Is This a Joke Mario?

by ojc on Feb 13, 2011 4:29 PM EST

The Pittsburgh Penguins might be the dirtiest team in the league. The owner of the Pittsburgh Penguins faulted the NHL for not coming down hard enough on dirty play. Am I the only one flumixed by this? Matt Cooke was lucky to get off with only four games for his most recent hitting from behind incident. Eric Goddard is just scum. Kris Letang avoid suspension altogether for a blatant hit from behind on Spezza. Later in that game, Orpik and Goddard were good enough sportsmen to shovel snow into Chris Neil's glove after he got into a fight. Maxime Talbot, Cooke, Jordan Staal, Brooks Orpik, and Eric Goddard are all notorious for delivering boarderline hits to the head and knee-on-knee hits. Just class and dignity through and through. Maybe Mario should take his head out of his ass and realise if you're going to play like dirtbags people are going to take execption. Don't do the crime if you can't pay the time, bitch!

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I totally agree - rec'd

That organisation is so full of themselves, it’s unbelievable. I like Mario and all, but get off your horse.

Trying to be Erik Karlsson's agent since October, 2010.

by Adnan on Feb 13, 2011 4:50 PM EST reply actions

I really, really, REALLY don't like the attitude of that team.

by Los Blancos Chicca on Feb 14, 2011 9:24 AM EST up reply actions

I was boiling over after I read that article. The whole Penguins organization seems to have been given a pass by the NHL just because the Golden Goose plays for them. Outside of Crosby, Malkin and Fleury that team is stocked top to bottom with scum because that’s all they can afford after paying those 3.

I watched the recap of that game with the Pens announcers calling the game and it just made me sick. Heaven forbid if a team actually holds the Penguins accountable for all the cheap shots and dirty play they exhibit practically every game.

modsuperstar dot ca | SlideawayMedia

by modsuperstar on Feb 13, 2011 5:51 PM EST reply actions

And where was Mario after Matt Cooke’s latest hit from behind? Does that not need to be taken out of the game?

by ojc on Feb 13, 2011 6:44 PM EST reply actions

Penguins the dirtiest team in the league?

I’m not sure about that. Cooke’s scum, for sure, but I don’t have much of a problem with the rest of the team. I hated Letang’s hit on Spezza, of course, and I wish he’d gotten suspended for it, but one dirty hit doesn’t make him a dirty player.

Talbot threw an outstanding and clean hit the previous game, so he got nearly bertuzzi’d by Martin—a kid they’d just called up from the minors? Gillies runs at Tangradi with a flying elbow and stuns him, only to drop the gloves and start pummeling him before Tangradi even clears his mind and remembers where he is? Not to mention the other hack going after Johnson in the crease, which was ridiculous. I don’t know if ‘travesty’ is the right word, but it was definitely gongshow hockey out there.

No matter what his team says, Lemieux is right: That garbage needs to be taken out of the game. And I hope the league heeds his advice, and suspends the next players who do it—and if that player happens to be on the Penguins, all the better. While my preference would be for Cooke not to commit another dirty penalty, I’d love nothing more than to see him suspended 20+ games for his next transgression.

An Ottawa Senators fan blogging at www.silversevensens.com

by Peter Raaymakers on Feb 13, 2011 8:37 PM EST reply actions

Pens are very dirty

Cooke is dirty. Letang is dirty. Crosby is dirty. Malkin is dirty. Talbot is dirty.

I hate the Penguins more than I hate the Leafs these days.

Trying to be Erik Karlsson's agent since October, 2010.

by Adnan on Feb 13, 2011 10:36 PM EST up reply actions 2 recs

Rec’d

modsuperstar dot ca | SlideawayMedia

by modsuperstar on Feb 14, 2011 9:47 AM EST up reply actions

Respectfully Disagree

     The Penguins are the dirtiest team in the league, because they denounce any wrong doing at every turn. The Ducks, Flyers, teams of that ilk, who people ay say are dirty respect the fact that they occasionally cross the line. The Penguins are too much of scum bags to accept that. Doing something and denying it is the true character of a dirty team and player.
     Matt Cooke is not the only dirty player on Pittsburgh. As much as people may like him, Jordan Staal is notorious for knee-on-knee hits. They may not always cause injuries, but intent is more important than results. Brooks Orpik is the king of the punch to the back of the head as he skates into a scrum as the third man in. Eric Godard needs no introduction. And all of this stems from their leader, Sidney Crosby, who when he gets frusterated starts punching people with no warning off the faceoff.
     Although I agree with Mario’s comments, he is in no position to be offering them. As an owner he can’t make partisan comments about the league’s diciplinary actions. If he isn’t fined for these comments then that’s a “travesty”.
   FInally, maybe if he’d made his sentiments more clear to his own players earlier than maybe Marc Savard would still have a career, Jason Spezza wouldn’t have missed two months, Shean Donovan would still have a knee, Eric Cole wouldn’t have broken his neck. Just a few players off the top of my head.

by ojc on Feb 13, 2011 10:07 PM EST reply actions 1 recs

Did Mario forget that his own player jumped the bench to double team an islander already in a fight? That the islanders were the only team to get supplementary discipline?
He did. But you have to understand, the penguins and islanders are two different teams. They can’t be held by the same standard, thats his team versus another. The same standards for teams other than his own is just silly.

by Peter Kostello on Feb 14, 2011 10:05 AM EST reply actions

your missing the point

No one is more critical of the Penguins and what they get away with than I am. Having said that Lemieux is right about what went on in that game. The best way to get revenge against a team that you think did you wrong is to take the two points away from them when they come to your barn and the Islanders had already done that by the second period. That game has to be looked at on it’s own merit and the Islanders initiated all the dirty play. It was an embarrassment to the league as it made all the highlights on American televisions for all the wrong reasons. Not only that but it was the second time in a week that this happened. The Islanders had no reason to go after Pittsburgh yet they did with wild abandon. Just my two cents.

by Hockey Playoff Run SensFan on Feb 14, 2011 10:42 AM EST reply actions

I agree that such thuggery has no place on the game

But my point is that it is just ridiculous that Lemieux comes out on this little rant, when his team were no angels.

Trying to be Erik Karlsson's agent since October, 2010.

by Adnan on Feb 14, 2011 10:44 AM EST up reply actions

Did they?

From the highlights that I saw it was the Islanders who initiated. What was Halley thinking when he went after the goalie having just finished a fight himself. Then again that’s his job as an AHL goon right. Both team had a lot of AHL call-ups due to injuries and suspensions (Cooke) and that might go a long way to explaining what happened in that game.

by Hockey Playoff Run SensFan on Feb 14, 2011 11:10 AM EST up reply actions

Considering Johnson crushed Dipietro’s face in with a forearm to the cheek it didn’t surprise me that it happened. The Isles have had enough trouble with keepers this year they weren’t going to risk losing another in a fight. Johnson clearly wanted to dance, so Haley obliged him. Just because he’s a goalie doesn’t mean his dirty tricks get to go unpunished.

I, like many, only saw the highlights of this brawl. From what I read of those who actually watched the game many of the incidents were kicked off with dirty hits or elbows from the Pens preceding the melees that occurred. Look at the play where Grabner had a great chance on net only to be checked through Johnson, through the net and into the boards. To me that just shows the type of morons the Pens have on their team. Both teams were at fault here and Mario whining about it just shows where Cindy learned it from.

modsuperstar dot ca | SlideawayMedia

by modsuperstar on Feb 14, 2011 1:55 PM EST up reply actions

Umm… let’s be honest, DiPietro just shouldn’t have dropped them. He’s an idiot for doing so, regardless of what Johnson may have done. (I didn’t see anything dirty in his one-punch K.O., to be honest.)

An Ottawa Senators fan blogging at www.silversevensens.com

by Peter Raaymakers on Feb 14, 2011 2:13 PM EST up reply actions

Agreed

by Hockey Playoff Run SensFan on Feb 14, 2011 2:36 PM EST up reply actions

I wish I had seen that game

I have no doubt there was frustration by the Pens and have no reason to think that cheap shots were not taken by them towards the Islanders. Any team that loses that badly usually responds physically.

by Hockey Playoff Run SensFan on Feb 14, 2011 2:38 PM EST up reply actions

No, the real point here is

That even if what Mario said is true, you can’t go around saying things like this when you’re the owner of a team. It doesn’t matter if his comments were completely contradictary or not, or if they were completely truthful or not. If Mario isn’t slapped with a fine like Melnyk has been in the past for openly complaining about the refs, then the league is a bigger joke than even Mario thinks.

by ojc on Feb 14, 2011 2:08 PM EST up reply actions

And there lies the truth

This league is a joke when it comes to disciplinary action on all levels. From players not getting any action taken against them , not even a revue, to inconsistent officiating at best, the integrity of the league is being questioned on a regular basis. I am not the only one to think this, nor is Mario. Lombardi, with good cause, got screwed by the war room twice this year, the first time here in Ottawa. The politics and the economy affect decisions way too often in my opinion and as long as we have to suffer the dream of Bettman and his vision for this league it will continue.

by Hockey Playoff Run SensFan on Feb 14, 2011 2:36 PM EST up reply actions

Amen.

Silver Seven - The Daniel Alfredsson of Ottawa Senators Blogs

by Mark Parisi on Feb 14, 2011 3:50 PM EST up reply actions

He willnot be fined

Just read that no fine is forthcoming and what can the league do when they know he’s right, as a matter of fact Yserman is supporting his opening up about what bothers him about the NHL. Although not necessarily not agreeing with what he said he does mention that Mario would be good for hockey if he was allowed to be more involved.

by Hockey Playoff Run SensFan on Feb 14, 2011 4:35 PM EST up reply actions

Its not Mario's job to suspend NHL players

So saying he’s a hypocrite because some of his players haven’t gotten just suspensions is wrong. Talbot and Staal aren’t dirty players at all; Orpik had one boderline hit that I can think of.

If we’re talking about a middle of the pack team or a team that’s not a rival of Ottawa’s I don’t think you’re making as big a fuss over this.

Cannot play with 'em, cannot win with 'em, cannot coach with 'em. Cant do it.

by Andrew J on Feb 15, 2011 6:56 PM EST reply actions