The NHL has fined Edmonton coach Pat Quinn $10,000 for "inappropriate" comments regarding an incident between Calgary Flames captain Jarome Iginla and Oilers defenseman Sheldon Souray.
|
|
| Milan Lucic will don the Bruins uniform for the next three years after signing an extension. (AP) |
Iginla was penalized for tripping and after serving his time ended up in a fight with Oilers captain Ethan Moreau. But Quinn said that wasn't an appropriate response.
"That's not addressing it," Quinn said. "You don't give him honor. Why would you give a man honor for that type of play? [Moreau] honored him with a fist fight."
That's their view. Here are some of ours.
News: Bruins sign Milan Lucic to three-year, $12.25 million extension
Views: The strapping Boston forward should offer a little thanks to former teammate Phil Kessel for the new deal he got this week, although Lucic certainly earned it on his own. The Bruins would have liked to keep Kessel, but the speedy forward priced himself out of the picture when he demanded far more than the team's other young stars were getting. And by letting him go, the Bruins indicated that unlike Lucic, they didn't really see Kessel as part of the crucial core moving forward. Lucic is part of that key group, and his willingness to come to terms with the Bruins rather than wait for free-agent status next summer proved that means something to him. Good thing for the Bruins too. Lucic is already one of the most intimidating players in the NHL at age 21 and he combines that with offensive skills that still have room to grow.
News: NHLPA executive board decides to settle with former leader Views: Too bad this will fix only a small part of the mess the players' union has created for itself. Paul Kelly was overthrown in a middle-of-the-night coup orchestrated by the PA's executive ostensibly because of a fear he would not be a tough enough advocate when negotiations begin for a new collective bargaining agreement.
That seems odd considering the former federal prosecutor from Boston has put away drug kingpins and white-collar criminals, and Kelly's tenacity in legal battles went into the thinking last weekend during a conference call when the board voted against trying to stiff him out of contract.
But that practical decision won't help resolve the bigger issue of a divided union. The PA is at least temporarily being run by a group of hard liners subscribing to the ideals of those who led the players into a lockout. Criticize NHL owners for a lot of things, but realize they stand united when it comes to critical matters of business. And that doesn't bode well for the players who gave up a year of their hockey lives not that long ago and could be totally fractured as a union by the time the current CBA expires in September, 2011.
News: Patrick Roy's son granted discharge after pleading guilty to assault
Views: Jonathan Roy will donate $5,000 to charity, which effectively means the Hall of Famer's offspring was given a slap on the wrist from a Quebec court for a fight during a junior hockey game in 2008. And you can bet the hockey world let out a deep sigh of relief after a famous name avoided a trial that would have put the "code" of the game on the stand.
Roy skated the length of the ice to beat up an opponent's goalie during a brawl in an incident that became a YouTube sensation and sparked a national debate in Canada about violence in hockey. Ultimately though, it offered the legal system an opportunity to delve into the dark underside of the game's culture, something the courts clearly have little appetite for, particularly since Roy's victim wasn't hurt.
News: Red Wings add tough guy Brad May
Views: Anyone who thought life would be different this year in Detroit likely reached that conclusion because the Red Wings lost some talented players to free agency over the summer. The Red Wings still rely on skill, but after getting beat up by St. Louis in their season opening games in Sweden, Detroit figured it wouldn't hurt to add some muscle. Enter May, who along with summer signee Todd Bertuzzi, brings the kind of snarl that is generally absent from one of the least-penalized teams in the league. May, a veteran enforcer who was in training camp for a tryout, signed a minimum-wage, one-year contract this week. He got into a fight in his first game against Chicago Thursday night. "Our guys do a good job of competing hard but we don't have a team that twists off helmets at stoppages," Detroit coach Mike Babcock said. "When you are seeing that all the time, it's nice when you've got someone to look after that stuff."
News: Chris Chelios eyeing spot on minor-league team
Views: This guy really doesn't know when to quit does he? Chelios is arguably the greatest American-born hockey player ever, a sure-fire Hall of Famer who has won three Stanley Cups and a case full of trophies during his illustrious 25-year NHL career. But the guy is 47 years old and has looked his age for at least the last couple of seasons. Yet despite all his accomplishments, vast earnings and several outside business interests, Chelios seems determined to still be in uniform when he is eligible for an AARP card. During the summer, he hinted at playing in Russia and now wants to join the AHL Chicago Wolves, an Atlanta Thrashers farm team, in the hope of attracting some interest from an NHL club down the stretch. Thing is Chelios was no better than a sixth defenseman for the Red Wings last season, who decided he wasn't even worth a minimum-wage deal anymore. That was hardly a surprise since Chelios was scratched more often than he played largely because he was a liability in his own end. No one doubts that he can still think the game and has a lot to contribute, but behind a bench or in the front office, not on the ice.
News: NHL fines Maple Leafs for alleged tampering
Views: The league didn't actually find Toronto guilty of the charges brought by the Vancouver Canucks, but instead told the Leafs they were being bad boys and not to do this again. The problem stemmed from comments made by Toronto coach Ron Wilson about his team's interest in Vancouver stars Henrik and Daniel Sedin before they became free agents last summer, and by remarks by Leafs GM Brian Burke about a rumored trade between the Canucks and the Tampa Bay Lightning. In essence, the NHL told the Leafs to think before talking out loud, but the real issue here is the antipathy that exists between Burke and his Vancouver counterpart Mike Gillis. Burke used to be the Canucks GM and when he left for Anaheim, his assistant Dave Nonis replaced him. Nonis is now Burke's assistant again, losing his job in Vancouver to Gillis, who some believe went behind his back to get the position from the Canucks owners.
