I Shot the Sheriff

I just had to make another post today...today the NHL punished Milan Lucic with a one game suspension for dealing out the type of punishment you would expect in return for having your teammate nearly lose an eye a couple nights before. Below is a link to the article and the comment I posted on NHL.com in response:

http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=419078

Colin Campbell should probably worry about death threats now. I mean come on. How stupid do you think we all are, Colin?? Do you think we should all just sit around and take this up the ass from you and the NHL??? This has to be the most disgusting case of favoritism I’ve ever seen in my life. This is just about as bad as O.J. getting away with murder. Expect a book coming out in the next few years entitled “(If) I Rigged the NHL.”

Colin let’s roll back the clock to last Friday (4/17) and your comments from “The Situation Room” (which I’m pretty sure you are stealing from CNN and they should sue your ass)…

When you suspended Carcillo, you said the NHL looked at “number of criteria there to satisfy doing what (you) had to do” including the time in the game (at the very end), the decided outcome of the game (the Flyers were going to lose), and the apparent intent of the imposing party to send a message (we need to beat you up now to show you we can beat you next game because we lost this one).

When you did nothing after the infractions at the end of the Bruins Game 1 you state that, despite the actions coming at the very end of the game when there was a decided outcome and as an attempt by the losing team to send a message, “You’ve got to let the games unfold. You’ve got to let hockey be hockey, playoffs be playoffs.” The only fathomable excuse you could have for tolerating eye-gouging is the fact that it’s not 100% clearly caught on camera (you only see Komasarek face wash Hunwick, then pull his hand away, shake off his glove, and grab at Hunwick’s face with his bare hand).

Now Lucic comes along and has been hit late and hit high by Montreal throughout game one and game two. He gets high-sticked and retaliates by cross-checking, both of which resulted in correct corresponding calls. Two Montreal players then engaged Lucic in a scrum afterward at which time Lapierre finally gets the courage to skate in and attack Lucic. However, he doesn’t get the chance as Lucic swings a fist (albeit while holding his stick) and connects with Lapierre. You even have the audacity to admit that “it is unclear whether Lucic’s glove or stick makes contact with Lapierre.” But because you watch this 30 seconds of the game and because you think that Lucic is the only one doing anything reckless on the ice all night (when having a league embarrassment like Laraque on the ice is reckless in and of itself), all of a sudden this is completely different than the events at the end of game one.

All of a sudden, this — THIS — is deserving of a one game suspension? How is this an act of bad sportsmanship at the end of the game by a member of the losing team? How is this Lucic trying to say that the Bruins may be losing this game but we want to make a statement so we will win the next one? The only statement the Bruins are making is that they can win and win big despite all of the cheap shots your touted refs are allowing from Montreal, and that if you come out and gouge out the eyes of one of them, your going to have to face a whole pack of bears the next game.

All I can say is that if I were you, I, too, would probably need your cheap Montreal hookers and their drugs to sleep at night. Have fun with the extra security detail you’ll need for the rest of the playoffs.

Manges Merde, Montreal

Wow.

Talk about a statement game. For all of the Canadians fans that ranted on and on since 10pm Thursday about how weak a Bruins team this was and how easily Boston could be beaten, I'd love to hear what you have to say now. Yet, in the blogs and forums I frequent and in the articles I've been reading -- silence.

If you ever wanted proof of how bias the NHL is for Montreal, go no further than NHL.com. Every article written about the series that shows up on that site is how Montreal is going to come back and win the series, how when Montreal gouges out someone's eyes at the end of a game it's an incident that can be laughed off, and how the rules demand the Lucic be suspended indefinitely for punching (with stick in hand) one of the several Canadians players involved in an odd-man after the whistle rush on the B's young enforcer.

Don't worry. This is wear the die hard Bruins fan base comes in (like yours truly) and tears the NHL apart. And while this is normally rebutted by Habs fans talking about "hey we're going to kick your ass next game," today has been different. Today the normally energetic cheers coming down from our northern border are missing and with good reason. Nothing Montreal tried during the first two games in Boston worked. Georges Laraque proved once again that he can't skate or stick handle at all and would have trouble playing against a high school girls team (junior varsity, at that). Good job putting him on the first line, Bob. I think the ultimate admition of defeat may have come when Montreal tried to take on a strategy of instigating offsetting penalties to get in a 4-on-4 situation because they can't beat the B's 5-on-5. It was completely obvious how overmatched Habs were and my previous predictions of 'Bruins in 5' may be overestimating the red plague.

On a more positive note, the Big Bad Bruins steamrolled last night. Savard, finally showing the offensive talent that he is, hit the scoreboard big. I even thought his first goal of the night was actually of Montador until seeing the replay. Savard literally shot the puck while it was still on Montador's stick at the top of the slot. Boston would add 4 more goals before Carey was chased before the start of the third. That was probably the loudest Carey has ever heard his name chanted. It's too bad it was in a taunting manner.

Lastly, who knew Bergy was a lefty? Yes, you know it has to be an intense atmosphere for Patrice Bergeron, one of the most skilled players on the ice, to throw down for his first fighting major in the NHL. It sure didn't look like his first go, though. Josh Georges must have been in shock as he could barely land a single punch while Patrice connected on blow after blow before delivering a knee-buckling left hook to end it.

Bravo, Bruins. Bravo.