knees or boarding a guy. I'm not justifying anything the Islanders did, but super Mario needs to STFU when the Pens lead the league in fights, penatly minutes and majors and he employs a cheapshot artist like Cooke.

[vash23n]

I like the team Philly has put together this year. Adding Versteeg was a great move. My biggest issue is that Lavvy hates Zherdev. Zhedev has a spotty history, but so did Ray Emery. It seems that Zherdev has improved his defensive game and, most importantly, he is like second in goals scored per minutes played behind Briere. This is impressive because he has played far fewer games. I understand that we will probably be getting rid of him either now or in the off season, but why not use him while we have him - if for no other reason than to shop him out? When Leino was out, they played Carcillo and Shelley and when Richards was out they played Carcillo and Shelley.

I like Shelley although his role is disappearing on this team. Carcillo annoys the hell out of me. He is not a suitable replacement for either Leino or Richards or Zherdev. He scored a goal yesterday, which means we will play him and he will keep his cool for the next couple of games and everyone will say he's changed. Then, he won't do shit and will start losing his temper and taking awful penalties until we decide to scratch him again. I would like to see him dumped, but in the long run I think we will keep him and get rid of Zherdev and Shelley. I hear Shelley could head to Columbus where I imagine he will retire as they love him there! Not sure who we'd get in return. I could see a playoff contender taking Zherdev as a rental before the deadline as he can score and any issues with his personality will be ignored for the rest of the season. Carcillo may stick around until the off season.

We need to get another defenseman. We are awesome on D right now, but if one person goes down (I think O'Donnell might be injured) we are left with Bartulis and Syvret who have not been able to rise to the occasion when called on so far. If we try to bring up Walker, I doubt he will clear re-entry waivers as he is decent enough to give a playoff contender some backup. I think we need to bring in one guy who will either replace O'Donnell (who has had a great year as everyone has said, but only when paired with Mezaros) or be able to step in in case of injury. Our big downfall last season was the fact that the defense just got exhausted by the end. They just ran out of gas.

EDIT: Just read Holmgren is apparently set on holding onto Zherdev as he is a good insurance policy for the playoffs. So if star forwards Carcillo and Shelley go down with an injury, maybe Zherdev will get to play. More likely is that we will never play him, we just want to make sure no one else does because he can score goals and would be likely to play with a vendetta. Seems like there are a lot of teams interested in him.

[ujnhunter]

Yeah, Cooke will just elbow a guy(like Savard)in the head and pretend he didn't do anything. A cheapshot is a cheapshot whether it's a punch or taking out a guy at the knees or boarding a guy. I'm not justifying anything the Islanders did, but super Mario needs to STFU when the Pens lead the league in fights, penatly minutes and majors and he employs a cheapshot artist like Cooke.

You still don't get it. You probably never will.

[vash23n]

Yeah, Cooke will just elbow a guy(like Savard)in the head and pretend he didn't do anything. A cheapshot is a cheapshot whether it's a punch or taking out a guy at the knees or boarding a guy. I'm not justifying anything the Islanders did, but super Mario needs to STFU when the Pens lead the league in fights, penatly minutes and majors and he employs a cheapshot artist like Cooke.

You still don't get it. You probably never will.

He's not the only one who doesn't get it apparently. I see the Islanders get chippy in two games against the Pens. How many times a week are we hearing about a questionable hit by Cooke. Not just on Savard. This is just typical "it's okay, our guy is different because he is on our team" justification. Cooke is a scoundrel, just like Carcillo is a scoundrel, just like Tucker and Domi used to be scoundrels just like Avery is a scoundrel (though I find myself constantly amused by his antics). As a Flyers fans, I have dealt with this bs for as long as I can remember - why? because back in the 70s and 80s the Flyers had guys who were considered bullies. Now we are no different than any other team - we have a couple of guys who push the envelope now and then and go over the edge now and then, just like most teams do - but we are still dirty cheap shot artists.

The difference, Flyers fans admit we play with an edge and we are able to recognize and shake our heads in annoyance at our own dirtball players who constantly bring focus on negative aspects of the game. Pens fans and the Pens organization have the hardest time admitting to this, it seems. Mario and Shero (who I respect) should have just faced the Cooke question following Mario's rant head on, admitting that he steps over the line and that they realize the first step in getting rid of this type of behavior in the NHL is to look at the issues within. Promise that each member of their own team will be more thoroughly scrutinized from now on and that cheap shots of any sort will be met with immediate disciplinary action... or just keep your mouth shut in the first place because what goes around always comes around, whether it be negative criticism, cheap shots, finger pointing, whatever.

[ujnhunter]

This has nothing to do with Matt F'n Cooke, man. It's about a "revenge" game where the Islanders... who were up like 6-0 decided they wanted to "hurt" the Penguins players on purpose because their damn goalie got knocked out in a fair fight. How does that have anything at all to do with Matt Cooke making some questionable hits? Apples and oranges.

[vash23n]

This has nothing to do with Matt F'n Cooke, man. It's about a "revenge" game where the Islanders... who were up like 6-0 decided they wanted to "hurt" the Penguins players on purpose because their damn goalie got knocked out in a fair fight. How does that have anything at all to do with Matt Cooke making some questionable hits? Apples and oranges.

Not to change the subject, but how freaking fragile can a person be? If I was the Islanders coach/general manager, I would be irate at RD dropping the gloves. Yes it is nice to get involved for your team, but with the issues this guy has had with injuries, not to mention that they are banking on him to actually stay healthy after sending DR to the Lightening... freaking crazy. I know they got this new guy now who seems pretty decent. Not that they can just get rid of RD since he is signed to such a massive contract that no other team will be interested in and that is too steep to buy out. Plus, the guy does have some talent, but the injury thing is insane.