Bob McKenzie @TSNBobMcKenzie
PIT will be without Craig Adams in game four. His instigator in last 5 minutes stands. Auto 1 game suspension. $10K fine for Dan Bylsma.
I am more inclined to give Neal a pass on the Giroux hit on its own merits, but I thought he made his intentions quite clear with his attempt to injure Couturier. While I feel like you could make a logical argument that Giroux's motion upon seeing Neal coming may have exacerbated the hit to the head, the one on Couturier was disgusting. Just because he didn't make full, clean contact to the head doesn't make it any better. Anyone defending that particular hit is kidding themselves. You know for a fact if that was Crosby or anyone on your team that took the hit you would be calling for heads to roll, and rightfully so.
Last edited by MiamiScreamingEagles: 04-17-2012 at 12:01 AM.
I am more inclined to give Neal a pass on the Giroux hit on its own merits, but I thought he made his intentions quite clear with his attempt to injure Couturier. While I feel like you could make a logical argument that Giroux's motion upon seeing Neal coming may have exacerbated the hit to the head, the one on Couturier was disgusting. Just because he didn't make full, clean contact to the head doesn't make it any better. Anyone defending that particular hit is kidding themselves. You know for a fact if that was Crosby or anyone on your team that took the hit you would be calling for heads to roll, and rightfully so.
Not exactly what were looking for in this thread but most here expect Neal will get dinged. But you never know with the NHL's weird wheel of justice.
He'll either get none or some.
Last edited by MiamiScreamingEagles: 04-17-2012 at 12:01 AM.
I am more inclined to give Neal a pass on the Giroux hit on its own merits, but I thought he made his intentions quite clear with his attempt to injure Couturier. While I feel like you could make a logical argument that Giroux's motion upon seeing Neal coming may have exacerbated the hit to the head, the one on Couturier was disgusting. Just because he didn't make full, clean contact to the head doesn't make it any better. Anyone defending that particular hit is kidding themselves. You know for a fact if that was Crosby or anyone on your team that took the hit you would be calling for heads to roll, and rightfully so.
Yeah it's the Pens board, so there probably are some homers in here. You're obviously lost
Last edited by MiamiScreamingEagles: 04-17-2012 at 12:01 AM.
Not exactly what were looking for in this thread but most here expect Neal will get dinged. But you never know with the NHL's weird wheel of justice.
He'll either get none or some.
I mostly just lurk over here once in a while, don't mean to stir up any trouble as I am not the trolling type, but all the comments in here saying that people don't know why Neal would be suspended are ridiculous. With that said, I could defnitely see him not getting suspended, but I feel like a non-suspension here would be akin to Weber not being suspended. Everyone pretty much agrees it SHOULD happen, doesn't necessarily mean it will.
To contribute a bit to the actual discussion, I think your team will be ok after the dust settles from this series. Bylsma is a great coach. We went through a lot of hard seasons in the playoffs where our team looked out of sorts. It's up to the GM and the coach to come together in the offseason and decide what needs to be done to fix what was wrong. It's obvious the Pens need a defenseman or 2 to sure up the back end, as well as some veteran leadership to help Crosby out, but I think they are ok after that as long as Crosby stays healthy. If MAF can bounce back, which I think he can and will, they will be fine going forward.
I think if a guy like Roberts or Guerin were on this team, we wouldn't have seen the shenanigans that we saw yesterday. With that said, I hope this rivalry stays this heated for a while, as I love hating the Penguins and games like yesterday make it easy to continue hating them. Good luck the rest of this season and next. Try to keep your blinders off is all I was getting at.
I mostly just lurk over here once in a while, don't mean to stir up any trouble as I am not the trolling type, but all the comments in here saying that people don't know why Neal would be suspended are ridiculous. With that said, I could defnitely see him not getting suspended, but I feel like a non-suspension here would be akin to Weber not being suspended. Everyone pretty much agrees it SHOULD happen, doesn't necessarily mean it will.
To contribute a bit to the actual discussion, I think your team will be ok after the dust settles from this series. Bylsma is a great coach. We went through a lot of hard seasons in the playoffs where our team looked out of sorts. It's up to the GM and the coach to come together in the offseason and decide what needs to be done to fix what was wrong. It's obvious the Pens need a defenseman or 2 to sure up the back end, as well as some veteran leadership to help Crosby out, but I think they are ok after that as long as Crosby stays healthy. If MAF can bounce back, which I think he can and will, they will be fine going forward.
I think if a guy like Roberts or Guerin were on this team, we wouldn't have seen the shenanigans that we saw yesterday. With that said, I hope this rivalry stays this heated for a while, as I love hating the Penguins and games like yesterday make it easy to continue hating them. Good luck the rest of this season and next. Try to keep your blinders off is all I was getting at.
Watch what Weber does to Z... Then try to keep a straight face while you type out that what Neal did was worse.
Watch what Weber does to Z... Then try to keep a straight face while you type out that what Neal did was worse.
I didn't say it was worse, I said it was on par. I stand by that statement. Neal's intent was no less malicious than what Weber did. Weber's looked more barbaric because it couldn't have been miscontrued as any type of hockey play, but Neal had the same intent. Couturier was nowhere near the puck. Neal's skates were nowhere near the ground. It didn't look like he made a full connection with the head, but the hit was atrocious. IIRC Zetterberg walked away from that without injury as did Couturier. If either player missed any time with a concussion you can bet that Weber or Neal would not be seeing the ice for quite some time.
What happened to keeping Flyer fans off the Pens board? Regardless of their intentions to "not" troll, coming on the Pens board and calling people homers when we are already down by three in the series is ****ing stupid and should not be allowed.
I didn't say it was worse, I said it was on par. I stand by that statement. Neal's intent was no less malicious than what Weber did. Weber's looked more barbaric because it couldn't have been miscontrued as any type of hockey play, but Neal had the same intent. Couturier was nowhere near the puck. Neal's skates were nowhere near the ground. It didn't look like he made a full connection with the head, but the hit was atrocious. IIRC Zetterberg walked away from that without injury as did Couturier. If either player missed any time with a concussion you can bet that Weber or Neal would not be seeing the ice for quite some time.
While the Flyers might engage in more "diving" on Wednesday I don't think they'll start any ****. They want to go home to their own beds and spend a few days in their own facility resting/rehabbing. They don't want to have to fly to Pittsburgh again until next fall, and they have the power to make that a reality. I expect a very clean, intense, killer-instinct sort of effort.
Not to mention the possibility of injuries/suspensions going into the 2nd round.
Did you think Weber should have been suspended? Should and would mean different things.
It doesn't matter what we think. What matters is Shanny decided to fine Weber.
That is the precedent and it is what matters, period. I can't see how he can justify letting Weber go and not Neal.
Even a few years ago none of this would be a big deal, now with social media and the like, every questionable hit on the ice gets fans and the media in an uproar. I'm sure after the Neal hits some crybaby created a post on the main board within ten seconds.
Every series I have watched has been dirty.
****, it's playoff hockey. This isn't golf or tennis.
Its embarrassing how the new wave of hockey fans act.
Sometimes I think someone could commit a hate crime or shoot someone in cold blood (or both) and there would be some genius excusing it because "Hey, it's the playoffs!".
With Adams and Asham both a given, that leaves two slots open even without Neal based on prior lineups.
Jeffrey for sure, Tangradi probable since Park didn't do much (although he was no worse than anyone else). Would love to see Despres get a shot too although part of me fears a retaliation penalty and him being the recipient. None of Straight, Lovejoy, Bortuzzo should be out there though so not sure what the alternative is.
If Neal's out too maybe Bylsma puts Mac out there on Geno's line.
With Adams and Asham both a given, that leaves two slots open even without Neal based on prior lineups.
Jeffrey for sure, Tangradi probable since Park didn't do much (although he was no worse than anyone else). Would love to see Despres get a shot too although part of me fears a retaliation penalty and him being the recipient. None of Straight, Lovejoy, Bortuzzo should be out there though so not sure what the alternative is.
If Neal's out too maybe Bylsma puts Mac out there on Geno's line.
My guess at the 4th line will be Tangradi-Vitale-Park
