Flyers at Canucks

[foxman]

What do you think of the dirty cross-check on Vancouver Canucks centre Ryan Kesler from Jesse Boulerice of Philadelphia Flyers. Again Philadelphia Flyers have another player being suspended.How many games do you think he should/will get.The score was 7-2 Flyers at the time.

[DavidY]

Probably 5 or so.

MacKenzie from TSN recommends a minimum of 20. :0

Dave

[jeffc]

i'd say 20 or more. Seeing as they gave Downey 20, and the NHL "appears" to be getting serious about this stuff, that should be the minimum. Cross check to the head with no puck near him. There is nothing hockey related about that.

[sillywilly]

you can't give him 20 games for something like that. maybe he was going for his shoulders and missed. He didn't leave his feet and go elbows first.... The game happens very fast, faster for the guys on the eyes, they don't get to see everything we see. You can't give a guy 20 games for something like that

[jeffc]

sure you can. At least McAmmond had just gotten rid of the puck. This guy had a stick swinging incident in junior as well.

[DavidY]

Personally, if the NHL was really serious about all the concussions and such, any hit, elbow or stick to the head would be out of bounds.

After further consideration, I am guessing that the NHL will probably give him 10 to 15 games for the cross check to the chops. It should be more, but as noted above, the NHL is not going all out against this sort of thing.

Dave

[dasnutz]

As a huge Flyer fan, I say he should get 20 games +. There is no need to play a meathead in the 3rd with an 8-2 lead. John Stevens should get a few games as well for throwing Eager on with less than a minute left.

[Chambokl]

I would say probably 8 games.... but should get more.

[mberube]

In my opinion is that this incident is worse then the Downey hit. The Downey hit was rough hockey. This crosscheck to the face was intentional. He was looking for a fight and injuring the player seems to be all he was thinking.

I will be surprised if he get less then Downey. 20+ games is my estimate.

Mike

[jonf]

Definitely not the worst crosscheck I have seen in the NHL. Based on passed incidents, I would say its about a 10 game suspension max. HOWEVER, it is pretty obvious that the NHL is trying to crack down on this type of play, and get it out of the game once and for all (for which they should be applauded). If that is indeed the case, then they need to send a strong message and give this guy at least 30 games. Simon got 25 last year, and he had no reputation. This guy is known to be a goon, and was banned for an entire season from the OHL and charged with aggravated assault after taking a baseball swing at an opponent's face. I would not be upset if they gave him a lifetime ban...he is not a hockey player....but I also know that won't happen.

[Fallys0820]

I saw the highlights for the first time tonight and I'm appauled by this hit. I think the Downey hit was a viscious hockey hit. I'm not saying it was clean, I'm saying that the hit was more "a part of the game" than this garbage that "what's his name" laid on Kessler.

If you see the highlight again, watch what the culprit does as he skates around Kessler, it looks like he's about ready to drop the gloves whenever Kessler gets up. You can see his expression change when he realizes that Kessler isn't getting up and the gloves slide back up his hands.

This singular act of wanting to go after him AFTER such a meathead play is what makes me want him to get 20+ for this. I would estimate 10-12 though, but want more.

Fally
aka Scott

[Indio]

I am hoping they make the jerk pay big time as a signal to the other goons that this won't be tollerated anymore but alas, it will probably be between 10 and 20 games.

[foxman]

Flyers winger Jesse Boulerice has been suspended 25 games for his cross-check to the face of Vancouver Canucks forward Ryan Kesler.

[jeffc]

nice to see the NHL sending a message to these goons.

[mberube]

Like I expected but I still think they should have banned him. There is no place for that kind of violence in sports. And obviously this guy would not be missed in the NHL. That would have set a precedent.

Mike

[jonf]

I doubt you'll ever see this guy in the NHL again. He's shown that all he's good for is getting suspensions and risking other players health. He has no upside. You'll never see him again.

[PEI Golfing]

nice to see the NHL sending a message to these goons.

What about the "skilled goons"................ (ie. Pronger)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4bJXgDCbICM

Has been mentioned a number of times on Team 1200 whether the "skilled goons" will receive a different # of games suspension than the "non skilled goons".......

[jonf]

Well, Simon got 25 last year, and he is by no means simply a goon. Obviously he's not in the same skill category as Pronger, but he is actually a real hockey player.

[foxman]

Definitely not the worst crosscheck I have seen in the NHL. Based on passed incidents, I would say its about a 10 game suspension max. HOWEVER, it is pretty obvious that the NHL is trying to crack down on this type of play, and get it out of the game once and for all (for which they should be applauded). If that is indeed the case, then they need to send a strong message and give this guy at least 30 games. Simon got 25 last year, and he had no reputation. This guy is known to be a goon, and was banned for an entire season from the OHL and charged with aggravated assault after taking a baseball swing at an opponent's face. I would not be upset if they gave him a lifetime ban...he is not a hockey player....but I also know that won't happen.

I would not go as far as say he has no reputation.
Simon has spent 14 seasons in the NHL and has complied 1765 penalty minutes over that span. He has been suspended five times for various infractions over his career.

[Baxter]

What the NHL needs to do is make the Teams pay the price as well. The Flyer's should be with 2 less players unto the suspended players are allowed back to play. The way it is now they just dress another player and go about business.

[jonf]

You can't do that. I've heard that solution, and its crap. The team cannot be held responsible for their players' actions, over which they have no control.

[PEI Golfing]

You can't do that. I've heard that solution, and its crap. The team cannot be held responsible for their players' actions, over which they have no control.

Thats right same as parents cannot be held responsible for their childrens' actions, over which they have no control...........

Unfortunately, thats the society we have created and live in.............

[jonf]

Thats right same as parents cannot be held responsible for their childrens' actions, over which they have no control...........

Unfortunately, thats the society we have created and live in.............

Ridiculous................... These are grown men, not children. They are responsible for their own actions, and are punished accordingly............

If you can prove some kind of negligence on the part of the team, then go ahead and give them a punishment (like they do when a coach sends a player out to settle a score). But you can't just go around willy nilly, handing out punishments to people who have done nothing wrong. I rue the day that we will live in a society like THAT.









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