Article:Acceptable Behaviour - In the NHL...

=== ''I couldn't believe my ears, the other day, when a panel of so-called "experts" (guess who they are: an illiterate former NHL coach, a former player from the same franchise and some other guy...!) chose to blast Toronto forward Jason Blake for running his mouth at Philadelphia goon Steve Downie during an NHL contest recently (it is the only chance NHLers get to exchange pleasanteries, right? Along the boards and crashing into the net!)

And so, the three stooges were WITH STEVIE DOWNIE, imagine that, approving of the insidious punch (a love tap, really) he delivered to Blake while the two were all wrapped up (not nearly well enough enough though) by two referees ATTEMPTING to break up the melee. And the REASONS why the three stooges were siding with rough guy Downie were utterly ridiculous as probably repulsive too: it appears that Jason Blake has a rep for being a player who likes to "run his mouth". Yeah - so? Léo Labine and Ken Linseman did this WONDERFULLY well for the Boston Bruins in two different eras - it is an ungrateful job, but somebody's got to do it! IT IS PART OF THE GAME! And preferable, to me, than endless fist fights or, especially, cowardly hits from behind that injure players unnecessarily... So, Jason Blake says things that make blood boils and temperaments lose their focus. GOOD. But that is not the story here, really - EVERYBODY has a RIGHT to express his opinion in the Western world (or so they say!) and all Blake was doing was displaying GUTS by expressing it IN THE GUY'S FACE! And his opinion was that Downie should have been suspended FOR THE ENTIRE YEAR and not merely 20 games as he was, for his disgusting hit from behind on Senators player Dean McAmmond. A hit that was deemed as "deliberate and dangerous" and was aimed at the head, on top of that. Truly a disgracious gesture that wound up only costing Downie $63,101 during his suspension, money that goes to the Players' Emergency Assistance Fund... Hmm, an emergency such as when a player becomes handicapped, overnight, after a vicious hit like that? Should be, eh?

Thus, Jason Blake has an opinion and is not afraid to share it. Jason Blake, the one who also has chronic myelogenous leukaemia, a treatable and rare form of the disease, and undergoes treatment while he continues playing... And THOSE THREE STOOGES ARE OKAY WITH A GOON HITTING HIM ON THE MOUTH SO AS TO TELL HIM TO SHUT UP? Maybe they'd like to get some of that treatment, as well? Maybe, by the same logic, Roger Clemens should add insult to injury and try and apply the ol' baseball bat to the skulls of everyone in baseball who's criticized him since revelations were made about him that explain his longevity... (I'd like to see him try that on Curt Schilling - just because I'm confident Schill is the one who'd come out on top, in this confrontation! Won't hold my breath for this to happen - obviously! I don't believe in 'steroid rage' anyway - only in "steroid degenerative after-effects", yes! But I am digressing...)

Back to the three stooges' comments now... This sort of "expert commentary" is why the NHL remains the neanderthal of the sports world! "Don't like what someone says - punch him into silence!" Anything goes, on the ice! It's not the Ice Capades but the Savagecapades! That sort of mentality led to a kid's proud dad to go and beat up the coach who wasn't using his kid enough, in his humble opinion! It seems like North Americans (Canadians, mostly) de-evolve once they lace up a pair of skates - no matter how odd that sounds, the facts are there! A regular, civilized discussion cannot take place on ice - if anything unpleasant is said, punches will be thrown! It doesn't matter if the target's got cancer or not - you don't like what he says and you're a goon, hip, young and able? PUNCH HIM! That'll settle the argument! It doesn't matter if, off the ice, that sort of behaviour would be highly-reprehensible... Loathed and characterized as sickening and more disgusting than your "average ratio of disgusting"... And lead to criminal charges too! Nooooooo - on the ice, especially in an NHL rink, there is ANOTHER SET OF RULES AND CONVENTIONS that supersede all normal ones from "regular society"... "Thou shall talk about thy brother player's recent suspensions and disgracious acts committed in the heat of competition" appears to be one of the foremost commandments carved in stone by the NHLPA...

Well then - if no one respects cancer patients (the moment it's a "highly-treatable" form of the c-word, it's pretty much open season on the guy who has it...) why hasn't anyone roughed up Saku Koivu yet? Seems to me like he's had a number of beating coming on to him... Oh, right - it's simply because HE HAS NO OPINION. He's simply a spineless Fin (just like Don Cherry likes them!) who will administer roughness along the boards, FROM BEHIND - but will cowardly elude any direct confrontation otherwise! Not all cancer sufferers are equal, folks - nope! But that is another story...



posted by Luminous (\ô/) Luciano ™ at  11:14 AM

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