The Real Story in Montreal

by Higgs on Mar 14, 2011 1:48 PM EDT

It's time for Montreal Canadiens fans to come clean. Just admit you were ok with questionable hits (Hall Gill on John Simm, Paciorety on Mark Eaton, etc.) until it happened to one of your own. Once you admit that, and state how ridiculous it is that authorities in Quebec want to prosecute Zdeno Chara criminally, then we can all move on and try to fix the problem of head injuries in the game. If you can't do that then all you are is a cheerleader for your team, who doesn't care, even a little bit, about player safety. All you really care about is having opposing players intimidated with the threat of criminal prosecution when they play a game in the Bell Centre. This whole thing is a joke. The Montreal Canadiens and their fans should be ashamed of themselves.

Furthermore, how come all of hockey didn't rail against Matt Hunwick when he smashed Marc Savard's head against the dasher in Colorado, which ended Savard's season, and possibly his career? Because, unlike Canadiens fans in this instance, no one tried to read Hunwick's mind to judge whether he intended to hurt Savard or not. Hey, for all we know, Hunwick and Savard may have hated each other when they were teammates. Maybe Hunwick took the opportunity to crush the little pipsqueak. I have no idea.

In reality, I think Hunwick felt terrible about what he did to Savard. But it was a hockey play. Savard was trying to get around the corner to get to the puck, (sound familiar?) and Hunwick did what he HAD to do. He finished his check and Savvy, being a bit on the short side, hit the dasher with his head. If Hunwick doesn't finish his check he most likely would have been benched and very likely sent to the minors to learn a lesson in toughness. In the aftermath of that play, we heard....not a thing. Not from Bruins fans, not from the NHL and certainly not from Montreal Canadiens fans. Why? Because, in the case of Canadiens fans, it didn't happen to one of their own, and reasonable hockey fans all over North America realized that it was a hockey play and these things happen in a hockey game, and no one tried to read Hunwick's mind and guess that he did it on purpose.

It's sad that this situation has devolved into a chance for MTL fans and sycophants to use this as just another way to express their hatred for the Bruins and their fans. It would have sounded a lot more genuine if they had gotten in front of this thing from the beginning. There have been plenty of opportunities to call out there own players like Hal Gill, and even Max Pacioretty, but they didn't, because as I said before, they are NOT interested in player safety any more than anyone else is. They are interested in gaining an advantage, even if they have to use the threat of legal action to do so.

Shameful.

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Comments

Well said.

The Montreal fans in question (not all of them) are pretty much the hypocrites Ference was talking about.

by phonymahoney on Mar 14, 2011 6:40 PM EDT reply actions

Hear, hear. Basically, I’ll be impressed when an organization disciplines one of their own for an over-the-line play. Til then, shut yer yap homers.

by TomServo42 on Mar 14, 2011 11:29 PM EDT reply actions

It’s too bad Bruins fans can’t help but pretend that all Montreal fans agree with legal action. In actuality it’s probably the dumbest 5% that want Chara charged or kicked out of the game. It’s also very sad that Bruins fans continue to pretend that everyone in Montreal was silent when other players got injured. It’s not actually the case, but this is bigger because of a combination of 3 factors:

1) the hit happened to a Montreal player so obviously that effects the response. It also ensures Habs fans saw it live, so there were several minutes of doubt about the life of Max Pacioretty. I was extremely outraged about the Cooke on Savard hit, but I didn’t see it live so when I did see it, I knew he was alive and (relatively) ok, without that knowledge beforehand the hit becomes much, much worse.

2) The injuries were extremely severe. Basically the same situation as Savard concussion wise, but add in a broken neck.

3) It’s the latest in a dangerous pattern. As this kind of injury continues to happen on borderline or illegal plays, the reaction continues to get stronger. This may have been the straw that broke the camel’s back. Personally I found the Umberger hit on Doughty to be equally bad because it looked to me like Umberger was looking at the stanchion and tried to shove Doughty into it. I think it was much more clear than the Chara hit. Fortunately Doughty came back to play and wasn’t hurt, but unfortunately that result has allowed people to ignore that hit for some stupid reason.

http://twitter.com/andrewberkshire

by Andrew Berkshire on Mar 15, 2011 12:59 PM EDT reply actions

Did the protest at Bell Center come to anything?

by 13_Legion on Mar 15, 2011 3:58 PM EDT up reply actions

Nope, walked by and it was pretty tame and lame.

http://twitter.com/andrewberkshire

by Andrew Berkshire on Mar 15, 2011 10:09 PM EDT up reply actions

No Justice, No Peace!!

Nothing like that, eh?

by 13_Legion on Mar 16, 2011 12:23 PM EDT up reply actions

Nope, just some ‘Bettman sucks’ signs.

http://twitter.com/andrewberkshire

by Andrew Berkshire on Mar 16, 2011 3:46 PM EDT up reply actions

No comment about Pacioretty's hit on Eaton?

That was a filthy play… but of course, that was perfectly acceptable to the Habtards, no?

by phonymahoney on Mar 15, 2011 6:45 PM EDT up reply actions

No, he should have been suspended. I didn’t comment on it because I’d already commented on it on this blog in the last couple of days.

http://twitter.com/andrewberkshire

by Andrew Berkshire on Mar 15, 2011 10:09 PM EDT up reply actions

So why no protest then?

Oh, it wouldn’t benefit the Habs. Right.

by phonymahoney on Mar 16, 2011 1:10 PM EDT up reply actions

Please name one time in the history of sports where the fans of a team protested to get their own player suspended.

http://twitter.com/andrewberkshire

by Andrew Berkshire on Mar 16, 2011 3:26 PM EDT up reply actions

Not to mention the protest was about league officials, not Chara. At least from what I saw.

http://twitter.com/andrewberkshire

by Andrew Berkshire on Mar 16, 2011 3:34 PM EDT up reply actions

Also the Hal Gill hit is a completely different situation, Sim has the puck, Gill’s back is to the stanchion. Not comparable to Chara’s hit.

http://twitter.com/andrewberkshire

by Andrew Berkshire on Mar 15, 2011 1:00 PM EDT reply actions

Just to play devils advocate and as its said by numerous players, coaches and media personnel is that players know where they are on the ice at all times so if that was part of the argument for Chara being suspended then it holds no water because Gill plays at the Bell Centre all the time and therefore his hit was along the same lines (thank god no injury). I have no problem with the Habs fans being upset for no suspension as Chara should have sat for 2 games or so. However, dont say that because Gill’s back was to the stanchion that his hit was fine because as some fans eluded to as part of the argument against Chara was that he plays there enough so he should know the arena well enough. My question is then should Gill not even be held to a higher standard seeing as he plays there 41 home games plus pre-season and playoff games as well as some practices??

by beachguy113 on Mar 16, 2011 1:53 PM EDT up reply actions

Certainly in most situations I would agree that Gill would be held to a higher standard in his own arena, however you’re glossing over several important factors that differentiate the hits:

1) Chara is looking directly at the stanchion the whole time he’s interfering with Pacioretty. For anyone to claim he doesn’t know where he is, is ridiculous beyond words. Gill’s back is to the stanchion, so if he were to claim he lost track of where he was (I have no idea if he was even questioned about the hit), it would be within the realm of believability that he lost track. Chara does not have the same plausible excuse.

2) Chara and Pacioretty are both going towards the stanchion, Chara pushes Pacioretty towards the bench and towards the stanchion increasing momentum. Gill however is obstructing Sim and slowing him down, so the hit is inherently less dangerous. Of course this difference has everything to do with positioning, but so does every hit.

3) There is no past history between Sim and Gill to warrant speculation that Gill was trying to hurt him. In the case of Chara and Pacioretty, the evidence in this case is fairly obvious to anyone who watches the games.

http://twitter.com/andrewberkshire

by Andrew Berkshire on Mar 16, 2011 3:46 PM EDT up reply actions

I will take the time to respond to you but I have a feeling that your bleu blanc et rouge glasses might have you take this situation as a pure Habs fan and obviously I am in the same boat being a Bruins fan so we will probably never come to a full agreement but I am a little tired of the purely Canadiens bias.

1) So if he was looking at the stanchion the entire time how would he have made a play on the puck before making contact with Max? Their first contact is just on the neutal zone side of the blue line and both players make a reach for the puck and continue their battle down the boards. So its just as easy to say he was entagled in a hockey play battling for position and both players met at their apex of their speed causing a severe collision at the highest risk point on the ice. Do I belive this…not a chance but if you are going to say that Gill had no idea where he was then you need to start being a more impartial observer even when it comes to your beloved team. In actuality if you look at the play in slow motion then you would actually see that Chara never even looks at the boards or the stanchion he just finishes his check and to argue its a late hit is beyond rediculous as the puck did not leave the two players until just before the last contact between the them which resulted in the injury.

2) Yes Chara did push Max into the boards, how else do you finish your check? Dont kid yourself for one second thinking that Gil didnt push him into the turnbuckle at the last second as it is quite obvious from the replays. At the last moment of their collision Gill definately pushes Sim into the turnbuckle as you can see his arm extend just as Chara did with Max.

3) Its obvious that Chara is trying to hurt him? I wasnt aware that you could read minds. Just because there is a past between two players doesnt mean that they are intentionally trying to hurt someone. Thinking that is purely speculation as you have no facts to back up that statement so I will leave it at that.

I can understand the frustration but by making excuses for your team it comes across as you can do no wrong and everyone does everything wrong. Just my two cents

by beachguy113 on Mar 16, 2011 6:18 PM EDT up reply actions

I think we’re having a couple of misunderstandings here.

1) The point of whacking at the puck is not when Chara is interfering, he’s interfering when he’s pushing Max against the boards after the puck is long gone. You’re misinterpreting the start of the puck battle with the start of the contact. They are not the same. Chara’s actual check takes place nearly 2 full seconds after the puck is gone. I’m not sure if you’re actually trying to say it wasn’t a late hit, but if you are… I’m not sure what to say because it undeniably is. The puck is already being picked up by Chara’s defense partner in the Bruins zone when Chara begins to apply the check. As for looking at the stanchion, you can see in the second replay in this clip that he’s looking at the stanchion as he’s checking Pacioretty. It’s pretty clear. I also did not mean to imply that I don’t think Gill knew where he was, I was saying that if Gill said that, it would be a lot more plausible than Chara making the same claim, because he was skating backwards and not looking at the point of contact. It was a hypothetical point, I should have clarified.

2) I wasn’t trying to say Chara pushing Max into the boards was a bad thing, I was putting the emphasis on momentum and how that effected both plays. Gill couldn’t possibly push Sim towards the turnbuckle, he was skating backwards. He pushed him into the WAY of the turnbuckle, but he didn’t increase Sim’s momentum in doing so, he actually decreased it. Was it still a dangerous play? Yes. But it wasn’t in the same realm of danger simply because of the situation it was in.

3) I didn’t say it was obvious that Chara was trying to hurt him, although I personally believe this to be true and evident from the situation. What I was saying was that there is evidence that indicates Chara had motive to hurt Pacioretty, and that adds to why the hit looks especially bad. There is no such motive aside from playing hockey between Gill and Sim.

Do we understand each other better?

http://twitter.com/andrewberkshire

by Andrew Berkshire on Mar 16, 2011 6:50 PM EDT up reply actions

Mostly. I’ve got a couple nits to pick:

The puck is already being picked up by Chara’s defense partner in the Bruins zone when Chara begins to apply the check.

This part I disagree with but we probably think the hit starts at different times, and it’s been a week so whatever.

2. Yes, Max hit the boards funny. Mostly with the side of his head.

3. Yes there’s history, but you can’t really think Chara wanted to break his neck.

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by Cornelius Hardenbergh on Mar 16, 2011 7:33 PM EDT up reply actions

No, I don’t believe Chara wanted to break his neck. But I do think it’s pretty obvious he wanted to put him into the stanchion.

http://twitter.com/andrewberkshire

by Andrew Berkshire on Mar 18, 2011 12:21 PM EDT up reply actions

Are we really still talking about this? Move on.

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by Stanley Cup of Chowder on Mar 18, 2011 6:56 PM EDT up reply actions

I am sure we will have to hear about it for another week unfortunately or at least until we play them next Thursday and then we dont have to mention anything about this unsaid team again until playoff time.

by beachguy113 on Mar 18, 2011 8:19 PM EDT up reply actions

Which at that point is 3 weeks down the road.

by 13_Legion on Mar 19, 2011 10:35 AM EDT up reply actions

Felger was going off on this yesterday.

by 13_Legion on Mar 19, 2011 10:36 AM EDT up reply actions

Savard

And anyone remember that after Hunwick hit Savard, Savard even said it was a hockey play gone wrong. Essentially if little things had been slightly different he probably wouldn’t have been injured.

by bruinlorr on Mar 15, 2011 1:36 PM EDT reply actions

Berkshire!!!

What happened Berkshire, Did you get kicked out of your own site? Bunch of hypocrites!!
I hope you loser fans burn some cop cars during your protest tonight!

The league owes Chara an apology for giving hom a 5 minute major! It was 2 minute interference call and that’s it….

As for dirty Pacioretty, PAYBACK’S A B