(04-15-2012, 02:46 PM)Merovius Wrote: Tortorella is the best coach weve had in a long time. Hes also won a cup, so to suggest he lacks intelligence is quite silly.
I like Alfredsson, hes a great player and Im sorry hes out but you guys had it coming. You put in Konopka and asked for the game to be played that way. Its your own doing. Were not the Red Wings...If you wanna jump Boyle and lay him out with cheap shots that's fine, its part of the game but know whats coming when you do.
When I say Torts is lacking intelligence, I'm saying so only based on his response to the Hagelin penalty. To question the ref, and imply that Alfie "turtled" is ridiculous. If you watch the video, you see Alfie play the puck, and knowing he's about to be hit, turns sideways, rather than facing the boards, to prepare for the hit. What he doesn't prepare for is a kevlar covered elbow to the head...
And yes, back when the Sens played the Ducks, Alfie shot the puck at Neidermeyer. An unfortunate incident that taints Alfie's career and was uncalled for, but again, to suggest "we had it coming" (Sorry, I'm a fan, not an actual team member) by putting certain players on the ice is a bit backwards in thinking, in my opinion. If Torts had put his tough guys on the ice, and a Rangers skill player had been hit like that, would it be any more or less excusable?
I'm not saying this series, or ANY of them for that matter, have been played purely from a skill standpoint, as there have been incidents ranging in severity from somewhat minor to outrageous in every series (Except possibly the Preds/Wings series), it makes you wonder if the "Holy Grail of Hockey" is going to be awarded to the most skilled team, or simply the team whose goons hurt the rest the most. When you add in the fact that skilled players like Crosby, Giroux, Malkin, Sedin, Kesler, Karlsson, etc. have all "mixed it up" so far, it just seems like it's more about surviving over winning...
And for the record, as an Ottawa Senators fan, I was shocked and appalled by Matt Carkner's treatment of Brian Boyle. I'm glad Carkner was coming to the aid of a team mate, but that was way out of line, and his 1 game suspension is a bit lacking, in my opinion. I honestly thought he'd get 4 or 5.
One more thing...in defense of the Red Wings...as someone else put it, they may appear soft, but when you win as often as they do, does it matter? Perhaps someone could ask Shea Weber how "soft" Bertuzzi was the other night!
The bottom line is this....what's done is done, and punishments have been handed down, so, for the sake of the game, could the teams get back to playing hockey, and leave the over acting, cheap shots, and viciousness (implied or real) to the trained professionals at WWE?