... Makes me laugh that Daniel Alfredsson took a lot of heat and was even called "classless" by American TV broadcasters for shooting the puck at Scott Niedermayer with time running out in the second period of Game 4. The only thing he did wrong was fire it too low. In the Stanley Cup final, you should be doing everything you can to win. With two seconds left on the clock and standing at your blue line, you're not going to score. Attempting to take out the opponent's best defenceman is the next best thing. Believe it's called competitiveness ... (Don Brennan, Ottawa Sun)
Most assumed that once the Senators got the Finals, the Ottawa hockey press would maybe give up on their fantasy notions of what good hockey really is. I think after game 3 when McAmmond lay flat and motionless on the ice after a Chris Progner elbow, that the definitions of clean and dirty would become much more apparent.
Well, we can scrap that idea. It seems dirty does not apply inside the Senators' dressing room. Not unlike the league, the Ottawa press holds this umbrella of protection over the Sens and constantly reiterates that the Sens can do no wrong.
The Pronger hit was dirty. There is no argument to the contrary, it is cut and dry. Being that we can all agree on that, why can we not just agree that Alfie's slap shot at Niedermayer was also dirty?
First we need to clarify Brennan's argument. He doesn't defend Alfie by saying that what he did was not on purpose or was a fluke. He says that Alfie did it on purpose, he was trying to "take out" the Ducks' best defenseman, and that it was competitiveness, not a lack of class. If you don't believe me, please stop, re-read the quoted passage above before you continue.
Taking a slap shot at someone 20 feet away on purpose is equal to purposely trying to injure someone with a stick, or an elbow. There is no difference between the three. Pronger wanted to injure McAmmond with his elbow and Alfredsson wanted to injure Niedermayer with the puck. You cannot say that one is dirty and one is competitiveness because both are intending to hurt using blunt force that is coming from things that are other than the shoulder.
The motivation to "take out" any player is in no way competitive, it's classless. Most good open ice checkers hit very carefully and will almost always stay away from the other player's head and knees. The goal of any good checker is to take someone out of a play, not out of a game, a season, or a career. To suggest otherwise is ludicrous and to even hint otherwise borders a level of stupidity and ignorance that no one should reach. This is supposed to be a game played by gentlemen, who understand that everyone is in the league to make a living and should respect the fact that purposely injuring someone, no matter what the stakes, can not only ruin someone's career but also their livelihood. This is not Ultimate Fighting, and not WWF Wrestling. Physical play is good but physical punishment has no place in hockey.
Brennan would have been much better off had he tried to play the "it was an accident" card. He could have said Alfie didn't see Niedermayer and that the shot had a one in a million chance of hitting him. Instead, like the Canadian Press always does when a Sen is involved, tries to play it like its noble and its part of the game.
Hey Brennan, what if Murray told Alfie to "go out and run 'em" right before he shot that puck? Would that change your opinion on "taking out" other teams' best players? Rational people can only hope so.
Well, we can scrap that idea. It seems dirty does not apply inside the Senators' dressing room. Not unlike the league, the Ottawa press holds this umbrella of protection over the Sens and constantly reiterates that the Sens can do no wrong.
The Pronger hit was dirty. There is no argument to the contrary, it is cut and dry. Being that we can all agree on that, why can we not just agree that Alfie's slap shot at Niedermayer was also dirty?
First we need to clarify Brennan's argument. He doesn't defend Alfie by saying that what he did was not on purpose or was a fluke. He says that Alfie did it on purpose, he was trying to "take out" the Ducks' best defenseman, and that it was competitiveness, not a lack of class. If you don't believe me, please stop, re-read the quoted passage above before you continue.
Taking a slap shot at someone 20 feet away on purpose is equal to purposely trying to injure someone with a stick, or an elbow. There is no difference between the three. Pronger wanted to injure McAmmond with his elbow and Alfredsson wanted to injure Niedermayer with the puck. You cannot say that one is dirty and one is competitiveness because both are intending to hurt using blunt force that is coming from things that are other than the shoulder.
The motivation to "take out" any player is in no way competitive, it's classless. Most good open ice checkers hit very carefully and will almost always stay away from the other player's head and knees. The goal of any good checker is to take someone out of a play, not out of a game, a season, or a career. To suggest otherwise is ludicrous and to even hint otherwise borders a level of stupidity and ignorance that no one should reach. This is supposed to be a game played by gentlemen, who understand that everyone is in the league to make a living and should respect the fact that purposely injuring someone, no matter what the stakes, can not only ruin someone's career but also their livelihood. This is not Ultimate Fighting, and not WWF Wrestling. Physical play is good but physical punishment has no place in hockey.
Brennan would have been much better off had he tried to play the "it was an accident" card. He could have said Alfie didn't see Niedermayer and that the shot had a one in a million chance of hitting him. Instead, like the Canadian Press always does when a Sen is involved, tries to play it like its noble and its part of the game.
Hey Brennan, what if Murray told Alfie to "go out and run 'em" right before he shot that puck? Would that change your opinion on "taking out" other teams' best players? Rational people can only hope so.
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