What will become of this latest misdeed by Steve Downie? On Saturday, early in the third period, the Flyers were leading the Leafs 2-0. A tussle was about to develop, but the linesmen separated and restrained Steve Downie and Jason Blake. Downie went ahead and punched Blake anyway, leaving a huge welt under his left eye.
Of course you remember that Steve Downie was the first of five Flyers this season to receive supplemental discipline from the league. He was suspended for 20 games during the preseason for his vicious hit on Dean McAmmond of the Senators.
After four other Flyers had committed transgressions, the league essentially told them to mind their Ps and Qs for the rest of the season. They were told that from here on in, they would be under close watch and that the coaches, general manager and the organ-eye-zation itself would be punished if they crossed the line again.
Is this "crossing the line"? Sure. One linesman had Jason Blake restrained. The other did a very sloppy job of trying to restrain Downie, and the waste of space threw what can only be construed as a sucker punch at Blake.
A week and a half ago, Sean Avery of the Rangers did a very similar thing to Andrew Ladd of the Canes. Ladd now has a broken orbital bone. Specifically, if you're scoring along at home, it was the zygomatic bone.
I was under the impression that there was an automatic one game suspension for such a thing, but Avery was given none.
Colin Campbell has made it perfectly clear that he didn't want to see any more monkey business from the Flyers.
Under other circumstances, this would be looked at by the league and there would be a maximum of one game suspension. However, this might be different. Given that it was this particular player on this particular team, we might see something more severe. This player has already shown a propensity for reckless play. The team has been warned about patterns.
I'm usually wrong about these things, but I'll guess that Downie will get a three game suspension by the league and that the team will give him a one-way ticket across the parking lot to the Phantoms facility. I'm guessing that nothing will happen to John Stevens or Paul Holmgren, but that Colin Campbell and Gary Bettman will say something like: "We warned you about reckless play from your players, and one of them has done it again. We're not happy about it, but we can't hold you responsible for the actions of one player. However, we're totally not kidding. Next time, we'll make you sit in the corner for five minutes."
We'll probably find out sometime late Monday or early Tuesday.
What do you think will happen?
Showing posts with label Steve Downie. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Steve Downie. Show all posts
Sunday, January 06, 2008
Monday, October 15, 2007
Boulerice calls Kesler, gets cut
On Monday, the Flyers placed former Hurricanes tough guy Jesse Boulerice on waivers. This comes just days after Boulerice was handed a record-tying 25 game suspension for his vicious crosscheck to the face of Canucks skater Ryan Kesler. No team will be expected to touch the waste of space with a thirty-nine-and-a-half foot pole.
In his short and fruitless career, Boulerice, who once cited The Garfield Christmas Movie as his favorite, (see this video as proof) has caused trouble everywhere he has gone.
In April of 1998, while playing with the Plymouth Whalers of the Ontario Hockey League, Boulerice swung his stick a la Chris Simon at the head of Andrew Long, who played for Guelph Storm. After reviewing the video, OHL officials determined that Boulerice would be suspended for the entire 1998-99 season including the preseason and playoffs.
Boulerice was sent up to the AHL the next season, and the suspension didn't come with him.
He spent the next couple of years bouncing between the AHL and ECHL, putting up astonishing PIM numbers but not doing much of anything else. In 2000-01 with the Philadelphia Phantoms of the AHL, he put up 256 PIM in 60 games played. If you're scoring along at home, that's more than four and a quarter minutes per game played. That number is roughly equivalent to his average TOI in the NHL.
Unfortunately, Boulerice was dealt to the Hurricanes in February of 2002. He completed that season in Lowell, piling up 80 PIM in just 15 games. 5.33 PIM per game.
Boulerice was called up to the big team for the 2002-03 season, where he made a lasting impression on February 11, 2003 as "the guy who got knocked the eff out by Aaron Downey" in a one-punch fight.
He continued to serve the role of agitator/pugilist for the 03-04 season, but when we came back from the lockout, there was little room for him in the "new NHL". He started on the big club, but about a month into the season, the Canes opted to keep the skilled players on the ice and eliminated his roster spot. He was sent down to Lowell, and ultimately was used as part of a multi-player deal to get Doug Weight from the Blues.
Boulerice didn't make any fans in St. Louis. During one of his first practice sessions, he allegedly checked teammate Ryan Johnson WAY too hard, and the result was a broken foot for Johnson. There was also some talk of a locker room fight involving Jesse and, at some point, a chair. The Blues knew they had a cancer on their hands, and despite an injury-depleted roster, they released him after just a few days.
Somehow, Jesse ended up back in the Carolina organization during the 2006-07 campaign, but only played a handful of games with Lowell before being cut.
This season, despite having colossally deficient in any skill category, he managed to make the Flyers roster. On the big club. Presumably to protect their $10M investment Daniel Briere.
We all know what happened next.
Also on Monday, it was reported that Boulerice made a little bit of good by calling Ryan Kesler to offer his apology. Kesler was "taken aback", and appreciated the effort by Boulerice. At least there's that.
I think we can safely assume that "the Bull" won't be playing in the NHL any more.
In his short and fruitless career, Boulerice, who once cited The Garfield Christmas Movie as his favorite, (see this video as proof) has caused trouble everywhere he has gone.
In April of 1998, while playing with the Plymouth Whalers of the Ontario Hockey League, Boulerice swung his stick a la Chris Simon at the head of Andrew Long, who played for Guelph Storm. After reviewing the video, OHL officials determined that Boulerice would be suspended for the entire 1998-99 season including the preseason and playoffs.
Boulerice was sent up to the AHL the next season, and the suspension didn't come with him.
He spent the next couple of years bouncing between the AHL and ECHL, putting up astonishing PIM numbers but not doing much of anything else. In 2000-01 with the Philadelphia Phantoms of the AHL, he put up 256 PIM in 60 games played. If you're scoring along at home, that's more than four and a quarter minutes per game played. That number is roughly equivalent to his average TOI in the NHL.
Unfortunately, Boulerice was dealt to the Hurricanes in February of 2002. He completed that season in Lowell, piling up 80 PIM in just 15 games. 5.33 PIM per game.
Boulerice was called up to the big team for the 2002-03 season, where he made a lasting impression on February 11, 2003 as "the guy who got knocked the eff out by Aaron Downey" in a one-punch fight.
He continued to serve the role of agitator/pugilist for the 03-04 season, but when we came back from the lockout, there was little room for him in the "new NHL". He started on the big club, but about a month into the season, the Canes opted to keep the skilled players on the ice and eliminated his roster spot. He was sent down to Lowell, and ultimately was used as part of a multi-player deal to get Doug Weight from the Blues.
Boulerice didn't make any fans in St. Louis. During one of his first practice sessions, he allegedly checked teammate Ryan Johnson WAY too hard, and the result was a broken foot for Johnson. There was also some talk of a locker room fight involving Jesse and, at some point, a chair. The Blues knew they had a cancer on their hands, and despite an injury-depleted roster, they released him after just a few days.
Somehow, Jesse ended up back in the Carolina organization during the 2006-07 campaign, but only played a handful of games with Lowell before being cut.
This season, despite having colossally deficient in any skill category, he managed to make the Flyers roster. On the big club. Presumably to protect their $10M investment Daniel Briere.
We all know what happened next.
Also on Monday, it was reported that Boulerice made a little bit of good by calling Ryan Kesler to offer his apology. Kesler was "taken aback", and appreciated the effort by Boulerice. At least there's that.
I think we can safely assume that "the Bull" won't be playing in the NHL any more.
Thursday, September 27, 2007
Why are we in this handbasket, and why is it so hot?
Here's another indicator that the NHL is screwing up. I got this from James Mirtle's blog today.
Minnesota Wild defenseman Sean Hill was suspended for 20 games by the NHL for failing a drug test. We still don't know what "positive" result came back, but the League immediately hit him with 20 games. Of that, he served one game, and still owes 19. We all remember that. That's not the point.
The NHL decided to forbid him from participating in preseason games. Meanwhile, it has decided to allow the Islanders' Chris Simon to participate in the preseason even though he is still under suspension for his violent attack against Ryan Hollweg of the Rangers back in March.
As I pointed out on Tuesday, Simon's participation in a preseason tilt against the Rangers resulted in a huge brawl. I wondered on this page why he was allowed to play, and many people answered "because these games don't count". Of course I understand that, but I was (and still am) of the belief that a suspended player shouldn't be allowed to participate in any games (real or preseason) until he has served his suspension.
The problem here is that there's a double standard. The NHL has responded to this by saying "Terms of suspensions are case specific. Sean Hill's does not allow him to play" in the preseason.
In otherwords:
(Please pardon my mixing of two game shows and one board game to make that example)
Here's where it could get even trickier. Steve Downie from the Flyers will have a hearing with NHL disciplinarian Colin "Clownshoes" Campbell on Friday for his violent check of the Senators' Dean McAmmond. If Downie is suspended, Colin Campbell will have a lot of explaining to do in how he doles out the number of games and the remainder of the preseason.
Since these games "don't count", couldn't one make a silly argument that his potential suspension should only be for other exhibition games? Obviously that's a farce, but it would fall suit with the mutual exclusivity of regular season and pre-season rationale that allows Simon to play in the preseason.
You've probably seen the hit by now, but please check out this clip of it because it has a gem at the end.
There is no audio in the first 25 seconds of that video, but the bit that really gets me is Sens coach Bryan Murray talking about a "lack of respect" among players. He essentially calls Downie a "dirty player".
Hey Bryan... You ever hear of a guy named Chris Neil? Check your team's roster.
I will be very curious to see how this all pans out.
Minnesota Wild defenseman Sean Hill was suspended for 20 games by the NHL for failing a drug test. We still don't know what "positive" result came back, but the League immediately hit him with 20 games. Of that, he served one game, and still owes 19. We all remember that. That's not the point.
The NHL decided to forbid him from participating in preseason games. Meanwhile, it has decided to allow the Islanders' Chris Simon to participate in the preseason even though he is still under suspension for his violent attack against Ryan Hollweg of the Rangers back in March.
As I pointed out on Tuesday, Simon's participation in a preseason tilt against the Rangers resulted in a huge brawl. I wondered on this page why he was allowed to play, and many people answered "because these games don't count". Of course I understand that, but I was (and still am) of the belief that a suspended player shouldn't be allowed to participate in any games (real or preseason) until he has served his suspension.
The problem here is that there's a double standard. The NHL has responded to this by saying "Terms of suspensions are case specific. Sean Hill's does not allow him to play" in the preseason.
In otherwords:
We spun the wheel of disciplinary fortune, and Sean Hill hit a whammy while Chris Simon landed on "get out of jail free"
(Please pardon my mixing of two game shows and one board game to make that example)
Here's where it could get even trickier. Steve Downie from the Flyers will have a hearing with NHL disciplinarian Colin "Clownshoes" Campbell on Friday for his violent check of the Senators' Dean McAmmond. If Downie is suspended, Colin Campbell will have a lot of explaining to do in how he doles out the number of games and the remainder of the preseason.
Since these games "don't count", couldn't one make a silly argument that his potential suspension should only be for other exhibition games? Obviously that's a farce, but it would fall suit with the mutual exclusivity of regular season and pre-season rationale that allows Simon to play in the preseason.
You've probably seen the hit by now, but please check out this clip of it because it has a gem at the end.
There is no audio in the first 25 seconds of that video, but the bit that really gets me is Sens coach Bryan Murray talking about a "lack of respect" among players. He essentially calls Downie a "dirty player".
Hey Bryan... You ever hear of a guy named Chris Neil? Check your team's roster.
I will be very curious to see how this all pans out.
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