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Why did you leave out the part where I said Torres deliberately left his feet? Hossa having his head down has absolutely nothing to do with him getting hit in the head. In fact, Hossa got hit in the jaw. The only way Hossa gets hit in the jaw is if his head is up. To further my point, even if Hossa has his head down he doesn't get hit in the head or face if Torres doesn't leave his feet.Quote:
Originally Posted by jerseydevil
so then you think players should be blackballed and refused the right to an eight or ninth chance? And what about if a player is with the same team(during the course of a contract) and he gets 2 or 3 calls from Sheriff Shanny? You are getting into dangerous territory Doc.Quote:
Originally Posted by Dr. Naysay
Ok so players have no responsibility to watch their surroundings due to asinine actions from certain players. The illegality of the hit absolves Hossa of any responsibility...got it.Quote:
Originally Posted by LOSTcauseZERO
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_IvmD63dFBz..._getty_226.jpg
The fact that Hossa (a star player) was wheeled off on a stretcher has a lot to do with this length. As far as players not putting themselves in positions to get hit like this, I get it when it's a player turning at the last second to avoid a hit and then gets slammed head first into the boards, but I don't agree on a hit like this. You're focused on so many things in that split second that there's no way to know that someone could be head hunting so keep your head up. There's a level of trust there. A hit like this is illegal no matter what the hitee is doing. Unlike the first example.
I hear you and now we're on the same page. I just don't think the league should factor that into the equation, and I know you aren't saying that. But yah, keep your head up. I get it!Quote:
Originally Posted by jerseydevil
YES! If it gets to that level, then the player in question obviously has no idea how to play hockey and has no idea what the rules of the game are.Quote:
Originally Posted by jerseydevil
Et Tu Nasti? Well, sorry guys, as I said earlier I knew it wasn't going to be a popular opinion. I can't argue with all of you...I just hope that someone gets what I am trying to say. I go back to the Scott Stevens analogy...the Lindros/Kariya hits would almost certainly have garnered SS a repeat offender checkmark, despite the fact that both hits, albeit brutal, were delivered within the confines of the legal boundaries and the injuries were multiplied by BOTH players admiring their passes while driving across the center of the ice. Illegality does not absolve the victim in my opinion. Hockey is(for now) a game of intense hitting and it behooves all players to pay attention especially if they know there is someone wearing the other jersey with a history of bad decision making. I feel bad for Hossa and I think that the Torres suspension is what it should be.
I do understand what you're saying JD. Hossa should have kept his head up to protect himself. Sometimes that's just not possible though. Along with NastiMarvasti's point, Hossa was trusting that everyone on the ice had respect for each other. Torres clearly lacked that respect towards his fellow competitors.
If players like Chris Simon or Bryan Marchement, for example instead of your weak Stevens analogy, get suspended 8,9, 10 or even 13 times (Marchment) then what the **** are we talking about JD? There are literally thousands of hockey players in the world who would bring more skill and more talent and more fun to the game than these kinds of players and to argue that they deserve 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th + chances while ALSO saying that you care about player safety and cleaning up the game is a ****ing joke.Quote:
Originally Posted by jerseydevil
These guys understand that their place in the league is indelibly linked to their ability to cripple opponents either through force or fear. Scott Stevens was an award winning All Star defenceman. What has Raffi Torres won? What does he bring to his team other than the ability to inflict pain on the opponent? I'm NOT advocating the elimination of body hits or fighting or any of the violence that I enjoy in the sport. I have no problem with hits like the one Stevens leveled on Kariya or Lindros.
What Torres did was not comparable.
Hossa didn't "have his head down" and he wasn't "admiring his pass"... he had the puck stripped off his stick and he was reacting to the play and Torres didn't have to hit him, he didn't have to hit him that hard and he certainly didn't have to follow through the way he did.
Penalizing teams for bringing in guys like Torres is the only way that teams will actually stop bringing in guys like Torres. Punishing the guy who makes $1.75 Million a year specifically because he plays the way he does won't stop him from playing like that. I'm sure Torres would rather make $1.75 - his suspension and get to be in the NHL rather than do whatever a guy like him would have to do for a living if he wasn't in the NHL.
You're coming off like a completely paranoid Devils fan by constantly dragging Stevens into this. There were plenty of players to criticize in his era that are far better comparisons of the kind of player we're talking about.Quote:
Originally Posted by jerseydevil
And that I will agree with you on completely. Torres is a career miscreant.Quote:
Originally Posted by LOSTcauseZERO
