You would expect a carnival-like atmosphere at the Honda Center tonight as the Sharks arrive in town with something much more important on the line than victory. San Jose will be searching for a little payback tonight, some retribution for Chris Kunitz’s vicious attack on Jonathan Cheechoo last Friday at HP Pavilion. Now, despite what Charles Bronson would have you believe vigilante justice is no cakewalk, so let’s break it down and dissect the scenario using five simple questions.
Who?
Figuring out the target should be the easy part, but it’s often muddled by the idea of equality. I can understand the reasoning that Cheechoo -- a valuable member of the Sharks -- is on the mend with a head injury, so San Jose needs to injure an Anaheim player of equal or greater value. However, there’s no sense targeting one of Anaheim’s “skill” players, because the purpose of payback isn’t to injure anyone. Also, what good does it do to put Scott Niedermayer or Teemu Selanne on the injured reserve? This is the last meeting of the year between the two clubs, and if history is any indication they won’t be meeting in the playoffs.
Attacking someone other than Kunitz would make the Sharks appear to be a team full of goons simply looking to put people in the infirmary. Look at the Flyers and all the negative press they’ve received because of their suspension trouble. Not only has Philadelphia become the NHL’s closest thing to a laughing stock, but the league has also put heat on John Stevens and Paul Holmgren to clean things up. In my mind, Kunitz was the perpetrator so he needs to face the music, plain and simple.
What?
The exact course of action is a little tricky, simply because there are so many options. A firm elbow/cross check to the back of the head would get the message across, and apparently that’s not an infraction in today’s NHL. Kunitz pulled off the brazen attack on Cheechoo last week without receiving so much as a minor penalty, so that might be a good choice.
You can expect someone (probably Shelley) to challenge Kunitz to a fight. This probably isn’t going to work, since he prefers to drop the gloves against junior welterweights and Europeans with limited fighting experience. Shelley gets beat up pretty badly once a week, so that could lull Kunitz into a false sense of security, but any attempt at fisticuffs would probably result in the Anaheim forward turtling.
Some might be tempted to play it straight, targeting Kunitz with a few clean, solid bodychecks. Unfortunately that’s not going to send a strong enough message, and every NHL forward knows how to avoid body contact, especially when he knows people are gunning for him. Gretzky made a career out of avoiding hits, and he wasn’t the world’s greatest skater.
I think the Sharks need to give Kunitz a taste of some beaver food, attacking him with a solid slash across the ankle or a cross-check to the face. I don’t like the idea of attacking a guy from behind, and you don’t want to do any serious damage. Ultimately, the most important thing is to inflict pain without drawing a major suspension. One or two games is fine, but you don’t want it dragging into the postseason, unless of course it’s Alexei Semenov doing the deed.
When?
Timing is very important, and the message has to be sent early so the game can proceed without any further interruptions. The Ducks have a few tough customers, and the initial attack is going to result in a few fights involving George Parros, Brad May or Travis Moen. That’s fine, just as long as everyone gets it out of their system before the midway point of the first period.
In my opinion, the Bertuzzi-Moore incident happened because the Canucks weren’t satisfied with the payback so it just kept building to the point where the whole thing exploded. It should have been settled long before the third period. Obviously there’s going to be some nastiness at the start of the game, but it shouldn’t overshadow the whole thing and can’t build to the point where it leads to a serious incident.
Where?
This one’s a no-brainer. It’s going to occur at the Honda Center, and should take place on the ice surface. I grew up in a town where you’d occasionally have altercations between the dressing rooms or tussles in the parking lot. While they fired up the crowd and helped teams develop heated rivalries, it was ridiculous. Keep it on the ice, where there’s some degree of control and we can witness the action.
Why?
This is a lesson the Sharks have failed to grasp, but you can’t let teams take liberties with anybody on your roster. Raffi Torres smashed Milan Michalek’s face and nobody laid a finger on him. Scott Hartnell busted Jonathan Cheechoo’s knee and there wasn’t any payback. Alexander Radulov bounced Steve Bernier’s face off the plexiglass without any retribution. Nik Antropov drove his knee into the side of Evgeni Nabokov’s head and nobody batted an eyelash. If San Jose doesn’t dole out some justice tonight it will represent another epic failure.
Kunitz wasn’t suspended for his attack on Cheechoo, so it’s up to the Sharks to take care of business. It will be interesting to see who steps up, because you can’t lay all the responsibility at Shelley’s feet. There’s no doubt Rivet, Murray and Grier can throw down, but I would love to see some of the more gentle players like Thornton, Marleau or Rissmiller step into the fray if the situation arises.
When discussing retaliation, nothing turns my stomach like the term “beat them on the scoreboard.” Sure a win is nice, but you have to stick up for a fallen teammate and show the opposition they have to pay the price for stepping over the line. Besides, we’ve reached the point where a win makes no difference. The Sharks have essentially locked up the Pacific Division crown, and they’ll finish second in the Western Conference. The Ducks already know they won’t catch San Jose, so they’re locked into the fourth seed.
Just like killing a penalty or battling back from a deficit, sticking up for teammates is an unfortunate necessity of the game. Kunitz can’t leave the ice without taking a few lumps, and the Sharks can’t leave town without proving they can dish out some punishment. The Sharks have passed a number of tests down the stretch, cementing their place as one of the league’s best teams, but tonight it’s all about payback.
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Tune in to SharksBuzz this morning at 10 a.m. PT, discussing San Jose’s dramatic win over Dallas and tonight’s game. I still can’t believe Nabokov’s stick save on Modano and it’s absolutely unreal some of the bounces this Sharks team is creating right now. Give us a shout at (724) 444-7444, talkcast ID# 74909.
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