I suppose at this point that if I were Mario Lemieux, I would do nothing more or less than that which serves the Pittsburgh Penguins franchise the best. This is because it is now clear that anything less than complete self-immolation will be met with howls of hypocrisy from the whiny bitches that make up the NHL world. Say nothing and you are speaking too little. Say something and you are shooting off your loudmouth in a self-serving and hypocritical way. Speak directly, and you’re sticking your nose into the league’s business just because you’re an NHL Not Star. Have your team’s GM make a statement and you’re failing to stand up for your words.
Mario, step back and do what the Pens need done. If the league wants to make changes, wait until they are made before altering what the Pens do and how they do it. There’s no way you can do anything to satisfy anyone outside of Pittsburgh. No unilateral disarmament. Just win the Cup and let the rest play out on its own, because everyone’s going to be crying foul either way.
By the way, did anyone watch the Penguins-Red Wings game last night? Man, there were lots of people dressed up as empty seats at Joe Louis arena. Isn’t that supposed to be Hockey Town? What gives?
One of my favorite Hockey bloggers does his take on the Matt Cooke suspension. He’s hilarious, despite (or maybe because of…?) the fact that he’s a Leafs fan!
Again, time will tell. Mario seems damned if he does, and damned if he doesn’t. Why did he resign Cooke? Because he generally IS a good hockey player, especially on the PK. IF he manages to cut this shit out, we’d be much better off with him. Note though, I said IF. That and this is most likely his last chance.
As for the League, I’m hoping it’s not going to be a case of, “there we punished Cooke, now we did something, are you happy?” and just continued on as before.
I didn’t notice the seats – I was too busy chewing my fingers off in the second half. (Brent Johnson is one BAMF, BTW)
As for giving him the A, yes, it was short-sighted. At the same time, with the exception of Staal, ALL of our other captains are out with injuries. Besides, he wouldn’t be the only goon with the A – or even the C on his shoulder. (Ovechkin?) Now I’m not trying to say, “oh yeah, well THEY did it too!” Just that being assigned such a position should probably have more of a higher standard – not just who’s your biggest star, or whatever. (Fortunately we have Kunitz and Adams, at least. And it looks like Brooks Orpik will be back soon) antonio107 – I love it!
I’m sorry, but this is exactly what Lemieux was doing when he blasted the NHL in the first place. Nobody other than Penguin fans believe that he was speaking out due to a genuine concern about the state of the game, which is why he’s been so roundly criticized.
If you’re going to throw the first stone you’d better damn well make sure you’re without sin yourself.
He brought the attention upon himself with his very public, very strong words, and now Cooke’s actions have put the public spotlight back upon him. It’s an unenviable position, but it’s not exactly unexpected.
The whole “damned if he does, damned if he doesn’t” bit is a false dichotomy. He could ensure Cooke doesn’t play should the Penguins make it to the second round. He could fine him beyond his lost salary and donate it to charity. He could impose a fine upon his own team like he suggested the League do to teams in cases like this. There are lots of things he could do that would show he was serious about what he said and wrote.
He’s only damned by his silence and inaction because he wasn’t so when the shoe was on the other foot.
Forgive my basic cynicism, but an athlete who has screwed up royally wants to change? Alert the media! On the other hand, at least he’s not going to “rehab.” I suppose that counts for something.
Some people say that I’m a bad guy
They may be right, they may be right.
But it’s not as if I don’t try
I just fuck up, try as I might
But I can change, I can change!
I can learn to keep my promises, I swear it!
I’ll open up my heart and I will share it
Any minute now I will be born again!
Yes I can change, I can change!
I know I’ve been a dirty little bastard
I like to kill! I like to maim! Yes, I’m insane!
But it’s okay, 'COS I CAN CHANGE!
Actually, I think it was ridiculous how little effort the Habs put in, and I hope they got bag skated at 3am when they landed back in Montreal. 4 regulars back in the lineup from injuries and they played worse than the AHL team they had before. I actually think it was a terrible idea to reinsert 4 guys who hadn’t practised with the team more than once in weeks; there was no communication, no chemistry and the lines that worked pretty well until then got disrupted. Huge coaching mistake, IMHO.
And the Bruins managed a minimum of gooning, to their credit. I still wish someone - c’mon Mara! - would knock Greg Campbell clear out of his skates, because I loathe the little prick, and after his comments on the radio Recchi deserves to be wedgied into next week.
Still, Habs have won the season series, and the play-offs are a whole new series. One bad game does not a season make.
Would have been nice to keep the Devils from getting a loser point, but by the same token it was nice how well the Penguins took it to them all game long. Both teams just looked really tired in the last half of the third.
The Stars have made me sick the past few days. But, Anaheim is losing 2-0 after the 1st period and the Stars have a must win game in Phoenix tomorrow. Wish it wasn’t busy season at work so I could go.
In the last three games, I have as many goals as the entire Hab team put together, which is probably why they had the bejeezus skated out of them the other day at practice.
Three games coming up that are winnable in theory, but Carolina, Jersey and even Atlanta still have a chance (albeit minuscule) to overtake Buffalo, so it won’t be easy.