08-09 Montreal Canadiens Thread

[Chadd 916]

What the hell was van ryn thinking? How dare he actually try and play the puck, it's not like playing the puck is supposed to be the point of the game or anything. And suckering poor Kostopoulos into hitting him from behind, that shouldn't be permitted at all. Why not just suspend van ryn for creating the whole situation?

Kostopoulos locks in for the hit above the faceoff dot, he could care less about anything other than drilling van ryn. I can't see how anyone can defend it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CAmcigT-KIw

[KingPest19 0]

What the hell was van ryn thinking? How dare he actually try and play the puck, it's not like playing the puck is supposed to be the point of the game or anything. And suckering poor Kostopoulos into hitting him from behind, that shouldn't be permitted at all. Why not just suspend van ryn for creating the whole situation?

Kostopoulos locks in for the hit above the faceoff dot, he could care less about anything other than drilling van ryn. I can't see how anyone can defend it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CAmcigT-KIw

Im agreeing that Kostopolous was looking for a big hit. Was he looking for a big hit that was going to injure MVR? I dont believe he was. It was an outcome that could have been avoided by both players. Kostopolous could have come in with a touch less speed and MVR could have continued going along the boards with the puck instead of slamming on the brakes and turning into the boards at the last possible moment. From the frame by frame I saw Kostopolous was already commited to the hit when MVR was perpendicular to the boards. Kostopolous was already inside the goal line when MVR was in that position. it was a 12 frame clip and only 1 second elapsed from beginning to end. MVR keeps going ebhind the net its a big hit and chances are no injury. He tried to avoid the hit and ended up getting injured. He knew Kostopolous was coming in and coming in hard and made the decision to try and avoid the hit, put on the brakes at the wrong time and unfortunately now hes going to miss some time and Kostopolous is going to get suspended. If this had happened to a Kings player Id be saying the same thing.

[Chadd 916]

What the hell was van ryn thinking? How dare he actually try and play the puck, it's not like playing the puck is supposed to be the point of the game or anything. And suckering poor Kostopoulos into hitting him from behind, that shouldn't be permitted at all. Why not just suspend van ryn for creating the whole situation?

Kostopoulos locks in for the hit above the faceoff dot, he could care less about anything other than drilling van ryn. I can't see how anyone can defend it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CAmcigT-KIw

Im agreeing that Kostopolous was looking for a big hit. Was he looking for a big hit that was going to injure MVR? I dont believe he was. It was an outcome that could have been avoided by both players. Kostopolous could have come in with a touch less speed and MVR could have continued going along the boards with the puck instead of slamming on the brakes and turning into the boards at the last possible moment. From the frame by frame I saw Kostopolous was already commited to the hit when MVR was perpendicular to the boards. Kostopolous was already inside the goal line when MVR was in that position. it was a 12 frame clip and only 1 second elapsed from beginning to end. MVR keeps going ebhind the net its a big hit and chances are no injury. He tried to avoid the hit and ended up getting injured. He knew Kostopolous was coming in and coming in hard and made the decision to try and avoid the hit, put on the brakes at the wrong time and unfortunately now hes going to miss some time and Kostopolous is going to get suspended. If this had happened to a Kings player Id be saying the same thing.

Kostopoulos went for the big hit when he didn't have to. If it's body on body, then I might buy the inability to avoid the hit. Long story short, Kostopoulos tried to run his head through the boards (he leads with his arms and drives van ryn in head first) and he did just that. He didn't care what could or would happen to van ryn, he just wanted to drill him as hard as he could. Trying to blame van ryn for the hit is asinine. How dare the guy try and make a play with the puck? You can tell van ryn was expecting some contact, he just wasn't expecting someone to drive his head and shoulders into the boards. If you think it's his fault for not expecting a guy to try and kill him, that's just sad. Then again, what should I expect from someone who is/was a big supporter of Avery.

[KingPest19 0]

What the hell was van ryn thinking? How dare he actually try and play the puck, it's not like playing the puck is supposed to be the point of the game or anything. And suckering poor Kostopoulos into hitting him from behind, that shouldn't be permitted at all. Why not just suspend van ryn for creating the whole situation?

Kostopoulos locks in for the hit above the faceoff dot, he could care less about anything other than drilling van ryn. I can't see how anyone can defend it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CAmcigT-KIw

Im agreeing that Kostopolous was looking for a big hit. Was he looking for a big hit that was going to injure MVR? I dont believe he was. It was an outcome that could have been avoided by both players. Kostopolous could have come in with a touch less speed and MVR could have continued going along the boards with the puck instead of slamming on the brakes and turning into the boards at the last possible moment. From the frame by frame I saw Kostopolous was already commited to the hit when MVR was perpendicular to the boards. Kostopolous was already inside the goal line when MVR was in that position. it was a 12 frame clip and only 1 second elapsed from beginning to end. MVR keeps going ebhind the net its a big hit and chances are no injury. He tried to avoid the hit and ended up getting injured. He knew Kostopolous was coming in and coming in hard and made the decision to try and avoid the hit, put on the brakes at the wrong time and unfortunately now hes going to miss some time and Kostopolous is going to get suspended. If this had happened to a Kings player Id be saying the same thing.

Kostopoulos went for the big hit when he didn't have to. If it's body on body, then I might buy the inability to avoid the hit. Long story short, Kostopoulos tried to run his head through the boards (he leads with his arms and drives van ryn in head first) and he did just that. He didn't care what could or would happen to van ryn, he just wanted to drill him as hard as he could. Trying to blame van ryn for the hit is asinine. How dare the guy try and make a play with the puck? You can tell van ryn was expecting some contact, he just wasn't expecting someone to drive his head and shoulders into the boards. If you think it's his fault for not expecting a guy to try and kill him, that's just sad. Then again, what should I expect from someone who is/was a big supporter of Avery.

Chadd Im agreeing he went for the big hit and Im not trying to blame MVR for what happened. I felt the same way you did when I first saw the hit. After seeing a frame by frame You can see where things went wrong with the hit. I have no problem with Kostopolous getting suspended because of his driving MVR's head into the glass. What Im saying is if not for the last moment change of body position its just another big hit. If not for that Kostopolous catches him on the side and its just another big hit. You can see in the frame by frame by the time MVR is stopping and trying to go the other way that Kostopolous is within 1-2ft of him. At that point in time you can see that its not going to be a good outcome. Thats why Im saying he didnt have the ability to avoid driving him into the glass like he did. The outcome could have been very different if different decisions had been made by both players. Kostopolous didnt have to come in full speed and MVR didnt have to make a last second turn towards the boards with a forechecker coming in at full speed. Kostopolous wasnt anticipating that turn and MVR was exepcting him to come in with that much speed.

[mrusse01 0]

Yeah it was a hit from behind, but to say it was a "dirty" hit is just idiotic.

Homer quote of the year.

You can accidentally put a dirty hit on someone, sure MVR did turn back right at the last second, but Kostopolos still exploded into him with his hands and arms. Even if Van Ryn didn't turn back, it would have still been a highly questionable, potential charging from behind situtation.

I don't understand how pretty much every single hit from behind now is qualified by saying 'yeah, but he turned into him a bit'. Honestly, has there been a single serious hit from behind in the last two years where somoene wasn't saying 'he turned into him'? If you're chasing someone from behind at full speed with the intent to plaster him into the boards, and he turns the other way and you still hit him, I'm sorry, that's a dirty hit. That's why you aren't supposed to chase guys from behind full speed into the boards with the intent to throw a big hit, because if you guess wrong and he turns the other way, then you've just done exactly what Kostopolos did here.

I still think the Kostitsyn stick in the feet of Schenn might have been dirtier. Anybody who thinks he 'just lost an edge' there has obviously never played a serious game of hockey. The only question was if Kostitsyn just did that by pure accident, or if he intended to...judging from his reputation I'd take the latter, but replays are inconclusive, as he isn't really looking in that direction.

[Law Goalie 147]

While not as bad as, say, a Hollweg Special, it was a pretty bad hit.

The move on Schenn was, frankly, much worse. That is exactly how you break a guy's leg.

[habsfan87 0]

he'll be suspended just because of how the media has portrayed it, and because he was hurt so badly. That being said I was taught at the age of 12 not to turn my back like that going into the boards, especially knowing he was behind him. Now we're going to see Hollweg try and take out Markov or something stupid.

[echi24 1]

i don't see how anyone is defending the hit. yes van ryn may have turned in the split second, but regardless, after kostopolous initiated the contact with his arms, he should have let up on the hit. the action of exploding his arms through the hit was after the initial contact was made and there was more than enough time to react. he could have easily let up and pinned van ryn into the boards, rather than trying to plaster his head through the glass. his reaction after the play is more of a, "shit i probably shouldn't have done that", rather than a "i didn't mean to do that" expression.

[mrusse01 0]

he'll be suspended just because of how the media has portrayed it, and because he was hurt so badly

I don't trust the NHL to sit the right way on a toilet seat, so I wouldn't be shocked by any disciplinary outcome...but if he is suspended, I'm quite sure 'the media' will have had nothing to do with it.

It's a dirty hit from behind. Period. I'm not sure how the media could portray it any differently than that.

[Chadd 916]

he'll be suspended just because of how the media has portrayed it, and because he was hurt so badly

I don't trust the NHL to sit the right way on a toilet seat, so I wouldn't be shocked by any disciplinary outcome...but if he is suspended, I'm quite sure 'the media' will have had nothing to do with it.

It's a dirty hit from behind. Period. I'm not sure how the media could portray it any differently than that.

The NHL has never given a significant suspension for any hit like this. Anyone who expects them to do the right thing this time is delusional.

[malcb33 97]

I just love it how Leafs fans totally forget about all the dirty players (and plays they've made) they've had over the years. Kostopolous and the Kostitsyn's are the dirtiest players to play the game now, but Tucker (ex leaf, I know) and Hollweg never did/do a thing wrong.

[mrusse01 0]

I just love it how Leafs fans totally forget about all the dirty players (and plays they've made) they've had over the years. Kostopolous and the Kostitsyn's are the dirtiest players to play the game now, but Tucker (ex leaf, I know) and Hollweg never did/do a thing wrong.

What? So we're supposed to think the Kostopolous hit isn't dirty because Hollweg is on the Leafs now and Tucker used to be? Nice argument. I'll be sure not to 'forget' that the next time someone on Philly gets run, I mean, they used to have Downie so they shouldn't complain about it.

You won't find me defending Hollweg anywhere, I think he's a a dirty hockey player, and moreso just a flat out bad hockey player. He isn't big, he isn't fast, he has terrible hands, he can't fight, his only role appears to be that he is willing to run at guys. It's a disgrace.

[RadioGaGa 162]

Three Games:

http://tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=255442&lid...s=topStory_main

[Chadd 916]

Three Games:

http://tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=255442&lid...s=topStory_main

Pathetic and just about what everyone expected.

[interpathway 9]

'"While it is my determination that Kostopoulos did not deliver a check to an unsuspecting opponent, his actions caused injuries," said NHL Senior Executive Vice President of Hockey Operations Colin Campbell.'

nhl.com

If his actions caused a fellow player to miss up to a month (expected), that should be his penalty as well.

[mrusse01 0]

'"While it is my determination that Kostopoulos did not deliver a check to an unsuspecting opponent, his actions caused injuries," said NHL Senior Executive Vice President of Hockey Operations Colin Campbell.'

You can always count on Colin Campbell for a non-sensical quote like that. I guess beacuse Van Ryn knew it was coming makes it better?

I also never understood how the NHL places so much emphasis on the injury the guy sustains. In my mind you should punish the action, not the result.

[mik3 1]

So if a guy gets smoked from behind, but escapes without injury, everything's cool?

[Chadd 916]

'"While it is my determination that Kostopoulos did not deliver a check to an unsuspecting opponent, his actions caused injuries," said NHL Senior Executive Vice President of Hockey Operations Colin Campbell.'

You can always count on Colin Campbell for a non-sensical quote like that. I guess beacuse Van Ryn knew it was coming makes it better?

I also never understood how the NHL places so much emphasis on the injury the guy sustains. In my mind you should punish the action, not the result.

You have to realize that the guy handing out the suspensions was the type of guy who threw those kinds of hits during his career. It's long since past time to replace him.

[interpathway 9]

True, actions need to be just as much a determining factor as results. Both should be equally used in determining consequences might've been a more appropriate statement to make.

[D3nZ 0]

I think the suspension is good, the unsuspecting part I am supporting, Van Ryn did look behind him and saw Kosto comming in behind him. Kosto should have followed the player and hit the boards next to the player and not at the back of the player. I just saw the 6 incher Grabovsky did to Price just before falling on him. Both teams were trowing cheap shots during that game and Montreal did look like the worst team.

[RadioGaGa 162]

Good God...when this team is on they can beat ANYONE in the league handily. But, when they are bad they can be beaten by ANYONE. A consistent effort game to game would be nice.

[habsfan87 0]

yeah i saw this at the bar when it was 5-1 and they just made it 6-1, I had to take a double take, i was in shock. Carey has gone 6ga-0ga-6ga in 3 games.

[thejackal 46]

that game was an embarrassment to hockey

[chippa13 1844]

'"While it is my determination that Kostopoulos did not deliver a check to an unsuspecting opponent, his actions caused injuries," said NHL Senior Executive Vice President of Hockey Operations Colin Campbell.'

nhl.com

If his actions caused a fellow player to miss up to a month (expected), that should be his penalty as well.

Doesn't work. There would be cries of cheating and lying to keep an offending player out of the lineup, especially if the involved teams are in a playoff race.

[habsfan87 0]

yeah theres no way there could be a "let the punishment fit the crime" justice here, someone could have a grey area hit and end up missing 70 games due to post concussion syndrome and the other guy has to miss that much, i just couldnt see that working.