Very well said Stewy, it's the absolute truth. The whole player safety system is a joke, plain and simple. Shanny for whatever reason forgets he played and was once a tough guy. You start putting coaches in he press box for too many penalties to their players will fix it. I also believe if you remove the instigator rule, it will take a month and head shots will go away. These cheeky players will get their asses beat a few times and it will stop. The honest players will rule again. The league protects and encourages the cheeky players.

Would be nice if we could get some insight as to why Boston Bruins players never get suspended except for Thornton's mugging

Why would Stewart be surprised that a Penguin isn't disciplined?

In 2009 Malkin was allowed to start a fight in the last 5 minutes of a game, a rule that should have resulted in Malkin being suspended the next game.

Instead the NHL makes up a lame excuse so they could gift Crosby (their diving poster boy) a Stanley Cup. Malkin get 3 points and the NHL gets Crosby his Cup.

Pathetic and blatant fixing, just like the closed door draft lottery that got Mario the whiner the #1 pick to land Crosby.

The NHL is clearly a house of cards.
- eztarget33

You're unbelievable.. I'm not a pens fan. But don't you think you're reaching here? Hate Crosby all you want. He's the best player in the world and if you had him on your team you would love it.

I think people need ot lay off Crosby, Bettman's love affair with the Penguins is around Mario not Sid. He was gifted the Crosby pick as a way of solidifying that franchise.

Right or wrong, brooks orpik had been deemed by other players (namely thorton) to have taken liberties against his teammates. Thorton then took a cheap shot to seek vengeance, and almost made him a vegetable. I'm not excusing what thorton did, it was wrong! However, the code is to stand up for yourself as the league has a sliding unbalanced scale of discipline. If this is to continue, guys like Neal need to have an orpik style of retribution. Then it will stop! And to those pens fans berating the flyers teams of decades ago......really? The old flyers would have sent Dave "the hammer" to sucker punch Neal into a vegetative state! The comparisons are moronic! The right thing to do to stop Neal during that Flyers vs Pens series, was to have one of the Flyers lay out Neal cold, stand over him, and tell him, you ever take cheap shots at Giroux and Couturier like that again, and you'll get more of the same. That puts the game back in the players hands and out of the league biased beaurocrats!

This is funny.... I've watched countless NHL games reffed by Mr Stewart and thought to myself, "this ref is the poster child for what's wrong with the NHL."

Your blog was read on Buffalo radio.

This is funny.... I've watched countless NHL games reffed by Mr Stewart and thought to myself, "this ref is the poster child for what's wrong with the NHL."
- madmike71

Hi, stop being Butt hurt. he is a dirty player, end of story.

Finally Stewart got something right in his analysis of James Neal. But here is what he continually got wrong:
his misguided characterization of Steve Yzerman. I wrote the e-mail (below) to him and he never responded:

Dear Mr. Stewart, I have had the pleasure to watch many years of Red Wing hockey, including the Yzerman era.

I frequently witnessed the verbal battles you engaged in with Yzerman, as noted in your HockeyBuzzblog. I never witnessed Yzerman as vehemently argumentative with other officials as he was with you.
This is understandable as we all have those whom ignite our dislike, as you and Yzerman clearly did to each other.

But again and again, in many games you officiated with the Red Wings, you violated one of your own 5 rules of commanding respect on the ice. You could clearly be seen responding to the bait that Yzerman delivered (his objections to some of your calls) by openly and derisively egging him on (including sarcastic comments and challenging glares, easily deciphered from my first row seat).

So I ask you, whom is being more unprofessional, the player or the official? Eventually, and too often, you allowed the battle between you and Yzerman to dominate the game, with you becoming the center of attention. This, of course, damaged the game for all involved, including the fans.

This did not always happen when you officiated the Red Wing games, and rarely happened when you were involved with other teams.

I respectfully submit: A player is expected to engage in partisan participation.
An official is paid not to.
Your transgressions toward the game are clearly more glaring than his.

Dave Posther

I had a lot of respect for you before I read this. Comparing Neal to Avery and Linseman is a credibility killer.