Overheard on TSN's "That's Hockey": the eloquent and passionate Ray Ferraro's comment on the Plekanec "hit", and the seeming agreement from the vacuous host until the stunning non sequitur at the end which prompted me to actually transcribe and post this. I love PVRs, cuz when you can't believe your ears sometimes, you can go back and listen again and again until you do believe 'em. :D
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Gino Reda: ... Tomas Plekanec got a two game suspension for what he did to Denis Grebshkov when he brought him down with that slewfoot. You've got to crack down on that kind of stuff.
Ray Ferraro: Two games is not enough for this play. This is a malicious play by Plekanec here. He's below the goal line, there's only one place that Grebeshkov is going to go. If Plekanenc wants to get in on the forecheck, go make body contact! He kicks his feet out, it's a dangerous play, this suspension should be more harsh in my opinion. Grebeshkov has a high ankle sprain, they're saying two weeks which would be very fortunate for the Oilers if he's back that quickly. That to me is a malicious play. Guy Carbonneau called it a hockey hit; do you think he would call it a hockey hit if that was Mike Komisarek going in like that? I don't think so.
Gino: There's nothing hockey hit about a slewfoot.
Ray: It's one of the game's most dirty plays.
Gino: It's a great exciting play, you just gotta make it a little safer.
(Ferraro does a double take, keeps his cool and grins weirdly at the camera, Gino doesn't even notice anything out of the ordinary. Fade to commercial.)
11 comments:
Geno Reda is like the national version of Roger Millions. But Ferraro is completely right - and now the Oilers are saying 6 weeks with ligament damage. Anyone that can look at that play and try to justify it is wearing blinders (and I put that as politely as I possibly could)
Are you fucking with me??
this is why it is the Toronto Sports Network: if that happen to a leaf Gino's wiring would have short circuted, but since it happen to a plaer from another team I bet you he actually found it exciting. Moron.
PS: Zorg looks even better, since I did up up tp date versions of Aggressive Penalties, PIM/60, etc . . . it is on my blog now.
Good on Ray Ferraro.
Hey, it looked to me like he was going for body contact and fucked it up. I had no PVR access that night, for obvious reasons, so I could only go off what I saw on the Internet feed. I'm apparently outvoted here, but I'm fine with that.
That being said, Gino is crazy. Whether you believe there was malice or not, there's no question that shit was dangerous. I wouldn't be surprised if Ray wanted to deck him after that.
Also, I feel all special now with my first "Attention:" post. Awwww, you like me. ;)
Doogie: Of course I like you. It's unusual for us to have a difference of opinion, but you and Guy Carbonneau were wearing the "hockey play" blinders cuz of the sweater your man "Pleks" was wearing, and I'm cool with that to a degree. I've defended more than one Oiler in the past who maybe crossed the line a little, or at least put one incident in context of a guy's long standing reputation. Whereas as an Oiler fan I just see Grebs go down and out on a dirty play and I don't care who did it, I'm pissed.
Btw I was watching the game on RDS so I couldn't really understand what the commentators were saying, besides I couldn't hear them cuz I was going nuts and saying that was a @#$%ing slew foot, throw the bum out but not until some Oiler gets hold of him and teaches him a lesson and stupid shit like that. Later I heard the PPV commentary and Rob Brown of all people instantly called it a slew foot, and that certainly was the wide reaction on the game day thread.
As for Gino and his wacko comment, I think I figured out where His Airheadedness was coming from. Immediately prior to the replay of the Grebs injury, they had talked about no-touch icing and Ferraro showed three or four injuries, and then showed one counter-example where Kesler won a race to an icing in the last minute with the goalie out and basically sealed a gamne for Vancouver and he did everything right and didn't touch the defender and simply got the puck. So Gino must have flashed back to that portion of Ferraro's segment, cuz his comment actually would be appropriate for that. But in the immediate context of the slewfoot discussion it was inane if not insane. Ferraro's double take was priceless.
@Bruce: The context causes it to make a little more sense, but I can still totally get why Ferraro had a double-take.
At this point, I can admit that I'm "probably" wrong and it's because Pleks is a Hab, but I can live with that. Besides, the Oilers need Montreal's help tonight, and I'm sure that's bothering a few people, which is just grand to me. ;)
Hmmm, Oilers/Habs rematch is only a little over two weeks away.
Do you think, for once, MacT is going to authorize some brute-force payback, rather than just "letting it slide"?
If I'm the coach, I'm telling Moreau to line up against Plekanec on a faceoff and not even give him the "yes/no" option. It's not an easier penalty to kill off (who argued that shit, anyways?), but it's a penalty I have no problem with having to kill off.
A statement is necessary here.
HBomb: A bit too late IMO. if there is a time and place for reprisals it is in the immediate aftermath of an incident. By the time the league has dealt with it it needs to be over; not saying that Mr. Plekanec shouldn't be on the receiving end of some good hard checking next game, but the time for premeditation is never.
To me the threat that somebody who crosses the line might have to answer for it right then and there in the emotions of the moment is what "the players policing themselves" is all about. Although it's impossible to measure how many cheap shots don't happen, my strong impression after 45 years of following the game is that the threat of physical reprisal is at least as effective a deterrent for cheap shots as the prospect of a suspension. Above that though, the best deterrent is simple respect for one's opponent, which Plekanec certainly didn't demonstrate in this instance. I'm a little surprised immediate action didn't happen, esp. in a blowout, but it didn't then, and it shouldn't next week.
but the time for premeditation is never
I don't think HBomb was suggesting anything Bertuzzi-like when he said Moreau should pummel Plekanec. It makes more sense to take care of it on the ice than on the street, for example, should they happen upon the same bar when in Montreal. That's just a far-fetched example, but you probably catch my drift.
Now some people suggest these things should be taken out of hockey, but I disagree. Not premeditated violence, per se; not MacT saying to MacIntyre, "go hurt Plekanec." Whether or not Moreau wins the fight is irrelevant too. It's about sending a message to the other team about not being pushed around, and there's nothing with standing up for teammates.
Greene did it for Bina.
If Moreau does it for Grebeshkov, I'm all for it. But if he doesn't do it, I'd be okay with the Oilers just beating them again as well because 2 points in the standings are more valuable than scoring philosophical points at this point in the season.
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