"Atta boy, Fish"

Sorry we didn't write a game recap for the loss Feb. 28 to the Flyers. I hate SensTV. Almost as much as I hate Steve Downie. As penance, here is a video of Mike Fisher demonstrating some of the emotion that Bryan Murray was looking for when he reclaimed the head coaching responsibilities.

So... yeah. Dean McAmmond was right, "Atta boy, Fish."

In other Downie news, this guy's isn't funny, but he made one humourous remark:

"If someone ended Steve Downie's career with a Todd
Bertuzzi-like thing, I would nominate him for the Lady Byng."

Good for the Sens. There were four things that Murray needed to accomplish when he jumped back behind the bench:

1. Regain emotion: check
2. Get a goaltender to play well: check
3. Rebuild some semblance of defensive commitment: ___
4. Win: ___

So... two of four. A good start for one game.

John Paddock the cretin?

I hated writing that title just as much as most Sens fans hated reading it. It's much easier to criticize an old man with some other, much-hated team than some old man with your favourite team. But with Head Coach John Paddock's recent comments, how can we think any differently? From the Ottawa Sun:

"I think there's some good penalties you can take," Paddock said yesterday. "I think there's good charging and the odd good elbowing penalty and stuff. I think there's nothing wrong with that.

"I think there's real good elbowing penalties. If you're playing in the playoffs and the other team's best player happens to get an elbow in the head, I think it's a good penalty."

Dammit, is this for real? In a way, I understand these people are paid to win, and that sometimes the common idea is that these are the things it takes to win. But it's not. Paddock went on to explain that when an elbow/charge takes the other team's best players off their game, the team has a better chance to win. Newsflash, John: When I pay money to go to a Senators' game, I'd rather see Alex Ovechkin play offense than play scared. I don't pay to see Chris Neil charge at him and risk breaking his neck.

Paddock went on to campaign for GM Bryan Murray to acquire Steve Downie, a move that might make me hate the composure of this team so much that I would have a hard time cheering for them:

"Every team likes those kind of players," Paddock said. "Do I think anything (Flyers rookie) Steve Downie has done so far this year is right? No. But I get a feeling there's 29 teams that would like him on their team, or in their organization."

I don't want a player like Downie on my team, or in the league in any capacity. Feel free to disagree with me (post any rebuttals in our 'comments'), but that's not the kind of hockey I want to see. Clean hits, sure, but charges, elbows, and suckerpunches? These comments are almost enough to make me wish Jacques Martin was back.

Almost.

Bob Clarke the cretin

A four-year old Bobby Clarke, who apparently hasn't matured mentally since this photo was taken.
Used without permission from LegendsofHockey.net.

Bobby Clarke is a complete and utter imbecile. How this man has a job, let alone a cushy job as senior vice-president of an NHL organization, remains beyond my grasp.

I'm not surprised he jumped to the defence of Steve "Degenerate" Downie on TSN today; this is the same player who slashed Soviet forward Valery Kharlamov, fracturing his ankle and knocking Kharlamov--who was arguably the best offensive forward in the 1972 tournament--out for the remainder. For those who haven't read or heard Clarke's comments, they are as follows:

"When he went after Blake, I loved it. Blake was a guy who had no problem going out and saying [Downie] should be suspended for life or suspended for the year. When you say something that stupid, why shouldn't this kid go after him for it? The kid did what every hockey player should do.
...

"The hit that Downie threw on McAmmond was not a whole lot different than the hits we all admired, including myself - that Scott Stevens used to do on open ice. He hit lots of heads and hurt lots of people and we said it was great. What Downie did was, it looked like Colin Campbell took it personally, [thinking] 'I told these players they couldn't do that and he did so I'm going to get him.' To suspend him for 20 games is ridiculous. [Dean] McAmmond was a veteran player who was skating and watching his pass and got nailed. Sorry for it, too bad he got hurt but it was his own fault as much as it was Downie's."

You've got to be kidding me. Clarke is the mastermind behind the goonish tactics we've all seen from the Flyers this season, drafting Downie ('05) and Jesse Boulerice ('96), signing Randy Jones ('03) and Riley Cote ('04) before finally "resigning" (read: getting fired gently) part-way through last season, in which the Flyers finished dead last. It wasn't until Paul Holmgren came in as GM that functional players such as Kimmo Timonen, Daniel Briere, and Martin Biron were brought in to try and win games by outplaying instead of outlasting the other team.

As ridiculous as his comments surrounding the Blake incident were, I'm going to focus on his analysis of the hit Downie threw on Dean McAmmond in the pre-season.

First off, let me say this: Steve Downie should have been suspended for the entire season for this hit. Downie, if you're interested in punching me in the eye because I said that, please contact me at petrov84@hotmail.com because I would love to have you charged for assault.

Clarke's ridiculous 'blame the victim' justification and his goonish mentality are the kind of old-school ideology that I personally, and I thought most other hockey fans and pundits, are looking to get the NHL to move away from. I don't know what I hope happens, but Clarke deserves to lose his job and most respect people have for him over this, no matter how many points he got in his career (which, for the record, were a lot: 1210 points in 1144 games).

The Decider: Vol 1.

Issue 1: Is Steve Downie some kind of idiot?

The Decider's decision: Yes. He is a goon of the highest (or should I say 'lowest') calibre. He has been suspended for more games than he's played this season (20 suspended, 5 played). If his disrespectful hit on Dean McAmmond weren't enough, he punched Jason Blake in the face earlier this week. He punched a man with cancer (in the face!). I would even go as far as to say that he is (and will continue to be) a danger to the league.
Apparantly, Bob Clarke is some kind of idiot too.

Issue 2: Should the Leafs trade Mats Sundin?

The Decider's decision: Yes, JFJ, trade that whole damn team. It's not fair to the people of Toronto that they have such a bad team. Get some prospects, some first or second round picks and start the fuck over. Everyone loves watching the Penguins and Blackhawks because they have such potential, the Leafs fans should at least have potential to cheer for. What do they have to cheer for now? More time with their families in the summer?

Issue 3: Should there be another outdoor NHL game?

The Decider's decision: Hells yeah. Americans seem to like them, and they get the NHL its highest TV ratings of the season (including playoffs). Although they will inevitably become less interesting each year, the league should suck this event's potential dry.