Paul Stewart: Niskanen Non-Suspension Was Right Decision

Paul Stewart: Niskanen Non-Suspension Was Right Decision
- Paul Stewart

Well said Paul.

Agreed. It was just unfortunate for Syd. I think the right call was made.

Don't disagree completely, but what RAGES me most is that Ovechkin doesn't at least get a slashing or slew foot penalty there. I blame Ovie way more than Niskanen.. if he would have just tried to body check Sid or steal the puck from Sid instead of resorting to UFC bully tactics, none of this happens. I understand he is frustrated because Sid OWNS him, but come on. If we get a 5 on 3 there WHICH YOU EVEN SAID EARLIER IN YOUR article, chances are it's 1-0 Pens. Also that goalie interference goal called back on Kunitz was disgusting. I knew this stuff would happen though, because the league/officials always seem to give the benefit of the doubt to the team that is losing.

CALL THE GAME BY THE RULE BOOK NOT BY POLITICS

Paul, our family is beyond fortunate to have Flyers season tickets since 1970. We have seen our share of fun and at times vicious playoff hockey. I have attended religiously since 1980.

With that said, our feeling has always been that you and Kerry Fraser are the two best officials of the modern era. Officiating playoff hockey is not easy. Many of us get that.

You really don't appreciate what an official goes through unless you attend playoff hockey in person in a crazy environment.

As a Flyers fan the only thing that bothers us more than Leon Stickle or Sid and the Pens might be the Rangers.

The more recent Pens / Flyers playoffs included Malkin and Neal crosschecking everyone they could high and hard in the head. I do not particularly care for the Pens.

I have played hockey and defense for many years myself. Admittedly not near at the level you have. What I can say is players do the "look away move" all the time. Meaning I elevate my stick or prepare to land a vicious check while looking beyond or away from the player coming in my direction. This happens every game. It was clear to me as a sometimes dirty player myself that is exactly what happened. Let me be clear. Nisk was completely aware what he was doing on that play and I don't believe his comments after the game at all.

Furthermore, if you rewatch the play, OV highsticks him twice. Once in the head. You are correct that he also deserved a penalty on that play. The only reason Crosby was falling was cause he got bonked in the head and then add contact with OV happened thereafter. There was an agenda or in Philly terms "a bounty" carried out. It may not have been a publicly decreed Buddy Ryan bounty, but the Caps players without a doubt had an agenda here.

Nisk's stick did not even elevate until Crosby started to fall. Again, Crosby was falling before Nisk's stick was elevated. I don't see the relevance at all of Nisk's feet being wide apart. One could look at like he was bracing for impact, but his follow through on the cross check all the way down to the ice was telling. His reaction on the ice was telling.

He deserved a couple of games for that vicious cross check to Crosby's skull.

Now the fans should not be judged for agreeing with the NHL here. Crosby complains. He dives, He portrays the victim constantly. It's annoying and at times pathetic.

In this situation I think the NHL got it wrong. The NHL just better hope the Pens remain competitive in this series. If this was game six with the caps up 3-2 in the series and winning large in that game the Pens would be fully justified in "removing" OV or Holtby from the remainder of the playoffs... If that happens blood is on the NHLs hands.

I agreed with everything up till the bounty part.
To be clear, who exactly imposed or set the bounty?
Was it a player only thing, or are you implying that Coach Trotz made the orders?
I could never believe the latter.

I think the NHL got it wrong, and I can't stand Crosby

I don't mean Trotz put 5k in the middle of the locker room floor and said, first player to take sid out gets the pot." this is not Buddy Ryan and the 80s eagles.

What I am saying is Crosby has somehow morphed into an even better player than he was just a few years ago. Faceoffs, backchecking everything. He is almost an unbeatable force out there. You watch him in person and you see the little things he does that he did not do 10 yrs ago. He has always been amazing from the redline up. Now he is amazing for all 200 feet. The entire caps franchise knows that.

They know they can't beat him, thus the reason why he gets hit in the head twice within a split second. Both shots to his head were an absolute disgrace.

I flippin hate Crosby. I do. I loathe his presence, but Jes9s Christmas he was targeted. I have seen enough playoff hockey to know that.

Not even a question. There was an agenda there.

I agree. The call on the ice was correct, as was the decision not to suspend him. Crosby falling had more to do with the head contact that Niskanen did. Maybe they could have had a high stick call on Ovi too as his contact was what made Sid fall but there was no suspension coming out of that.

ya'll are wild.

When watching the slow motion replays at first I thought it was clearly intent to injure, but you're right, at game speed, it looks more like an unfortunate chain of events.

Excellent insight - particularly in regards to Nisks body positioning and not thrusting forward.

I agreed with everything up till the bounty part.
To be clear, who exactly imposed or set the bounty?
Was it a player only thing, or are you implying that Coach Trotz made the orders?
I could never believe the latter.
- shoreorrpark

No coach is actually going to order a bounty. Especially since that idiot from the NFL actually had bounties on players.

They'll just simply say things like "need more bodies" on a player. Or, he's been given a free ride. Those kind of things.

You know, joenardonesson, I was going to say it was nice to finally see a Flyers fan look at the incident objectively, while understanding your disdain for Sid. Based on the way he 'behaved' as a player for most of his career, were I a Flyers fan, I would probably love Sid just as much as y'all do, LOL.

BUT, Sid quit the whining and crying literally ever since the day Sully took over as head coach here, and so doesn't that take us all back now about a year and a half? He skates away from everything. Like I said, I do appreciate your objectivity, especially being a serious Flyers fan. But sheesh dude, get with the times !

I myself have attributed part of the 'blame' for this incident to Crosby himself, as I believe (and have watched) he goes full bore, full tilt, 120%, whatever you want to call it... for every second of every shift he's on the ice. He will do anything to win, and his determination and reckless abandon may have also been a contributing factor.

I was surprised Niskanen was given a game misconduct... based on past NHL precedence... and I never thought for a second he would be suspended.

GO PENS !!

Paul, if I could add one more thing... I think the NHL has to do SOMETHING about the clubbing and beatings centers and forwards in general take any time they're around the net, especially AFTER the whistle blows. If you're one of those forwards, and you've just taken a shot, you're almost GUARANTEED a semi-severe cross-check or clubbing, and Mark Staal and David Savard come to the top of my list as regular offenders... the refs are usually gathered RIGHT THERE... what say you?

You know, joenardonesson, I was going to say it was nice to finally see a Flyers fan look at the incident objectively, while understanding your disdain for Sid. Based on the way he 'behaved' as a player for most of his career, were I a Flyers fan, I would probably love Sid just as much as y'all do, LOL.

BUT, Sid quit the whining and crying literally ever since the day Sully took over as head coach here, and so doesn't that take us all back now about a year and a half? He skates away from everything. Like I said, I do appreciate your objectivity, especially being a serious Flyers fan. But sheesh dude, get with the times !

I myself have attributed part of the 'blame' for this incident to Crosby himself, as I believe (and have watched) he goes full bore, full tilt, 120%, whatever you want to call it... for every second of every shift he's on the ice. He will do anything to win, and his determination and reckless abandon may have also been a contributing factor.

I was surprised Niskanen was given a game misconduct... based on past NHL precedence... and I never thought for a second he would be suspended.

GO PENS !!

Paul, if I could add one more thing... I think the NHL has to do SOMETHING about the clubbing and beatings centers and forwards in general take any time they're around the net, especially AFTER the whistle blows. If you're one of those forwards, and you've just taken a shot, you're almost GUARANTEED a semi-severe cross-check or clubbing, and Mark Staal and David Savard come to the top of my list as regular offenders... the refs are usually gathered RIGHT THERE... what say you?
- skridscousin

i agree. that coaching change came at the exact right time for the pens and sid and the rest of team for that matter are much more focused. no argument there. sucks for the rest of us in the division, but it's true. as a flyers fan i am very very familiar with the opposition targeting our best player in the head. the nhl in this instance has been exposed. they simply do not get it.. people like me who pay 5k a yr in season tickets don't do so to watch niskanen. If that was done to 99 in the 80s there would have been hell to pay.

i am all for making it tough to drive the net. to have to earn that space, but multiple headshots in a second by diff players is unacceptable and telling of the caps agenda. that is exactly what the pens coach was articulating to the ref. not just the crosscheck, but the entire play. disgraceful. those things dont happen as often if certain players are dressed...

There is a double-edged sword here... "Tough play-off hockey" calls for clubbing and head hunting after every stoppage. But we definitely don't want to see players getting hurt.

What bothers me is that watching the 2 games last night (NYR-OTT, STL-NSH) there were at least 10, probably close to 20, hits from behind into the boards that don't get called. Those ALL are called in the regular season. The longer these guys play and those calls are not made, it gets worse and worse.

Would Ovi come that close to Crosby with a stick to the head if cross checks and high sticks are called in the first 2 games? No. Would Edmundson have gone after PK's head like he did last night? No.

Make the call the first time. 19 more of those plays don't happen and players 'remember' how to play clean and physical without concussions and broken bones. The team that doesn't learn the first time, learns after allowing a PPG or two.

There is a double-edged sword here... "Tough play-off hockey" calls for clubbing and head hunting after every stoppage. But we definitely don't want to see players getting hurt.

What bothers me is that watching the 2 games last night (NYR-OTT, STL-NSH) there were at least 10, probably close to 20, hits from behind into the boards that don't get called. Those ALL are called in the regular season. The longer these guys play and those calls are not made, it gets worse and worse.

Would Ovi come that close to Crosby with a stick to the head if cross checks and high sticks are called in the first 2 games? No. Would Edmundson have gone after PK's head like he did last night? No.

Make the call the first time. 19 more of those plays don't happen and players 'remember' how to play clean and physical without concussions and broken bones. The team that doesn't learn the first time, learns after allowing a PPG or two.
- jonny4gets

I think you make an excellent point here about how if the officials let some calls go that are borderline then the players push the envelope a little more, like how a child continues to push the parent to see how far he/she can get away with before being disciplined.

The Ranger/Sens series has seen a lot of stuff let go & usually as long as its consistent on both sides I'm fine with what's called, not called.

I'm with that..

The league/officials create the situation by allowing the players to get away with dirt and they keep pushing the envelope.. These guys are going to do whatever they can to win, regardless of the moral side of things.

The league/officials allowed Ovie to do what he did, which put Crosby in the position to allow Niskanen to do what he did.

Ovie and Nisky are both greasebags, but the league is at fault for setting the environment for them to get away with it.

Refereeing is like the weather. No one will ever fully agree. Players adapt to what is being called or not being called. The Crosby incident is a result of what is deemed acceptable and what isn't. I don't think what happened was premeditated or on purpose. But I do think the Caps made a conscious effort to hit Crosby more when given the chance. It's an acceptable trade off, no? Take the 5 minute penalty and a game misconduct and get Crosby possibly out for the remainder of the series. This exponentially increases the Caps chances of winning this series. It's kind of like targeting a Star QB in football. Take the 15 yard roughing the passer penalty but knock the star QB out of the game and take your chances against the backup QB.

Refereeing is like the weather. No one will ever fully agree. Players adapt to what is being called or not being called. The Crosby incident is a result of what is acceptable and what isn't. I don't think what happened was premeditated or on purpose. But I do think the Caps made a conscious effort to hit Crosby more when given the chance. It's an acceptable trade off, no? Take the 5 minute penalty and a game misconduct and get Crosby possibly out for the remainder of the series. This exponentially increases the Caps chances of winning this series. It's kind of like targeting a Star QB in football. Take the 15 yard roughing the passer penalty but knock the star QB out of the game and take your chances against the backup QB.
- gergeswillems

Except if your the Jets & you knock out Drew Bledsoe & some unknown hack name Brady comes off the bench....yea, still not over that one.

There was probably a code red ordered.

There was probably a code red ordered.
- Scoob

So now the Pens are a few good men who will piss on the Caps dead skulls? All the Caps did was weaken the Pens. They put Pens lives in danger.

Except if your the Jets & you knock out Drew Bledsoe & some unknown hack name Brady comes off the bench....yea, still not over that one.
- B2B76

Bledsoe came back and won a playoff game that season, yes?

Bledsoe came back and won a playoff game that season, yes?
- gergeswillems

No, he basically was done in N England after that week 2 KO. Yes he did come in for maybe a quarter or a little more in a playoff game that yr (2001) but they went right back to Brady when he was ready to play again & Bledsoe got shipped off to Buffalo in the off season.

There was probably a code red ordered.
- Scoob

YOUR GOD DAMN RIGHT THERE WAS!!!!!!

So now the Pens are a few good men who will piss on the Caps dead skulls? All the Caps did was weaken the Pens. They put Pens lives in danger.
- gergeswillems

Crosby's injury, while tragic, probably saved lives.