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An “Edgy” Game
by Alanah McGinley on 10/23/08 at 05:02 PM ET
Comments (3)
From Mike Ross at NHL Home Ice (XM Radio) blog:
Since we came back from the lockout, I’ve heard complaint after complaint from many hockey fans that the league is looking to soften-up the game. That the NHL is becoming a less edgy game.
But the actions of players like Tom Kostopolous, Rene Bourque and Alexandre Picard have me wondering if some players aren’t making the game a softer game all on their own.
All three of these players jumped an opposing player after a hard, clean and legitimate hit had been levelled against one of their teammates.
We’re told by George Laraque that such acts are justified whether the hit was clean or dirty. As Ken Campbell pointed out in a recent blog on thehockeynews.com, we’re told that opponents can not take liberties and get away with it.
But since when does a hard, clean body check get defined as a “liberty”.
Incidentally, Adam Proteau at The Hockey News wrote on something similar today, reflecting on Bob Clarke’s interview on TSN yesterday.
Filed in: NHL Talk, Cheap Hits | KK Hockey | Permalink
Comments
It’s not always so cut and dry whether a hit is clean or not, especially out on the ice. Not every player is going to be watching the puck carrier, or whoever it is that gets hit. It all happens so fast when one of your guys gets leveled, you have to make a split-second decision whether or not to “answer” the hit. Players don’t have the luxury of watching the replay on the ‘tron 6 or 7 times to assess if the hit was clean or not. Even then, it’s sometimes hard to say one way or the other (Like in Montreal)
So I’m all for it. To me, going after a guy for a clean hit is much less disturbing than not answering to a dirty one.
Posted by JAMESinMI on 10/23/08 at 05:05 PM ET
As much as I hate to admit it, the Sauer hit wasn’t as clean as Mike Ross makes it out to be. Fortunately Kostopolous doesn’t scare anyone.
Laraque, however… 
Posted by Yotesdynasty99 from AZ on 10/24/08 at 04:43 AM ET
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