EHM The Blue Line

Very interesting...

http://www.sabres.com/newsarchive.cfm

There's a link to the .pdf of the letter he sent out about the Drury hit and the league's response.

I completely agree. Theres no need to go around hitting people like that. Its nothing but a lack of respect for another player. Isn't the league trying to crack down on things like line brawls, pretty much what happened as a result of that hit?

Maybe first they should crack down on these unnecessary hits, and then I bet these big brawls will stop as well. I was glad to see Ruff sending out his tough guys to go and send a message that that kind of stuff won't be tolerated.

I personally think it was BS of the league to fine Ruff. Their reasoning is the fact that he sent out his tough guys after they hit Drury, which to me is the league sticking their nose into how a player coaches his team. That shouldn't be anybody's business but those who are affiliated with the team itself. There is no rule that states what a coach can or can't do with his lines in the game.

BTW there is an article with some details up at TSN:

http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/news_story.asp?ID ... ubName=nhl

The letter in whole (not just via some quotes via the article) I think is worth reading though

I didn't found the answer of the league Only a quick mention in the article saying that Buttman hadn't receive the letter (which i absolutely don't believe... )

Hopefully the letter was left on a chair, as Bettman can't see eye level with any traditionally sized table. Seriously, he's shorter than Kramer's midget friend on Seinfeld!

This morning the Cincinnati Enquirer slammed the NHL over the recent Sabres-Sens brawlfest in their weekly "Thumbs-up/Thumbs-down" feature. People in the US media will take any chance they can to put down hockey and/or soccer as "foreign sports" that bore red-blooded Americans.

CHF wrote:This morning the Cincinnati Enquirer slammed the NHL over the recent Sabres-Sens brawlfest in their weekly "Thumbs-up/Thumbs-down" feature. People in the US media will take any chance they can to put down hockey and/or soccer as "foreign sports" that bore red-blooded Americans.

I don't get why the media made such a big deal about it. People that don't follow hockey kept asking me if I had seen it and stuff, because they saw it on the news. It wasn't really that big of a brawl I don't think. If you ask me, the fights were blown out of proportion, and I think the focus should be on the hit.

And when did Bettman learn how to read anyway? This letter will fall on deaf ears. Unfortunately. Hits to the head must be stopped, elbow or no elbow.

At least NHL fights don't involve the crowd like in the NBA

Tell that to Terry O'Reilly or Tie Domi

This letter just continues to prove to me that the Sabres are the laughing stock of the league.

Why didn't he write this letter when any of the other perfectly legal "questionable" hits happened this year?

No, he had to wait until it was his problem.

The hit to head penalty was voted no by 30 of the owners this year so he shouldn't have a problem with it.

The hit on Drury was perfectly clean anyway. No elbow, both feet on the ground, not late...

Don't even try the late argument, 0.3-0.4 seconds isn't late (as proven by TSN)

I could continue my rant but I'm tired... maybe some other time...

If you can't tell I don't really like the Sabres... or most of their fans for that matter...

No I think the letter shows that he has a very good grasp of the situation and why this case was different. He clearly laid out his arguments, if you'd read it in full instead of seeing a few quotes from it and then allowing your personal hate of the Sabres cloud your opinions you might have seen it too.

You are officially the first person I've heard refer to Buffalo as a "laughing stock" so I think you're 100% off base on that contention as well.

inSTAALed wrote: bla bla bla

If you can't tell I don't really like the Sabres... or most of their fans for that matter...

For anyone who missed it, I highlighted the key words. Also, the only laughing stock of the league is the piddle poor southeast division, whos only years of borrowed glory came by useing Canadian players.

Doug Weight's American though?

Oh right. One player. my mistake.

I'm probably mistaken, by borrowed I thought you meant deadline rental players.

inSTAALed,

The Sabres are a laughing stock???

That laughing stock has 16 points on your Hurricanes and 15 on my Habs.

Now, they're not high on my list of favourite teams - but to say they're not a good team because you don't like the ownership/management is, well....

CatchUp wrote:inSTAALed,

The Sabres are a laughing stock???

That laughing stock has 16 points on your Hurricanes and 15 on my Habs.

Now, they're not high on my list of favourite teams - but to say they're not a good team because you don't like the ownership/management is, well....

I didn't say they weren't good, I just said they were the laughing stock.

I've had a personal hatred for them ever since the ECF last year when their fans came down and vandalized darn near everything at the arena including my car.

Saw them do it too.

So what will the Leafs send to Bettman after Jansen's dirty hit on Kaberle???

Think it was much dirtier than Neil's....real, real dirty!!!

It may have been dirty, but it was technically legal.

It was only 1.5 seconds after he released the puck (TSN) which is under the 3 second rule (which should be lower).

No elbow (arguable)... didn't leave his feet (well... both of them at least)

Neil's hit is nothing compared to this. His was 100% clean.

Maybe the Leafs should send Bettman some golf tickets.

I'm sick of all this "bla bla it was only 2 seconds after he shot the puck" or "it was only 1.323 seconds after he passed it". Thats completely besides the point. You shouldn't be trying to take someones head off if they aren't ready for the hit. What ever happened to respect. If someone isn't expecting a hit, let off and just bump them. Does taking someones head off really effect the game any different than if you just bump into them?

Joe wrote:I'm sick of all this "bla bla it was only 2 seconds after he shot the puck" or "it was only 1.323 seconds after he passed it". Thats completely besides the point. You shouldn't be trying to take someones head off if they aren't ready for the hit. What ever happened to respect. If someone isn't expecting a hit, let off and just bump them. Does taking someones head off really effect the game any different than if you just bump into them?

Well that's just the thing, Joe.

It really isn't besides the point.

Technically he did nothing wrong.... Morally maybe... but technically it was clean as a bell.

Most likely something that should be looked at over the offseason.

Well this just goes to show, again, that you didn't actually read the actual letter just because you hate Buffalo because the point you're arguing is exactly what Galisano was addressing in his letter, it's not about a need for using a stopwatch to judge hits... it's about RESPECT and the fact that players have none for each other anymore and THAT is the difference between these hits and the one that knocked out another Sabre, Connolly in the playoffs.

"Hitting is a very important part of our game. You hit to break up a shot, you hit to disprupt a pass, you hit to battle for the puck and you hit to gain position for a defensive or offensive play. There are many times a player is vulnerable. And there are many times when a player can make a hit on a vulnerable player but chooses not to for fear of injuring an apponent for no no practical advantage. It's called respect."

Plus the 3 second rule...NOT WRITTEN anywhere to my knowledge. It is an arbitrary number assigned to the hit that is timed and comes just after a player releases the puck. Since refs have been told to be tight on the rule book with their calls ... why not this one?

Aretha Franklin says it best.

In the way the game has been callled/played over the last 20 years it was a clean hit. In the way the game should be called...it was at best borderline. Headshots need to have somethng done about them no matter when the head shot comes.