(bolding mine)
This is the part that makes it deliberate attempt to injure. If you want to brace yourself for a collision, you lower your centre of gravity. The only reason for Ference to raise his shoulder there was to try and concuss Halpern.
The antithesis of a dirty hit would have been to take the half-step to get out of the way and not make the unnecessary hit at all. At the very least the hit was textbook interference, but that he chose to put his shoulder pad into the face of a player who wasn’t looking crosses from incidental to dirty.
**2nd Round Starts tonight!
Eastern Conference Semifinals
(1) Washington Capitals vs. (5) Tampa Bay Lightning**
I pick the Caps in 6
(2) Philadelphia Flyers vs. (3) Boston Bruins
Bruins in 7
**Western Conference Semifinals(
- Vancouver Canucks vs. (5) Nashville Predators**
Canucks take it in 5
(2) San Jose Sharks vs. (3) Detroit Red Wings
Destiny awaits Canucks but the road winds through Detroit. Detroit in 6
Have any of you guys seen Jack Edward’s (Boston TV Hockey announcer) bizarre post game commentary. It is kind of hard to explain but he is trying to make some point about the Canadiens and Royalty and the Boton tea Party and it is just plain bizarre.
Oh, please…
That was the weakest “dirty” hit I’ve ever seen.
Jack’s a moron, but he’s our moron. 
Actually, he’s just a moron. :smack:
I actually agree. It was a good game overall and it could have gone either way. I’m disappointed in the result, but I didn’t say the Habs lost because of the refs or dirty players - I quite distinctly made it clear that the refereeing was atrocious on both sides of the ice, and it has been all playoffs, in other series as well. The Habs lost because they couldn’t score 5 on 5, because they had a depleted line-up, particularly on D (No Pacioretty, no Markov, no Gorges, no Picard, losing Wisniewski for a game, Halpern’s had a ton of bad luck in that last game, the injury to Desharnais, the idiocy of Kostitsyn and Pouliot… this was an AHL and 3rd/4th line lineup; they did ok, in light of that!)
As for “dirty players”- they piss me off. You can read that as me blaming them, or me just ranting about it. Your choice; I feel I’m generally just doing the latter. I like hockey; I hate the cowards that turn it into MMA. I have no respect for these players. I also think Boston has a few of those players, and when Montreal plays Boston, I will bitch about it.
Right. Because the Boston home-feed says something, it must be true! NESN spend all their time attacking Subban and in their eyes, no Bruin has ever done anything wrong, ever in the history of time. I’ve seen as bad or worse when it’s the other way around; when a Hab corners a Bruin, they tend to fall over too.
I’m not claiming the Habs never dive. I’m claiming they don’t dive nearly as much as people say they do, and no more than other teams. It’s a strategy everyone uses.
First: this is a stupid line of reasoning. Why does a player have to get injured before a hit is considered to be dirty? By that logic, the hits on Crosby are among the worst, most filthiest hits to have ever happened in the NHL. It’s ridiculous to even suggest that because the player wasn’t seriously hurt the act wasn’t dangerous. It just means the player being hit was lucky. Try that argument after shooting a gun in public - it isn’t dangerous if you don’t hit anyone, right? It’s just as absurd.
I’m glad Halpern wasn’t seriously hurt (though the way he was blinking and shaking his head when he came back made me think if this wasn’t a game 7 and without the injuries on the team, I don’t think he would have been back. I think he shouldn’t have been, but I don’t know him and obviously didn’t examine him!). I’m glad Spacek wasn’t more hurt after the Lucic hit too… it was “only” a cut, but what’s the margin of error before he (or Halpern) is sitting on the sidelines like Crosby? And more importantly, why do we accept that?
It literally sickens me to see hits like that. Blame it on weakness on my part - I nearly puked watching Pacioretty on the ice after Chara hit him. It’s part of the game that I hate. Some can’t be avoided, some are going to be part of the game, but some are avoidable, and some - like Ference’s - are filthy and have, IMHO, no place in hockey. But the league does nothing about it. The players don’t do anything about it, and talented players are being injured and their careers shortened because of the cowards who think the only way to win is to hurt somebody. I find it nauseating, and that’s where the sentiment behind my hypocritical comment came from - if nothing ever gets done to prevent the filth, then sadly, I found myself thinking that the filth should take care of itself. I’m not proud of having thought it or posted it, but there it is.
And I realize I seem to be focusing on the MTL-BOS series, but I feel the same way about other hits, in other games, regular and playoffs. These examples are just freshest in my mind.
Yes? No? Maybe? 15 of those minutes that favoured Montreal were due to Lucic. Another 2 were a delay-of-game (puck over the glass), another 2 were a stick-breaking-slashing and another 2 were too-many-men. So, we are down to 4 minutes in favour of the Habs, 12 in favour of Boston. I don’t recall any of those being a diving call. The Habs tend to get called for interference and hooking mostly, and yeah, they do it. So whatever “diving” the Habs do, clearly doesn’t affect the penalty balance, now does it?
Besides, your question took this to an extreme which I never alleged. I never said “Boston are such spineless, shameless divers” - I said the Habs don’t dive nearly as often as alleged (usually by NESN), and that Boston does it too because it’s a tactic that works. It rarely gets called, and can lead to a PP.
I’ll grant that my posts were rather blunt last night. I was disappointed (who wouldn’t be?) and I was additionally stressed due to school (exam time!) and an anniversary of a death… a lot more than just my emotions about hockey was driving me! The good news is, my exams are over (and I might not have failed!)
Now I need a bandwagon to hop onto. I’m thinking Tampa, because it’s Montreal Sud. I’ll consider the Canucks only if Luongo stops using a bucket of hair grease every day. I’ll cheer for the Flyers to beat Boston, but then the Flyers must lose the next round. Maybe Nashville? I can cheer for Sergei! Frankly, I dislike the remaining teams!
Dirty is dirty. Once you start arguing degrees, you’re already sliding down the slope.
Notice I put “dirty” in quotes. 
Alex Burrows, my favorite player - who had the stellar game against the Blackhawks scoring both Canucks goals including the OT winner - had a baby girl born the very next day.
An amazing 24 hours for him no doubt. I wish him and his family all the best.
Burrows, by the way, is a stand up character who is often overshadowed by the Sedins and Kesler but is really close to being as good as them. The kicker is he works for only 2 million/year. I doubt there are many players that represent his kind of value for the dollar.
Burrows is well liked in Montreal, but that’s because he’s from Pincourt! And Corey Crawford is from Châteauguay, and Luongo from St. Laurent, and Brodeur from St. Léonard and Fleury from Sorel and… let’s just say we hear a lot about the Québec-born players around here. The play-by-play guy who does the non-Habs games on RDS has a habit of saying things like “the player from [Quebec Town]” rather than the player’s name!
Congrats to Burrows for becoming a dad! Bet he’s torn… keep playing in the playoffs, or spend time with his daughter 
I had a classmate today tell me to cheer for the Nucks…and admitted that Luongo’s hair is revolting. As a non-hockey reason to cheer for them, he pointed out that identical twins are cool, because you can’t tell them apart. I don’t think I could reliably do so, but I totally see a difference between Henrik and Daniel. I think with a bit of familiarity, it wouldn’t be that hard to distinguish them. I’m friends with other identical twins and from day 1, I knew how to tell them apart, though some people still struggle after many years. He didn’t believe me, so I just told him that meant he wasn’t a die-hard Nucks fan. He seems a little angry at the insinuation.
And unrelated to anything here: it just went from bright and sunny to dark and stormy in the time it took to write this post. Weird weather.
Did you even watch that video? It’s from a good angle to see Subban holding on to Campbell’s arm and falls over.
Friend at racketball had tickets to game 5. Since there was no 5, what happens to his ticket? Do the prices increase every series?
Ain’t happenin’, is it? What happened to the rule Montreal wanted where a guy with a head hit has to sit in a dark room for 15 minutes? Halpern was out on his next shift.
Even Spacek, who was doing his best “give me the last rites” act that drew Lucic a major, was back out the very next period.
I doubt you saw, or wanted to see, Subban grabbing Campbell’s stick on the way to dropping. And you didn’t see Hamrlik at all.
But it all fits with the Montreal crowd singing Ole like soccer fans. That’s what their team is.
I think he gets them refunded. IIRC, you get priority on buying tickets for the next round, but I may have just dreamed that.
Washington vs. Tampa Bay: I like the Caps in five. The coin (Lincoln this time) has the Lightning winning in six.
Boston vs. Philadelphia: Going with Boston in five. Lincoln has Boston in six.
Vancouver vs. Nashville: This one could be an upset as Vancouver just came from a heck of a series, but I think they’ll edge by again. Canucks in seven. Honest Abe has the Preds in six.
San Jose vs. Detroit: I’m still not sure on Detroit’s defense, but San Jose had problems with the Kings. Can Pavs carry the Wings through another round? Why not? I’ll say Detroit in six. Lincoln sees this one going all the way and opts for San Jose in seven.
TB vs. WAS – Caps in 6.
BOS v. PHI – PHI in 7.
NAS vs. VAN – Canucks in 5.
DET vs. SJ – I don’t want to, but I’d have to say DET in 5.
I’ve been very sick most of this week, so I wasn’t even able to stay conscious to watch most of the first round. But I think I’m getting better, so I might be able to finish a game tonight. At least the early one. (NBA has DAL vs. POR starting as the late game.)
Caps in 4
Philly in 6
Canucks in 6
Detroit in 7
The Preds really look like crap tonight, Rinne is the only guy who bothered to show up, for the first half of the game.
These jackasses make me ashamed to be a Bruins fan.