Tonight the Blackhawks beat the Columbus Blue Jackets 5 to 2 and Viktor Stalberg scored his first NHL hat trick, but perhaps more memorable is that the Hawks were called for ‘instigating’ twice.  So it looks like the Blackhawks will be the team that the NHL proves their instigating penalty on. 

And what is instigating exactly?  According to the NHL’s ever-changing rule book,

“A player who is deemed to be both the instigator and aggressor of an altercation shall be assessed an instigating minor penalty, a major penalty for fighting, a ten-minute misconduct (instigator) and a game misconduct penalty (aggressor).”

Does nobody think this is too severe? After all, Canucks’ Alex Burrows cheap shotted Bruins’ Shawn Thornton in the Canucks/Bruins game the other night, but nobody called constant bur-on-the-butt Burrows for instigating.

It also looks like the NHL is confusing an “aggressor” with an “instigator” as if they were one and the same.  According to the NHL an “aggressor” is,

“…the player who continues to throw punches in an attempt to inflict punishment on his opponent who is in a defenseless position or who is an unwilling combatant.”

Um, yeah, but what do you call an Alex Burrows-type who repeatedly takes cheap shots on guys (hair pulling, biting, scratching, spearing, high-sticking) in order to entice them into fighting?  See, because the dictionary defines instigating as “urging, provoking, or inciting some action or course” and in the case of Alex Burrows in that game the other night, it was he who instigated first.  To put that in playground rules, Alex Burrows started it first!

But the NHL give themselves an out for bad refereeing:

“Referees are provided very wide latitude in the penalties with which they may impose under this rule. This is done intentionally to enable them to differentiate between the obvious degrees of responsibility of the participants either for starting the fighting or persisting in continuing the fighting. The discretion provided should be exercised realistically.”

Another way to define “wide latitude” is “subjectivity” ensuring that no two games are called exactly alike, or properly.  Why subjectivity?  Because refs have preferences for certain teams and dislikes for others, and because the NHL rules are so vague as to be interpreted in many different ways.  For instance, if the instigating rule were a law it wouldn’t hold water; it would be voided for vagueness.  So why should the NHL purposely leave the instigating rule vague so as to ensure confusion and bad calls, i.e. improperly refereed games?

And I guess I can understand why they created the penalty for being the 3rd man to engage in a fight (the old “3rd man in rule”) to guarantee that NHL fights didn’t turn into bench-clearers, but coming to the aid of a teammate after he got checked dirty — like Steve Montador and Jamal Mayers in tonight’s game who were defending Andrew Brunette and Niklas Hjalmarsson respectively — shouldn’t be instigating or a game misconduct.  These kinds of rules are ruining the integrity of hockey and need to stop!

My gosh, did you see Niklas Hjalmarsson get pounded on the ice tonight?  He was on the business end of a dirty check to the head from Blue Jackets’ Jared Boll and a nasty high-stick to the eye from Tomas Kubalik.  Granted the high-stick was an accident, but the dirty hit certainly wasn’t and deserved an answer from Jamal Mayers.  So I disagree with the whole “instigating” penalty as it’s defined by the NHL and as it’s being enforced by the refs.  I understand the fine line the NHL walks between trying to keep the players safe and over-enforcement, but all these rules are ruining hockey.  Seriously, I’m with Don Cherry on this one: If you overly penalize fighting, you will ruin the character of the game and therefore the game itself.

That said, congratulations to Viktor Stalberg on his hat trick and to Dave Bolland on his shorty goal;  Tazer (who took a puck to the head off a deflected shot from Duncan Keith in the 1st period) and Jelly go ice your heads; and hey NHL, can we cool it on the instigation penalties for one hot minute???

Speaking of getting it right, the Hawks couldn’t in tonight’s shutout by the Avs. I don’t think we have ever seen Captain Serious, Jonathan Toews, so frustrated. In the dwindling moments of the game, Toews was slow to get up after having been knocked once again to the ice, and he just never seemed to recover his will. When the game was over, Toews uncharacteristically was one of the first off the ice to the dressing room, foregoing his usual fist bump to each of his teammates. I can only imagine what he had to say to his teammates once off the ice. Hopefully he angrily yelled at them and said something like, “I can’t carry an entire team by myself. So if you don’t have the heart to get out there and do your best and stop bumbling around with the puck, then what are you doing here???” Toews had every right to take a breeze on his team after the game was over; they took a breeze on him while the game was still on.

Last night’s 4-1 win against the Calgary Flames was conspicuous in regards to Patrick Kane for a few additional reasons.  First, it was very obvious that Patrick Sharp set Patrick Kane up for a very sweet goal in the third period.  Even Pat Foley noted that Patrick Sharp could just as easily have taken that shot himself, but he “unselfishly” passed off to Kane for the goal.  Was Patrick Sharp being “unselfish” really, or was he just doing what he had been instructed to do?  It’s no secret Patrick Kane has trouble taking the puck to the net.  It’s also no secret that Patrick Kane will give up the puck if harassed by opponents even slightly.  Heck, I’ve been writing about it for several seasons now.  In fact, much of this blog space has been taken up with my complaints about how Jonathan Toews shouldn’t have had to babysit Patrick Kane when Kane was on Toews’ line.  Not only was it ridiculous for Toews to have to prop up Kane, but I think Toews got tired of it too and may have asked for Kane to be put on a separate line…

…Which leads me to the second most conspicuous thing from last night’s Blackhawks-Flames game: After the game, Captain Jonathan Toews gave every one of the Blackhawks a fist bump coming off the ice except for Patrick Kane.  Subtle?  Yes.  Yet it speaks volumes.  So I’ll say it.  I think Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews may have had a falling out.  And all this fan can say is that I don’t blame Jonathan Toews one bit for being fed up as Patrick Kane’s babysitter.  I would also add that it is very apparent that Jonathan Toews is not happy on this team this season, and understandably so.

Jonathan Toews is a superstar, no doubt.  But as captain, you can so clearly see he puts his team first and himself second.  Toews could be a Sidney Crosby or an Alex Ovechkin and take all the glory for himself, but he is selfless and has instead taken a step back and has supported his teammates instead of becoming a glory hound.  Still, there are limits, and if Toews was asked to babysit Patrick Kane in order to make Kane look better (i.e. to carry Kane), well, that is absolutely unfair to Toews, captain or not.

Now I’m not trying to shrink heads here, but there is inarguably a team psychology to every team, and it looks like the Hawks have been psyched out all season.  They win, but can you really say that they’re clean wins or that the Hawks look like a cohesive unit?  And why don’t the Hawks salute the fans after home games anymore?  Why don’t Toews and Kane do fan signings together anymore, or at all?  Why are the Hawks doing less reaching out to the fans than they have in past seasons?  Something’s not right here, and the cracks are starting to show.

Related:

Hawks win on Halloween, but still some bats in the belfry

Where Toews and Kane cannot compare, however, is on the face-off.  Patrick Kane is still struggling on the face-off with only 1 face-off win and 6 face-off losses and a mere 14% face-off win percentage in tonight’s game; whereas Toews had 20 face-off wins and 5 face-off losses for a face-off win percentage of 80%.  So maybe these two can trade up on some things.  Maybe Toews can step up his game and Kane can step up his face-off wins.

And what to say about the Hawks’ lagging power play?  Last year, their power play topped the league and their penalty kill was lagging.  Now it’s the opposite with their penalty kill topping the league and their power play bottoming out amongst the lowest in the league.  It’s embarrassing for the Hawks to repeatedly not be able to score on a 5-on-3, but of course the Hawks are aware of this and are certainly working on the problem.

Overall, the Hawks need to buck up against defensive-minded teams.  The Hawks looked tired and sloppy tonight.  Dave Bolland’s line wasn’t as aggressive as before; Viktor Stalberg, while shooter on the game-winning goal, didn’t pick up his game ’til the overtime period; and even Jonathan Toews was slow to get off the ice at one point.  Let’s hope the Hawks are just suffering from something unavoidable like the flu and will clear out the cobwebs and pick up their game soon.  Still, a win is a win.  Happy Hawks-o-ween everybody!

Yet, O’Halloran, undeterred by his comeuppance, switched the focus of his ire to Patrick Sharp in the 3rd period.  Goony Stars’ forward Steve Ott had delivered a cheap shot high-stick to Sharpy late in the 2nd period, and Sharpy, having had enough of Ott’s gooniness, retaliated in the third with a cross-check to Ott, for which Sharpy was penalized.  That, of course, was the correct call, but past the midway point of the 3rd period, O’Halloran slapped Sharp with a bogus tripping call, and when Sharp protested, O’Halloran threw him out of the game!  Now, if you were to ask anyone — whether the Hawks organization, Hawks fans, or even hockey pundits outside of Chicago — who the most subdued and easygoing players on the Hawks were, you would probably hear Patrick Sharp first followed by Jonathan Toews.  So it is even that much more suspect that O’Halloran targeted them both for bogus calls, even throwing the most easy-going of the two, Patrick Sharp, out of the game!  Of all of the players least likely to mouth off to a ref, Sharp is not only the least likely suspect on the Hawks, but one of the least likely in the league to mouth off to a ref.  Isn’t it well past time for the NHL to censure Dan O’Halloran for his repeated biased calls against the Hawks over several seasons???  The NFL’s referees’ calls are reviewed every week, so I have to believe the NHL’s refs’s calls are reviewed also.  How could any audit of Dan O’Halloran’s refereeing miss his bias against the Hawks?  And what do the Hawks organization, the players, and the fans have to do to get the NHL’s attention about what a problem O’Halloran’s subjective calling is?  If you can’t fire the guy, then at the very least don’t let him call Hawks games anymore!

On a happier note, it’s so great to have Dave Bolland back!  Bolly and his line were awe-inspiring tonight.  Bolly has, for many seasons, kind of flown under the radar, but comparing last night’s game with tonight’s game, you can so clearly see the value-add of Bolly’s line against a team with good D.  The combination of Bolland, with Michael Frolik, and Bryan Bickell was fundamental to the win, no doubt.  It has also been great to see Bryan Bickell get back on the body again, and out of his quasi slump.  And Frolik has always been a steady and physical player, so the combination of these three on a line…well…you can take it to the bank.

Also key to tonight’s win, as he was in last night’s effort, was Nick Leddy.  So far, Leddy has been the Hawks’ shutdown player, which is an amazing thing to be able to say about a 20-year old kid.  Just imagine what Leddy will be capable of once he matures.

And while we’re on the topic of maturity, it’s amazing how little Adam Burish has matured since being traded from the Blackhawks to the Stars two seasons ago.  Everyone knows Bur is an instigator, but in tonight’s game he was like the little red-headed stepchild desperate to get the attention of his former teammates.  I couldn’t tell if Burish was trying to get any attention, even negative attention, or if he was just trying to show the Hawks that it was a mistake to get rid of him two seasons ago.  I cannot ever recall Burish working so hard to get on an opposing team’s radar.  He picked a fight with Jamal Mayers in the 3rd after Mayers accidentally knocked off Bur’s helmet (which was simply not strapped on tightly enough, which I made a point of mentioning to my friend before the game even started), and he picked a fight with his former teammate Dave Bolland of all people.  You wouldn’t have thought Bolly and Bur had ever been teammates to look at them.  And watching former Hawk Jake Dowell go at it with current Hawk Jamal Mayers was a little bittersweet too, but it was especially hard to watch Burish get sent to the locker room for a game misconduct after instigating in the last few seconds of the game.  You know I started wondering about Burish’s character after he publicly dissed his former teammate Martin Havlat several seasons ago after Havlat got traded to the Wild, but seeing Bur’s antics tonight was just sort of…well…pathetic.  If Bur proved anything tonight, it’s that the Hawks were right to get rid of him.

And speaking of exits, the Hawks sent Brandon Pirri back down to Rockford and brought Marcus Kruger up.  I see Brandon Pirri as the next Jack Skille or Bryan Bickell, so I think Pirri is certainly worth the investment in time and is deserving of a chance.  Hopefully the Hawks will bring Pirri up to the bigs more often so he can work on his game.  If his pre-season contribution is any indication, Pirri will make for a fine sniper one day.

The Hawks could use a good sniper on their power play unit, though the Hawks were obviously improved over last night on the power play.  Andrew Brunette was able to score on the power play, but for the only power play goal of the night, which was better than the goose egg the Hawks had on the power play the night before.  That’s the good news.  The bad news is that the power play unit didn’t score on a 5-on-3 late in the second, and we all know Joel Quenneville’s theory about that.  I mean, how many times has Q said that if you don’t score on a 5-on-3 you’re probably not going to win the game?  Well, the Hawks won but clearly the power play unit still needs some work, though the penalty kill unit killed off all but one penalty.

Also needing improvement was Patrick Kane as center.  Kane won two face-offs, but lost four, leaving him with a face-off win percentage of only 33%.  Kane also had one giveaway, three shots on goal, and three misses which points to his difficulty in taking it to the net and following through once there.  Hopefully, over time, he can improve these numbers.

Still, tonight’s game was really exciting.  It gives me hope, and it shows that the Hawks are able to pinpoint their mistakes, learn from them, and improve.  If the team is able to stay healthy, the Hawks could have a good shot this season.

Related:

Oh Snap! Dan O’Halloran Gets Plugged on the Boards by Big Buff!

How Ya Like the Hawks Now Danny Boy???

Dallas was all over the Hawks with active sticks and they constantly cut off passing lanes, leaving the Hawks with only the option of crashing hard on the net, but none of the Hawks, save Nick Leddy and perhaps Patrick Sharp, were able to get anywhere near the net.  You have to hand it to the Stars; they had killer D, and the Hawks weren’t up to the challenge with their sloppy passing and giveaways.

And while Eddie Olczyk, Pat Foley, and others repeatedly talked up net minder Corey Crawford, trying to downplay the potentiality for a sophomore slump, Corey did appear to be showing early signs of the dreaded sophomore slump in last night’s game.  It’s like a no-hitter.  While it’s in progress if you talk about the possibility of a no-hitter, you will inevitably jinx the pitcher.  Yeah, well, if you repeatedly talk about the possibility of a goaltender’s sophomore slump before the season has even started, you’ll jinx him too.  And while we’re talking goal tending, how in the world could the Hawks have given the back-up goal tending job to Ray Emery and sent Alexander Salak back down to Rockford?  Baffling.  Simply baffling.

Oh yeah, and what happened to the Hawks’ special teams last night?  The power play unit couldn’t score at all, though the Stars gave them ample opportunities, and the PK couldn’t kill a fly let alone a penalty.  <Shakes head>

Well, there certainly have been some mighty big changes with the Blackhawks in the last two seasons, and the strain appears to have left the team not quite ready for prime time.  Jonathan Toews said something to the effect of that he hadn’t been this excited for a season to start in a while.  Unfortunately, when they make the players say things like that it usually means the opposite.  Hopefully the season-opening loss to the Stars was just a fluke, but I’m afraid it may not have been.

However, in pre-season play it has been delightful to watch Brandon Pirri’s rising star.  This kid is amazing!  He almost had a hat trick in last night’s loss to the Penguins.  And while the guy in the Hawaiian shirt at the bar where I was watching the game disagreed with me, the call on Pirri for “interference” in the last minute or so of the game was in error.  Unless I missed something, it looked like Pirri was just following through with a check on the boards, though it was difficult, judging from the camera angle, to see where the puck had gone.  What wasn’t hard to miss was Pirri on the ground, on his back, getting his ears boxed by, it looked like Pens’ Zybnek Michalek.  Still, it looks like Pirri will go far.  Apparently opponents think so too or Pirri wouldn’t have become an early target.   So bang on Pirri.  You’ll get that hat trick yet! 

And speaking of pummelings, how in the hell could Red Wings’ coach Mike Babcock defend that nasty hit to the head from Wings’ defenseman Brendan Smith on Hawks’ winger Ben Smith during the September 28th pre-season game???  Babcock called Brendan Smith’s resulting suspension “extreme.”  Really Babcock?  Extreme?  You know what’s extreme is when you get your bell rung so hard that you can’t move, have no idea where you are, and need a trainer and your teammates to help you off the ice!  Babcock’s comments really shocked me.  Normally he is pretty level-headed about such things, but not this time.

You can clearly see from the video that Brendan Smith intended to throw a shoulder as his elbow was flailing out well after the hit. (In other words, the shoulder and elbow were going and there was momentum there well after the hit.):

It clearly wasn’t an accident and the NHL was more than justified in suspending Brendan Smith for the remainder of the pre-season and for 5 games of the regular season.  Well done NHL, and rule 48.1 concerning ‘illegal checks to the head’ will be a good one if applied and enforced properly.

What additionally concerns me is that the refs weren’t calling many of these goony hits during the Sept. 28 Hawks/Red Wings game.  I saw lots of elbows and shoulders being thrown and spearing well before the hit on Ben Smith, so part of the blame for Ben Smith’s injury must lie with the officiating.  Too many missed calls.  Oh but the refs didn’t miss a beat in sending Brent Seabrook to the box for a five-minute major for “fighting” when Seabrook was just trying to defend Ben Smith.  Really?  That’s what constitutes fighting now?  I didn’t even see Seabs throw a punch!  Third-man-in rule maybe, but if you call a major, it better be…well…major.

And sorry Brendan Smith.  I don’t buy your aw-shucks routine, your apology to Ben Smith, or your lame explanation that you were “never targeting his head.”  Perhaps the minor leagues will teach you about playing respectable hockey.  Shame on Mike Babcock too.  There is no defending that kind of hit, though it’s not unexpected from the Red Wings, one of the gooniest teams in hockey. (They used to be THE gooniest team in hockey ’til the Canucks started giving them a run for their money.)  Still, the Hawks got the ultimate revenge by winning over the Red Wings, 4-3, a win that was clearly for Ben Smith.

And speaking of injuries, it is unfortunate to lose Viktor Stalberg to a knee injury before the season has even started.  We eagerly anticipate his return of course; the Hawks need and clearly miss his grit, though Michael Frolik exhibits a fair amount of grittiness too.

Grit is something the defensemen have needed the past few seasons too, and it looks like the Hawks have beefed up by pairing Niklas Hjalmarsson with Brent Seabrook and Duncan Keith with Nick Leddy.  I love these pairings and hope they continue.  I also love that Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews are on separate lines.  These two may work well together on special teams, but Jonathan Toews can excel much more without having to constantly set Kaner up for sweet goals.  I also don’t think Patrick Kane is effective as a center, but time will bear that out I’m sure.

Also on kind of a sad note, I was sorry to see Marty Turco go after last season.  I thought maybe he had another season in him with the Hawks if for no other reason than to impart some of his veteran moves to the up-and-comers, but if he had to be on his way, so be it.  Corey Crawford is coming along nicely, though I still miss Antti Niemi. And, hopefully it is not in doubt that Alexander Salak should be back-up net-minder.  Ray Emery just doesn’t have what it takes, at least, not yet.

All-in-all it looks like the kids are alright.

So, as they say, let’s go to the film.

Despite the commentators in the above YouTube video obviously stumping for a suspension and purposely not seeing what was right in front of them in a slow-mo, slow-frame replay, this was NOT a dirty hit from behind.  It was a side hit, and probably a hard one, but Hjalmarsson didn’t even throw an elbow, again, despite what commentators were saying (and the commentators are suspect in this case because they knew that, upon review, the NHL would hear their comments and be swayed by them). 

So, with hindsight being 20/20, what the NHL should have seen is that while there was an injury, it was as a result of a clean hit with unintended consequences.  I mean, seriously, are there no accidents anymore?  No, really, how much of an example is the NHL willing to make of a player?  How intensely are they willing to scrutinize hockey ’til it’s nothing resembling the sport we all came to know and love?  And what’s next, no-tackle football? These contact sports — like hockey and football — are dangerous.  Yes, you can make rules and punishments to deter dirty play and prevent injury, but you can’t prevent all injuries.  You just can’t, at least not without ruining the game.  So, I have to ask, is that what the NHL seeks to do?  Are they trying to ruin hockey by so overly scrutinizing it that no one will want to watch?

And before critics accuse me of being blinded by favoritism, since I have always been a big fan of Niklas Hjalmarsson, readers should remember that I came to the defense of Alex Ovechkin for his hit on Brian Campbell last season.  I did not think that a dirty hit either, at least not intentionally, but it was a hard one. (Although I think the entire hockey community, including Ducks fans, can agree that James Wisniewski’s hit last season on Brent Seabrook was pre-meditated, given the charging from across the ice and his leaving his skates to deliver that knock-out hit, and deserved the suspension Wiz got and then some.)  So, believe me when I say, if a Hawk is guilty of a dirty hit, you won’t see me defending them just because I’m a fan. I was certainly not shy about criticizing Dustin Byfuglien for instigating with goalies last season, so neither would I defend a dirty hit, no matter if it was from a Hawk or an opponent.

So just to sum up, the NHL needs to unclench.  Punish true offenders and stop tarnishing the reputations of good hockey players who are just doing their jobs. (Poor Niklas Hjalmarsson looked like he’d been flogged after he was suspended two games he was so dejected.)  I’ve spoken my piece, now I’m going to crawl back into my hockey withdrawal.

P.S. Just so this post isn’t entirely negative, I was pleased as punch to see that the Hawks had signed Bryan Bickell and Jack Skille.  These guys more than proved their worth to the organization last season and so it’s good to see them rewarded, though I’m not quite sure Corey Crawford is ready for the bigs.

Congratulations to the Stanley Cup winning Chicago Blackhawks! (who beat the Philadelphia Flyers in game 6 in overtime, 4-3.)  And just as sweet, congratulations to Jonathan Toews for winning the Conn Smythe Trophy for playoffs MVP!!!

In tonight’s game 5, it looked like Dustin Byfuglien agreed when during a check of Flyers’ d-man Kimmo Timonen at about the 10 or 11 minute mark of the 3rd period, he took out Dan O’Halloran as well.  Two goons with one hit.  It was a thing of beauty!  O’Halloran seemed to know that hit was meant for him too by the look on his face.  Karma can be tricky Danny boy.  The hockey gods don’t seem to like your intentional missed calls on the Flyers.

Finally, just to add insult to injury, Hawks’ Dustin Byfuglien scored the last goal of the 7-4 victory over the Flyers with an empty-netter in the last minute-and-a-half of the game with Dan O’Halloran having to rule it a good goal.  So sweet.  Go Hawks!  Get that cup!

P.S. Hats off to Q for taking Big Buff and Kaner off the first line and moving Marian Hossa and Tomas Kopecky up with Toews.  It totally threw off the Flyers.  They couldn’t put the bullseye on any one player and with Buff checking up and down like a mad man, it was discombobulating to the Flyers.  Hopefully Niklas Hjalmarsson can figure his game out by game 6 though, because we need him blocking shots.  Don’t know what’s up with him, but he has that deer-in-headlights look about him.