by Hockey GuruTwo nights of hockey.
8 Series have begun.
Hockey Guru feels let down so far.
Maybe the anticipation of these matchups was too high. Maybe trying to catch every minute of every game was an impossible task.
There were some great games and great moments - but if felt like something was missing in the opening games this year.
The Hockey Guru (I'm kind of liking this third person thing) - thinks part of the problem is that the NHL has taken on too much of a role in the games.
The NHL being Commissioner Bettman and the league office.
For years, the NHL has pursued a major US network television deal. They haven't landed one. The relentless pursuit has seen the NHL consistently tinkering with the game - not so much to make the game better - but to make it more appealing to the US television market.
Imagine dating a beautiful girl for years - but on every date - she keeps eyeing the guy across the room who has the biggest wallet.
That guy has no interest in her. Yet, she keeps buying
new clothes, trying
new makeup,
hairstyles,
etc. - all fruitless - as he's just not interested in her; in the essence of her.
Network US television isn't interested in hockey. It never will be. No matter what changes the game makes - it is not going to be accepted (except, of course, if the Commish looked like
this).
If you're reading this - you love the game. WE love the game. We wish the game could realize that it's lucky to have us and to be satisfied with us - to stop looking for something better.
Over the years, the NHL has adopted the belief that fighting is the #1 reason the networks won't touch it. So, rules have been implemented to curb fighting.
Now in the playoffs - those rules are curbed further.
These rules - and the subsequent teams adaption to meeting the rules are some of the reason that the Hockey Guru feels unsatisfied with the first tastes of the 2009 playoffs.
While the bench brawls of the past long gone (and sorely missed like a beloved lost relative) - there is developing such a fear of the extra penalties and league suspensions - that the passion and emotion is being replaced with frustration.
Two nights ago, at the end of the Flyers-Penguins game – Daniel Carcillo gave a jab to Maxime Talbot, who dropped like he was shot. No penalty called on the ice – apparently the officials standing 5 feet away felt it wasn’t that big of a deal.
Au contraire mon frère – the league suspended Carcillo for 1 game.
In the same game, 10 seconds earlier, Bill Guerin and Braydon Coburn had one of the lamest fights in playoff history. Guerin challenged Coburn and dropped the gloves, Coburn didn’t fully commit to fighting and merely tied Guerin up and both fell to the ground.
The fight never got going because the NHL has passed down EDICTS that fighting won’t be tolerated in the lasts 5 minutes of a game. Messages can’t be sent! So, Coburn, fearing a suspension, never committed to the fight.
Well, now the off-ice ruling is Carcillo is out, Guerin and Coburn are fine.
It’s ridiculous. The players and teams need to police themselves.
Carcillo gave the jab to Talbot because, ironically, he was afraid that if he merely fought – then he’d get suspended.
The NHL has lost that the playoffs are about passion and emotion. Fans want to see their teams (and teams need to) stand up and send the message “We’re here – we’re going to fight you for every inch of space on this ice and we won’t back down.”
The last 5 minutes of a game don’t matter – it’s 1 game. These are series. The series builds throughout as if it were merely 1 long game. So at the end of the first game – it may be important to the series to have that passion and the message sent. The playoffs series are not about 7 individual games – it’s about 1 series.
Let the passion build, let bad blood and subplots develop.
It only raises the intensity for the entire series – which is a good thing for hockey.
Instead, because of the “crackdown” on fighting – there are more cheapshots, more stickwork and more reasons for fans to be embarrassed.
The Bruins and Canadiens wanted last night to kick the tar out of each other – but settled for lackluster dances.
The crack research department of the Ottawa Hockey League (aka Will) may be able to provide more facts on this – but almost all bench brawls in the past occurred early in a series – when the series hadn’t been decided. There may not be one bench brawl after a series was decided (for example with a team down 3-0 and trailing in the 4th game).
Hockey has honour, the proverbial code – as evidenced by the handshakes at the end of each series.
