Ville Niemenen Suspended

When is the NHL going to stop worrying about attracting American audiences. The playoffs have been great but: game times,game dates, refs, stupid suspensions has made the NHL look even worse.

Why dont they cater to hockey fans instead of trying to fatten the owners wallets.There are way too many hidden agendas at NHL head office right now.

I don't feel he deserved the suspension but he did commit the (dumb) penalty. Couldn't agree with you more about the NHL Office. They need to focus on strenghtening their product, not three Saturday afternoon playoff games - all at the same time.

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) Calgary Flames coach Darryl Sutter deflected attention away from Ville Nieminen's suspension by complaining Wednesday that some NHL factions badly want the Tampa Bay Lightning to win the Stanley Cup.

Sutter said suspending one of his top players for Game 5 only reinforces his small market, Canadian-based team's status as underdogs in a finals that were expected to be fast and furious but instead have been physical, injury-filled and low-scoring.

The two teams have alternated victories heading into Thursday's pivotal game, which will leave the winner one victory short of the Cup. Tampa Bay avoided a 3-1 deficit in the series by winning 1-0 Monday night in Calgary.

Late in that game, Nieminen a feisty, aggressive agitator suspended once earlier in the playoffs for a hit on Detroit goalie Curtis Joseph rammed Lightning star Vincent Lecavalier face-first into the glass. Lecavalier's helmet popped off and he needed stitches on the right side of his head, but he said Wednesday he feels fine and will play in Game 5.

NHL director of hockey operations Colin Campbell hinted Nieminen's repeat-offender status figured into a one-game suspension that infuriated Sutter.

''So fine, we know what we're up against,'' Sutter said. ''We're the underdog. We've said that. I am not saying it now to make a point, but it's dead on true. We're the little team that wasn't supposed to be here and a lot of people don't want us to be here and to make sure that we're not successful. We know that.''

Asked to whom he was referring, Sutter said, ''None of your business.''

But it was obvious whom he meant. At one point during his 20-minute news conference, Sutter's cell phone rang. He let it ring, then said, ''Probably New York again,'' a reference to the NHL's main offices.

NHL commissioner Gary Bettman released a statement late Wednesday about Sutter's remarks.

''Mr. Sutter's comments were ill-advised, inappropriate and inaccurate,'' he said. ''The focus of the Stanley Cup Final should be on the ice, and to the extent any response is needed to any gamesmanship off the ice, it will be made after the Final is over.''

Sutter also hinted media pressure on the league to suspend Nieminen figured into the decision. As a result, he is questioning his own policy of not letting players complain about injuries, even if they occur on plays that aren't penalized. Nieminen was given a 5-minute major penalty for boarding and a game misconduct for ramming into Lecavalier.

''Hey, the media is a powerful tool, believe me,'' he said.

Sutter's attention-shifting tactics are similar to those used by Flyers coach Ken Hitchcock and Lightning coach John Tortorella during the Eastern Conference finals. At one point, Tortorella said Hitchcock should ''shut his yap.''

This time, Tortorella had little to say, declining repeatedly to discuss the play or the suspension. Lecavalier said only that he planned to play Thursday.

''Oh yeah, of course,'' he said, as if it never was an issue.

Both teams are undefeated in Game 5s Calgary is 3-0, all on the road, and Tampa Bay is 2-0 and Lecavalier and teammate Brad Richards said that the game was their focus, not the recurring injuries.

Lecavalier's injury was the third to a key Lightning player in two games. Defenseman Pavel Kubina (lower body injury, possible concussion) and right wing Ruslan Fedotenko (facial cut, possible concussion) sat out Game 4, but both practiced Wednesday.

''They (the Flames) are very good on the road,'' said Richards, who scored his record seventh game-winning goal in Game 4. ''Just because we have home ice two out of three doesn't mean anything. We've got to treat it like a Game 7 because they have shown they can come in and win Game 5s on the road.''

Sutter was the only Flames coach or player who talked Wednesday with reporters. After learning that no Lightning players talked after traveling Tuesday, Sutter made his players off-limits.

Nieminen's one-game suspension comes amid debate whether the Flames' shifting emphasis from being an uptempo, thrive-off-mistakes team to one intent on wearing down the Lightning with physical play is hurting them more than it is helping.

The Lightning's decisive goal Monday came during a 5-on-3 advantage in the opening minutes, and any Flames comeback hopes in the final four minutes were ended by the Nieminen penalty.

''We're trying to beat the trend,'' Sutter said. ''We're not supposed to be playing great defensive hockey, so we're just trying to stick with that.''

There is no doubt both teams want to score the first goal, as the winning team has done so in every game. After that, the goalies Calgary's Miikka Kiprusoff in Games 1 and 3 and Tampa Bay's Nikolai Khabibulin in Games 2 and 4 have made the leads stand up.

Stupid crap. Vinny got what he deserved for not using an semblance of a working chin-strap. There is a reason why you make sure the helmet doesn't come flying off like that. If the helmet stayed at most that would have been a 2 minute boarding call. The flying off helmet and then the collision with the glass was all made possibly by improper equipment use. This is what makes this all stupid in my book.

Helmet strapped or not - there is still no excuse for Nieminen to cross check anyone in the back with your team dwon a goal and less than 5 minutes to play in the Cup Finals. Bonehead play either way 2 minutes or 5 minutes in the box.


wil.

Put down the caffeine Wil! Yes boneheaded play, but I will continue to say if he has that strapped on he doesn't crumble to the ice and no way they put out a major on him.

I agree with Wild Bill... Lecavalier was a foot away from the boards, helemet flew off BEFORE he hit the boads causing the five minute major....Then he bounces up like nothing happened....Real hockey players hate that sh*t. Just my opinion.

Pete - Vinny didn't exactly bounce right back up like nothing happened. He needed attention from medical personnel on the ice.



I've watched a ton of hockey going back to the old 6 team NHL and the Gordie Howe, Maurice Richard era. A cross check like this one was unnecessary imo. wil.

Aren't 90% of penalties, in retrospect, unnecessary? The point isn't was it smart or good or whatever...the point is why is it that a guy doesn't wear his equipment properly and then get another guy suspended for that? The hit was poor and yeah sure he deserved a minor, but a major penalty and suspension because Vinny didn't want to wear a properly fitted chin strap is ridiculous. That is why Iginla was out there barking at the officials correctly. Oh well, that is the NHL for you, nothing they do ever really seems to make much sense unless you think about it as if you were an American TV exec. Then it all makes good sense

Its crazy how much the game has changed over the last 15 years.

Iginla will want to fight Vinny tom.

Iginla -225
Vinny +205

Final Score Calgary 3 Tampa 1

What do you guys think?

Not sure about making a prediction yet. I wonder about this helmet thing though - is it a rule in the NHL that hemets must be fastened at all time during play? I frankly am not sure. I know helmets fly off of heads every game on numerous occasions. It is only an issue here because of a ten stitch cut resulted when Vinny's head hit the glass.

wil.

Not 100% sure but, I would say there is no current regulation on how tight a helmet has to be.

He got what he deserved...If you dont want to wear your helmet the right way expect to get hurt.

Pete you should have been around when there were no helmets (or goalie masks) in the NHL. Players were much more careful with stick work to the head, once in a while there were some stick battles the most famous being a duel between Boston and St Louis. In 1969, an exhibition game between the Bruins and Blues occurred in Canada. Ted Green, a Boston player with the reputation of being physically aggressive, swung and hit Maki on the head. Wayne Maki, a player who did not have the "physical" reputation that Green had, then turned and speared Green on the head with his stick, which fractured Green's skull and required the surgical insertion of a metal plate in his head. Green was out the entire season. At the time of the incident, the players did not wear helmets. After the incident, Ontario authorities filed criminal charges against both players. Two different courts heard the cases. In Regina v. Green the court acquitted Green. The judge noted that violent activities occur hundreds of time in a season and that the players are prepared for this kind of activity when they skate. The nature of the game makes this activity a natural consequence, even though the acts would be assaults in other walks of life. In Regina v. Maki, the court focused on the issue of "consent." In a number of ways, this court was more skeptical of the "participation" defense. It noted that "no sports league should have their players immune from criminal prosecution." While consent is a defense in certain cases, "no athlete should be prepared to accept malicious, unprovoked or overly violent attack, with a definite intent to cause injury."
However, this court, too, acquitted. It concluded that was "reasonable doubt" about whether Maki used more than proportionate force in self defense.

wil.

Glad to see that Sutter agrees with me.

He accused the NHL office of being out to get the Flames. Not in those exact words but pretty close. Betman responded by saying that this would be handled in the off-season and for Sutter to concentrate on the game.

Bettman has to go.

Whether he meant it or not I think he did it with the intent to fire up his team for tonight's game and it looks like it is working so far.

It looks that way..Lets hope they hold on....

This intermission show makes me want to puke.

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by wilheim:
Pete you should have been around when there were no helmets (or goalie masks) in the NHL. Players were much more careful with stick work to the head, once in a while there were some stick battles the most famous being a duel between Boston and St Louis. In 1969, an exhibition game between the Bruins and Blues occurred in Canada. Ted Green, a Boston player with the reputation of being physically aggressive, swung and hit Maki on the head. Wayne Maki, a player who did not have the "physical" reputation that Green had, then turned and speared Green on the head with his stick, which fractured Green's skull and required the surgical insertion of a metal plate in his head. Green was out the entire season. At the time of the incident, the players did not wear helmets. After the incident, Ontario authorities filed criminal charges against both players. Two different courts heard the cases. In Regina v. Green the court acquitted Green. The judge noted that violent activities occur hundreds of time in a season and that the players are prepared for this kind of activity when they skate. The nature of the game makes this activity a natural consequence, even though the acts would be assaults in other walks of life. In Regina v. Maki, the court focused on the issue of "consent." In a number of ways, this court was more skeptical of the "participation" defense. It noted that "no sports league should have their players immune from criminal prosecution." While consent is a defense in certain cases, "no athlete should be prepared to accept malicious, unprovoked or overly violent attack, with a definite intent to cause injury."
However, this court, too, acquitted. It concluded that was "reasonable doubt" about whether Maki used more than proportionate force in self defense.

wil.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Interesting

Funny thing is that they showed Iginla wear his helmet the same way. I remember Gretzky wore a childs helmet to get around the rules. Doesn't matter, it was a cheap shot.