I disagree. I think slew foots are just as dangerous, if not more dangerous, than hits to the head. With a hit to the head, you (generally) have a short amount of time to see the player coming and to try to brace yourself. With a slew foot, you have no idea that it is coming, and you have no way to protect yourself from falling backwards and slamming your head onto the ice.

I have never played pro hockey, but even as an amateur, I have never attempted to slew foot a player or trip a player by pushing his skates from behind, because I think that is the most dangerous thing than you can do to a player. That's just my opinion.
- jmatchett383

It is a very dangerous play. I'd be fine with majors for slew foots. Besides being dangerous it's a poopty thing to do.

Immediately outlaw fighting. Immediately outlaw any headshot.
- james_tanner1

What's next, the No Hit League? Man up already.

Hakstol wasn't the coach back in 2010.


- jmatchett383

It's the Flyers. Who cares who the coach is. MIRYTE??

It's the Flyers. Who cares who the coach is. MIRYTE??
- chimpira

You think it's time to blow up the band, by the way? Annual underachievers but with streaks of brilliance. How long will they see G, Jake, and Simmonds disappear in the post season (the few times that they do make it there) before a rebuild?

You think it's time to blow up the band, by the way? Annual underachievers but with streaks of brilliance. How long will they see G, Jake, and Simmonds disappear in the post season (the few times that they do make it there) before a rebuild?
- chimpira

Don’t quote yourself.

Don’t quote yourself.
- RafiDRW

I'm from the streets! I do what I want!

You think it's time to blow up the band, by the way? Annual underachievers but with streaks of brilliance. How long will they see G, Jake, and Simmonds disappear in the post season (the few times that they do make it there) before a rebuild?
- chimpira

First off, quoting yourself...tsk tsk

And no, I don't. Since 2010, the roster overall has had major holes. Their defense has been patchwork, their bottom 6 have been dreadful, the PK has been bad, and their goaltending has been average at best (Mason's 14/15 season being Vezina caliber).

Hextall has taken a slower, methodical approach. The blueline should be very good (and relatively inexpensive) next year. The forward corps, if healthy, should be top-15 in the next 2 years, and if Carter Hart can be close to what is projected, they will have stability in goal.

As for Giroux and Voracek not producing, it's about depth. If you only have to worry about 1-2 lines, you just load up against them and run all over the bottom 6. Not too hard to comprehend.

So no, I think Hextall has taken an approach that should make them a contender for a solid 5-6 years as opposed Holmgren's quick fix approach.

First off, quoting yourself...tsk tsk

And no, I don't. Since 2010, the roster overall has had major holes. Their defense has been patchwork, their bottom 6 have been dreadful, the PK has been bad, and their goaltending has been average at best (Mason's 14/15 season being Vezina caliber).

Hextall has taken a slower, methodical approach. The blueline should be very good (and relatively inexpensive) next year. The forward corps, if healthy, should be top-15 in the next 2 years, and if Carter Hart can be close to what is projected, they will have stability in goal.

As for Giroux and Voracek not producing, it's about depth. If you only have to worry about 1-2 lines, you just load up against them and run all over the bottom 6. Not too hard to comprehend.

So no, I think Hextall has taken an approach that should make them a contender for a solid 5-6 years as opposed Holmgren's quick fix approach.
- jmatchett383

Cool. Don't want to hijack the thread any more. Just curious how close they are to being contenders in your opinion. Need to get rid of goalie and Gudas' contracts, for sure.

There needs to be penalties for guys who purposely pUT themselves in danger to avoid being hit too. Nothing makes me more sick then watching cowards turn their back toward an oncoming hit. That should be a major in a pro sport. Skating with your head down is discouraged from peewee so there's no excuse for that either

In general, I find it embarrassing to watch it because it is the closest thing to the Roman Gladiator Games that exists. While I was not around in Ancient Rome I am fairly sure I would not, unless forced to, taken in said games.

It is not the National Hockey League it is the National Hack League. It is led and produced by and for knuckle-dragging Neanderthals. The talent and skill of the game are far exceeded by the ancient customs from the Roman Games. The only thing that is missing is allowing the fans to bet on the odds of someone living or dying after so many tournaments.

If the Ceasar's that run and own the sport were not making money from such violence it would not exist. As from the movie Gladiator;

"I think he knows what Rome is. Rome is the mob. Conjure magic for them and they'll be distracted. Take away their freedom and still, they'll roar. The beating heart of Rome is not the marble of the Senate, it's the sand of the Coliseum. He'll bring them death - and they will love him for it." - Senator Gracchus

Why not? If you've never followed a sport before and need to pick a team to follow, the obvious choice is the one that is the best and will get talked about the most.
- jmatchett383

Busting balls a bit, I honestly think it's cool as hell he started following hockey and don't care what team he roots for.

James. Perhaps curling would be a better fit for you.

Mr Tanner, I for one in the past have been pretty vocal about some of your perceptions.....but hell can freeze over and I resonate with what you are saying.

You mention about a penalty being called and then 2-3 crosschecks or punches happen afterwards which are more harsh then the original penalty being called and this mentality is just pathetic and only comes from knuckle draggers because they know the ref won't call a second penalty. Its like if you draw a penalty be prepared for a few more liberties against you because the refs only call "one" infraction at a time.

I've been a Pens fan for 30+ years and yes even when Matt Cooke played for them I was vocal about his lack of self responsibility/self respect for others and idiotic dirty plays. No fan in their right frame of mind should want to see another player injured.....but this mentality can't come from the fans, it has to come from the players on the ice. You ask many of these players and they don't want drastic rule changes....so in reality many of these players are the cause of their own suffering in a sense. It almost seems it will take a death or very tragic event to change some players mentalities.

I see the NFL making a lot of changes as the NFL no longer wants to be known for having former players having mushy brains and debilitating lives after football.....and yet the NHL seems to be glorifying it still....

No better team to start rooting for than last year's Stanley Cup champs, huh?
- Ftown19125

Actually I had no clue the Penguins were champions in 09 when I started following them. I had just bought NHL 09 for PS3 and chose the first team I saw that had Black and white as jersey colors because those are the colors my football team has here in Brazil, lol. Only after watching a couple of games I found out they were the champions.

But yes, it is nice to start rooting for a team that were champions the year before and has some amazing players.

Thank god I started following Hockey in 2010 and not in 1976, right?

The still shot of him contacting ZAR shows his feet still on the ice...soon the game will be played with a sponge puck. Marchand head shots should be the ones that are bringing 20 game suspensions...not hits like this one. He was suspended due to reputation and reputation only.

I guess Wilson will be back for Game 2 of ECFs

Tanner, I hate the penguins. And I've spent much time disagreeing with you. But you're exactly right in this article.

I guess Wilson will be back for Game 2 of ECFs
- ghostibator

Marchand is getting his lipstick ready for him.

The only league in the world where the rules completely change from the beginning of the season to the start of the playoffs. It sure doesn't help when a former league official doubles down on that fact during an intermission.
- Itsjustarash

Consistency is the biggest issue which is I know is no revelation.

Totally agree on head shots, there has to be more accountability to the player initiating the hit.

Cross checking is a confusing penalty to me, when and where they decide to call it. Actual cross checks happen pretty much every shift but seems like it only gets called when it's "severe" or causes injury. Sometimes it just seems like an irrelevant rule.
- 13sundin13

There is a bit too much objectivity in making those penalty calls. Cross-checks, slashes and interference happen all the time in every single game. They are just smaller degrees of these infractions.

We all see when players are fighting for pucks along the boards or for space in front of the net, there are constantly little cross-checks and slashes. We see very minor interference with players trying to skate to pucks at a constant rate.

How far do they go though? There's a battle in the NHL for style they want to change, but still hold on to the style they all love. If you call every single cross-check or every single little slash you're going to see a very sterile brand of hockey. It will look more like basketball coverage than hockey.

That being said, the one area I think they need to be that over-the-top on are head hits. Players won't stop hitting if you call every single head shot; they'll adapt and change how they hit players.

Wilson could have just as easily crashed into ZAR leading with his chest. Even if he got his hands up a little high to make contact with ZAR's chest , he could have done that and landed a crushing hit without making contact to his head.

Just got home from fishing(4 nice trout)great blog James. I agree that it should have been a longer suspension. Kadri got three games and deserved it, but he didn’t injure the player. Breaking a guy’s jaw and causing a concussion should have been six games.
The penguins should have gotten a five minute power play which probably would have changed the outcome of the game.

The still shot of him contacting ZAR shows his feet still on the ice...soon the game will be played with a sponge puck. Marchand head shots should be the ones that are bringing 20 game suspensions...not hits like this one. He was suspended due to reputation and reputation only.
- Garnie

This is another part of the problem, in that certain players (rightly or wrongly) have a "reputation" or disciplinary history which makes it an easy out for DOPS to look like they are doing their part, when there are countless other players in the league that have no "reputation" or "history", because DOPS never have the balls to get a "history" started. How many "stars" would ever see a suspension for this exact same hit, spearing someone in the groin, cross checks in the neck/head/face whatever? With the exception of Marchand and Kadri coming into his own, the playing field is definitely not equal, so until a crackdown is just that, the merry go round will continue

Great post James, Wilson is going to kill somebody or put them in a coma. He is by far the dirtiest head hunter in the nhl and needs to be put on a leash so short that he has no choice but to change his game. This guy has a history that is in the Matt Cooke topic, put him away for a long time. Three games is a joke as is their officiating in most games lately, especially Bruins/TB, the Bruins have been robbed imo.

Classic tanner always whining like a little girl in his blogs. The NHL needs more headshots if anything. Hitting is a part of the game and if you have your head down you should get laid out. Go watch women's curling.

Just got home from fishing(4 nice trout)great blog James. I agree that it should have been a longer suspension. Kadri got three games and deserved it, but he didn’t injure the player. Breaking a guy’s jaw and causing a concussion should have been six games.
The penguins should have gotten a five minute power play which probably would have changed the outcome of the game.
- shack67

Because the part you are having trouble comprehending is that the hit was borderline and accidental. Kadri had obvious intent to injure and had the opportunity to pull out of his hit where as Wilson made an aggressive but clean play that resulted in an accidental hit on the chin, had the other guy kept his chin up like you are taught from peewee, this wouldnt even be a conversation.

Considering Kadri got 3 games for something far less Wilson damn well BETTER get something.