Nashville coach Barry Trotz has publicly complained about Vancouver's embellishments in game #3 of their series. Shea Weber's hooking penalty was caused by Ryan Kessler holding onto Weber's stick under his arm, or as everyone in hockey calls it "the chicken wing" move.
Jarred Smithsom took a penalty after moving his stick over Roberto Luongo's head and the goalie then jolted his head back drawing the penalty. Replays showed that the stick never hit Luongo.
This is not new. Gamesmanship is part of the game and a big part of the playoffs. Cant blame a guy for trying, but nobody feels good about players faking or finding sneaky ways to draw penalties. The logic on the Weber call is, if his stick wasn't there in the first place then Kessler wouldn't have a chance to hold it and draw the penalty.
The problem is these things are becoming more and more common and the game is just too fast for officials to see and call everything. In an ideal world Weber would have received his hooking call and Kessler would have received a holding the stick penalty. That did not happen and we all know what happened on that power play.
The NHL has the technology to try and curb this kind of thing. You cant possibly catch all of it during a live game but its fairly easy to see after on video. The NHL should use the power of video to lessen this behaviour and send a message to players that trying to embarrass NHL officials has a price.
Any player determined to have embellished or faked or chicken winged in a game should be subject to a fine and the amount of that fine and his name should be made public. The fine is not the most important part of all this since $2,500 dollars is the max a player can be fined under the CBA and that is peanuts to an NHL player. Being publicly outed for the behaviour is the most important part. Get caught 3 times, its a 1 game suspension. No player wants to face the media to answer those embarrassing questions.
If the NHL really wants to help stop players undermining the authority and credibility of NHL officials, the league has to do something to stop players from making them look foolish. Use the power of video to do that.
See you at the rink.
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2 comments:
So let me get this right Dean.. according to your Bush League post a little snow in the face is a bush league play... but faking and embelishing like the Canucks did in game 3 is "gamesmanship"??? Sounds logical...
hey kirk. you are assuming I think one is good and one is bad. The gamesmanship thing is something we have sadly all come to accept as a part of the game most everyone regrets but has no way to stop. Snowing a goalie is just its lowest form and there has to be both a floor and a ceiling as to what you can live with when it comes to gamesmanship. Snowing is the floor
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