Just in case you haven't heard, the Islanders are sponsoring a meetup for the airing of the February 11th game against the Penguins. So, to get you up to speed, there is outrage and mock outrage, and some level of support for the idea from Puck Daddy and um, mostly outrage.
What I guess many are missing is that;
- The airing of the season's greatest wins has been going on all summer.
- There was a meetup on Aug. 3 to watch an (all time greatest) game which was fan voted.
But some of the fan outrage is an argument I expect from a 5-year-old. ("I know I started it, but I didn't hit you that hard.") Please. "I kept poking the bear and then it bit me."
Stop telling us what hockey is and how this "has no place in it" and it disgraces the sport. It is disgraced annually by one team or another or one guy or another and lives to tell the tale. I'm pretty sure the Red Wings vs Avalanche Kris Draper retribution game has been on a few times since its original airing right...that's a classic why exactly? Because they were both good payoff teams at the time? I'm pretty sure Darren McCarty had "intent to injure"...whatever unquantifiable batch of confirmation bias-laden crap that is.
And I'll guarantee this, if someone accidentally got a concussion from one of Milan Lucic's cross checks to the head, then it would've have been a problem, but because no one did, he is free to continue to do it UNTIL someone gets one. If you keep punishing to the injury, you will have to keep seeing injuries....Probably the same if someone got hurt in the Habs/Bruins fight night...just like Chara/Pacioretty, injury in, outrage out...pure, hot, garbage. Imagine a world where attempted crimes weren't punished? People would be trying crap all the time.
Hey quick quiz, what's worse, a Gillies or Cooke elbow or a Khabibulin DWI? A 10 game suspension, or 15 days in tent city?
So go watch the game, enjoy the meetup, revel in the fact that the score was 9-3. Take solace in the fact that Pittsburgh initiated half of those fights...including the one with under three minutes remaining with Amac and Joe Vitale (of one game of NHL experience prior to that night) who cross-checked MacDonald all over the place. Remember, that is the type of stuff that was going on throughout the season; some of which is chronicled in Webbard's "Grievance Primer".Don't feel bad or guilty about it for a second...it was a great game all around and if the shoe was on another foot, or another team, you can bet your ass that their fans would be there chanting up a storm, having a great time and bonding. Hard to imagine Penguins fans standing around in their "classy" outfits saying "Indeed this is clearly a viewing of a 60 minute spectacle of barbarism and repugnant violence...In protest, shall we buy tickets to the theater instead?"
And remember that until this notion of "the code" where guys shouldn't "call out teammates" or should just "play tougher", is gone, none of this type of stuff will change. This isn't an Islander specific issue. Look at what the Oilers and Senators have done this off-season to "protect their kids", or "add some toughness to the lineup". Young teams get smacked around and then eventually answer back by hitting the bully in the mouth.
Via Puck Daddy:
Sure, you can call the organization classless or "1,000 different kinds of awkward" for identifying both what this meant to some fans and the car-crash appeal of revisiting the night the Nassau Coliseum became the Roman Coliseum. But it's not your party. It's theirs, and they can cheer the lions against the gladiators if they want to.
Especially if the neither the gladiators or lions are willing to challenge the system and say enough is enough.
Make no mistake, nobody wanted to see Eric Tangradi get hurt, but my god, I wish Gillies hit him just as hard but kept the hands down and politely left the ice. And also, I wish Talbot didn't go down like a soccer player on a banana peel.
And remember August is slow...this probably gets about zero play if it's mid season...but hey, if it's mid season, we'd have regular new hockey to watch! Hurry up!
Some Links:
Hockey This Week " Magazine " Islanders Top 20 Prospects – by Tony Stabile
Why ‘Captain Kovalchuk’ would be a Devils indignity - Puck Daddy - NHL Blog - Yahoo! Sports
League-Wide Free Agency Roundup - Litter Box Cats
A recap of the free agency moves by all 30 teams and a goals-for prediction for next season.
New York Islanders - Hockey This Week: Islanders Top 20 Prospects - New York Islanders - News
Islanders Blog Box member Tony Stabile of Hockey This Week brings you his list of top 20 prospects and their potential
According to ESPN, the NHL franchises with dimmest futures - Puck Daddy - NHL Blog - Yahoo! Sports
Comprehensive National Hockey League news, scores, standings, fantasy games, rumors, and more
Not exactly a seller’s market for NHL franchises - The Globe and Mail
Economic turmoil takes its toll on NHL owners looking to offload
Vulgar Statistics: Home Field Advantage I: Winning " Black & Blue & Gold
Nik Kulemin and the 30 goal plateau - Pension Plan Puppets
Nik Kulemin and the 30 goal plateau: A look at shooting percentage in the NHL
Elite Prospects - Where are they now?
Where are the former Isles with h/t to @swedishislander
and ICE GIRLS!
New York Islanders - PATCH VIDEO: The Making of an Islanders Ice Girl - New York Islanders - News
Stacey Sweet, from Patch, takes you inside the locker room and on the ice for a behind the scenes look at the Islanders Ice Girls auditions.
WI Resident Skates Her Way onto Ice Girls, Again [Video] - West Islip, NY Patch
Victoria, 21, made the cut for the second consecutive year.