What's the word with Grabovski? Has he been suspended?
- PLindbergh31

Telephone meeting was postponed to 4 pm today - nobody knows why.

I haven't reviewed the tapes personally, but all the media outlets seem to think there is no conclusive evidence.

Of course, the NHL doesn't always follow logic, so speculating at this point is a waste of time.

Check back in at 4:30 pm.

Any players come to mind? Not to give you a hard time, but I'm trying to think of players that were constantly in the ref's dog house but eventually worked their way out of it.
- steelydan

Most marginal players like Rinaldo might be out of the league before they have a chance to build a good rep. If Zac can't be a spark plug then he's not worth a roster spot. Same goes for all those other guys with his skillset.

LMAO, you realize how slow Schenn is right? And how much faster Kessel is? Schenn throws pillow fists too so i'm pretty sure he's not scaring anyone out there but his own goaltender .
- Rysko81

we have a slow D

Most marginal players like Rinaldo might be out of the league before they have a chance to build a good rep. If Zac can't be a spark plug then he's not worth a roster spot. Same goes for all those other guys with his skillset.
- NickTheKid87

Agreed. Rinaldo has to play on that physical edge to remain in the NHL.

Any players come to mind? Not to give you a hard time, but I'm trying to think of players that were constantly in the ref's dog house but eventually worked their way out of it.
- steelydan

Matt Cooke was mentioned, he dramatically cut down the PIMs.

Flyers only avoided using Bryzgalov -- who was mired in a horrific slump and had just been strafed relieving Bobrovsky in the 9-8 game against the Jets -- the first game in Winnipeg last year. He did start the second and final meeting in Winnipeg and won in OT. He gave up 4 goals in that one, but actually finished very strong after a rough first two periods.

To me, though, it makes more sense to start Boucher tomorrow night. Under the absolute best of circumstances, tomorrow is going to be a hang-in-by-the-skin-of-your-teeth game as the third game of a 3-in-4 and trailing end of a b2b with a lot of travel involved.

Even if Bryzgalov starts tomorrow and plays well, it could be a high scoring game. As such, I'd rather have an optimal on-paper shot at beating Toronto tonight and then hoping my team scores enough early goals to carry one or two points out of Winnipeg.

Also, if one of the two Flyers goalies is going to take a beating tomorrow night because of a fatigued team playing a club that gives them defensive trouble anyway, better for it to be the backup.

That's not to say Bryzgalov couldn't have a bad night tonight, too, but the on-paper logic favors going with him tonight and then just hoping for the best tomorrow.
- bmeltzer

Agreed.

With the goalie situation as it is, I view any game where the backup starts as a "we're going to lose anyway, might as well give the #1 guy the night off" kind of game.

LMAO, you realize how slow Schenn is right? And how much faster Kessel is? Schenn throws pillow fists too so i'm pretty sure he's not scaring anyone out there but his own goaltender .
- Rysko81

Schenn isn't the fastest guy in the world, but so far with the Flyers he's had good positioning and his lack of mobility hasn't been an issue. Any Flyers fan will tell you, with the exception of about 2 games, Schenn has played very well.

Schenn also won a fight against Vinny Lecavalier. While he doesn't fight a ton, Lecavalier is absolutely a tough guy that more than holds his own when he does drop the gloves.

From the video I saw it looked pretty clear he bit Pacioretty.
- PLindbergh31

all yo u see is patches place his arm in Grabovski's mouth they go down and then Pacioretty is looking at his arm....... for what it's worth i do think he bit him, but it isn't clear, for the sam reason burrows didn't get suspended Grabovski wont. opening the door for rampet 911 calls in Montreal

From the video I saw it looked pretty clear he bit Pacioretty.
- PLindbergh31

I just watched the video and Pacioretty's reaction makes it pretty clear that he was bit. But in Grabovski's defense, Pacioretty had his arm around his head and his hand over his mouth. It looked like Grabovski was trying to pry himself free but couldn't so he resorted to biting Pacioretty. May be that Grabo wasn't able to breathe.

all yo u see is patches place his arm in Grabovski's mouth they go down and then Pacioretty is looking at his arm....... for what it's worth i do think he bit him, but it isn't clear, for the sam reason burrows didn't get suspended Grabovski wont. opening the door for rampet 911 calls in Montreal
- ky678468

Hopefully Grabovski learns from this, he needs to eat before a game and not during it!

all yo u see is patches place his arm in Grabovski's mouth they go down and then Pacioretty is looking at his arm....... for what it's worth i do think he bit him, but it isn't clear, for the sam reason burrows didn't get suspended Grabovski wont. opening the door for rampet 911 calls in Montreal
- ky678468

It's kinda like when the puck goes in the goalie's glove, and then the glove goes in the net, but since you can't see the puck, you have to say "no goal."

If grabo does get suspended it will likely be after this game, the ruling is comming too late for them to call someone up, lack of evidence probably says he doesnt. the burrows incident was more obvious.
- ky678468

Once the NHL publicly announces a hearing, there's ALWAYS a suspension announcement within a couple hours of the hearing's completion. The player and team know instantly.

No player yet has talked himself entirely out of a suspension since Shanahan took over and the process became slightly more transparent.

Warnings and fines are handled without a hearing; and warnings happen with no public announcement even after the fact, though they are referenced if the player is later suspended. Once the NHL says there's a hearing, they've already made up their minds to suspend. A phone hearing means he's about to get a short suspension. An in-person hearing means a long suspension. This will be the former.

The fact that the hearing was postponed from yesterday has no bearing on the inevitable ruling to come.

Just a question of how many games. That's the one area where there's some wiggle room for Grabovski to state his case and for the NHL to decide to be lenient and only give him a game or two. Since there's no absolutely conclusive evidence from the video, I think he'll only get one game. But he's getting something.

Also, the suspension is always effective immediately. With the hearing being today, they won't let him play tonight. Tonight would be the first game of the suspension.

I'd expect Steckel to get back into the lineup tonight on the fourth line and for Kadri and Komorov to bump up.

Once the NHL publicly announces a hearing, there's ALWAYS a suspension announcement within a couple hours. The player and team know instantly.

Warnings and fines are handled without a hearing; and warnings happen with no public announcement even after the fact, though they are referenced if the player is later suspended. Once the NHL says there's a hearing, they've already made up their minds to suspend. A phone hearing means he's about to get a short suspension. An in-person hearing means a long suspension. This will be the former.

The fact that the hearing was postponed from yesterday has no bearing on the inevitable ruling to come.

Just a question of how many games. That's the one area where there's some wiggle room for Grabovski to state his case and for the NHL to decide to be lenient and only give him a game or two. Since there's no absolutely conclusive evidence from the video, I think he'll only get one game. But he's getting something.

Also, the suspension is always effective immediately. With the hearing being today, they won't let him play tonight. Tonight would be the first game of the suspension.

I'd expect Steckel to get back into the lineup tonight on the fourth line and for Kadri and Komorov to bump up.
- bmeltzer

I was trying to answer his post, and couldn't remotely come close to offering this kind of comprehensive response.

all yo u see is patches place his arm in Grabovski's mouth they go down and then Pacioretty is looking at his arm....... for what it's worth i do think he bit him, but it isn't clear, for the sam reason burrows didn't get suspended Grabovski wont. opening the door for rampet 911 calls in Montreal
- ky678468

Scott Hartnell sees nothing wrong with this.

/Letang deserved it, let's be honest

If other teams want to dress a goon, rather than play into their hands, make It more than clear any shenanigans will be met by Rinaldo or Luke Schenn knocking Kessel into next week.
- Jsaquella

LMAO, you realize how slow Schenn is right? And how much faster Kessel is? Schenn throws pillow fists too so i'm pretty sure he's not scaring anyone out there but his own goaltender .
- Rysko81

Is this predictable strong start by the Leafs leading into predictable smack talk? Make the playoffs first.

Once the NHL publicly announces a hearing, there's ALWAYS a suspension announcement within a couple hours. The player and team know instantly.

Warnings and fines are handled without a hearing; and warnings happen with no public announcement even after the fact, though they are referenced if the player is later suspended. Once the NHL says there's a hearing, they've already made up their minds to suspend. A phone hearing means he's about to get a short suspension. An in-person hearing means a long suspension. This will be the former.

The fact that the hearing was postponed from yesterday has no bearing on the inevitable ruling to come.

Just a question of how many games. That's the one area where there's some wiggle room for Grabovski to state his case and for the NHL to decide to be lenient and only give him a game or two. Since there's no absolutely conclusive evidence from the video, I think he'll only get one game. But he's getting something.

Also, the suspension is always effective immediately. With the hearing being today, they won't let him play tonight. Tonight would be the first game of the suspension.

I'd expect Steckel to get back into the lineup tonight on the fourth line and for Kadri and Komorov to bump up.
- bmeltzer

there have been hearings with no suspensions. lucic on ryan miller, the shea weber fine,

bring back the bullies Homer
- vejim

WE NEED BOB RYAB'S FIST

LMAO, you realize how slow Schenn is right? And how much faster Kessel is? Schenn throws pillow fists too so i'm pretty sure he's not scaring anyone out there but his own goaltender .
- Rysko81

Luke Schenn was incredibly slow and often ineffective when he played for the Leafs. Would rather have JVR any day.

Luke Schenn was incredibly slow and often ineffective when he played for the Leafs. Would rather have JVR any day.
- Leafsandbolts

Well we have a completely different Luke Schenn then. He's been doing very well for us. We'd be worse off with JVR than with Schenn right now.

Luke Schenn was incredibly slow and often ineffective when he played for the Leafs. Would rather have JVR any day.
- Leafsandbolts

You got your wish troll. Happy for you.

Scott Hartnell sees nothing wrong with this.

/Letang deserved it, let's be honest
- johndewar

he did!!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ediPXKX3jVY
flyer fans would not have been happy if hartnell was suspended then but think grabo deserves it now???

Luke Schenn's slowness was vastly exaggerated. He'll never be confused with Bret Hedican, but he's had no problems keeping up with the play here in Philadelphia. When he's gotten into trouble, it's been by over-committing to his man. When he's stayed under control, which has been most games, no problems whatsoever. He's even rushed some pucks with success when he's seen open ice ahead of him.

Well we have a completely different Luke Schenn then. He's been doing very well for us. We'd be worse off with JVR than with Schenn right now.
- NickTheKid87

good for Luke hopefully all the damage Ron Wilson did to the poor guy can be reversed

Well we have a completely different Luke Schenn then. He's been doing very well for us. We'd be worse off with JVR than with Schenn right now.
- NickTheKid87

Then it was a good trade for both teams. Toronto had too many defencemen and needed help with their forwards.