anyone ever notice how much Kovalchuk dives...

[ddbowdoin 0]

I may have spelled his name wrong (sorry) but I'm watching him play the bruins now and he's taken two blatant dives in this game and no calls have been made. in the first he was rewarded a PS after "falling" forward after being hooked from behind.

he's a great player but that crap bothers me

[TBLfan 25]

He's not that bad, I've seen a lot worse.

[habookus 1]

Semin dives a lot too.

[chippa13 1844]

I may have spelled his name wrong (sorry) but I'm watching him play the bruins now and he's taken two blatant dives in this game and no calls have been made. in the first he was rewarded a PS after "falling" forward after being hooked from behind.

he's a great player but that crap bothers me

Sure, he dressed it up a little but it was still a hooking penalty and worthy of a penalty shot.

[Fire0nIce228 1]

Yeah, dropping forward to your knees when you get a little hook is crap he shoulda got a dive.

Had that been Crosby you know everyone and their mom would be in revolt over the same exact type of embellishment.

[pantherfan 0]

Had that been Crosby you know everyone and their mom would be in revolt over the same exact type of embellishment.

Where is that little baby nowdays anyway?

If he were 1/2 the player Ovechkin was he'd have been back a long while ago :D

[ddbowdoin 0]

haha I'm interested to see the extent of the Hossa injury, I know a little off topic, but I always find it interesting when they describe an injury as a "slight injury" especially to the knee.

if they dumped off their potential future talent for that I'm going to have laugh a small bit

[Fire0nIce228 1]

Anyways, back to Kovalchuk..

[cch 0]

I was also watching that game and must say that it just adds to my dislike of kovalchuk as a hockey player. I'm not saying that he doesn't have talent but he plays an amazingly disrespectful brand of hockey. Like today when he got that penalty shot he was waiting to feel a stick on him so he could fall instead of moving his feet and getting a shot off. I agree that there was potential for that to be a hook but all Wideman did was touch him with his stick and Chuck went down before he could actually hook him. I would have loved to see his reaction to a dive call on that play, he probably would have literally started crying.

[cxo 0]

I'm not saying that he doesn't have talent but he plays an amazingly disrespectful brand of hockey.

He's far from the only one who plays this way, and from the first player we should be criticizing for it.

[Fire0nIce228 1]

Both those statements are true, but Kovalchuk is the only one I think of when I remember the pointing at Crosby the taunting the benches, taunting the goaltenders.. the guy is good but he's a prick. When Avery did the same shit back to him he lost control.

Atl vs Pit today at 3pm should be a good tilt, theres always something going on with Kovalchuk in it. Too bad Sid and Hossa are out.

[chippa13 1844]

I was also watching that game and must say that it just adds to my dislike of kovalchuk as a hockey player. I'm not saying that he doesn't have talent but he plays an amazingly disrespectful brand of hockey. Like today when he got that penalty shot he was waiting to feel a stick on him so he could fall instead of moving his feet and getting a shot off. I agree that there was potential for that to be a hook but all Wideman did was touch him with his stick and Chuck went down before he could actually hook him. I would have loved to see his reaction to a dive call on that play, he probably would have literally started crying.

Right, because it is always a better play to hope for a penalty shot and dive rather than try to finish a breakaway that you already have. As I said before, he dropped easy but Wideman did get the stick across Kovalchuk's body first. I would think that if I, a lifelong Bruins fan, can be objective enough to see that the penalty shot was the right call then you guys should be able to.

[ddbowdoin 0]

I dont know man, the hook was light and he fell forward, kind of an a strange way to go when youre being hooked from behind

[TBLfan 25]

You see it all the time. Hooks or slashes that wouldn't send the beginners I coach, to the ice... These guys are some of the best hockey skaters in the world and a tap on the leg or gloves is going to send them to their knees? Give me a break. They need to call diving more often, this is hockey... not soccer.

[Jason Harris 31]

I would think that if I, a lifelong Bruins fan, can be objective enough to see that the penalty shot was the right call then you guys should be able to.

I'd rather see both penalties called. If he tries to skate through it and still is impeded, he wins the penalty shot/power play; if he takes a dive to make sure the refs notice the hook, he loses his team the penalty shot/power play.

[Jake 0]

Semin is definitely one of the worst in the NHL.

Can't say I've noticed Kovalchuk do it all that often.

[ean 0]

You see it all the time. Hooks or slashes that wouldn't send the beginners I coach, to the ice... These guys are some of the best hockey skaters in the world and a tap on the leg or gloves is going to send them to their knees? Give me a break. They need to call diving more often, this is hockey... not soccer.

I consider this just as much the NHLs fault as it is the players for diving.

I too hate to see players go down easily but the problem is that the calls are just made way to tight per the new NHL approach. Now, calls are being made even if infractions are seemingly not present. For instance, how often have you seen a guy get his stick parallel to the ice across an opponents midsection automatically called hooking, when there is actually no hooking taking place. Players are just beginning to take advantage of the extremely tight calls, and for what, so players like Paul Kariya have an easier time getting shots off?

[ashtonhutch05 0]

Diving aside, he needs to get out of this slump he's been in and get the Thrashers back to winning.

[chippa13 1844]

I would think that if I, a lifelong Bruins fan, can be objective enough to see that the penalty shot was the right call then you guys should be able to.

I'd rather see both penalties called. If he tries to skate through it and still is impeded, he wins the penalty shot/power play; if he takes a dive to make sure the refs notice the hook, he loses his team the penalty shot/power play.

Even if the refs called the dive, Kovalchuk still would have been awarded the penalty shot.