Toews, Seabrook sit again
Posted by TimS on Mon, 10/26/2009 - 17:39
Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville said two hours before the drop of the puck against Minnesota that Jonathan Toews and Brent Seabrook won't play for the second straight game.
In fact, it sounded as if both players weren't progressing as well Monday from their concussion-like symptoms as Quenneville said they were a few days ago.
"Right now they're not doing much," Quenneville said.
No activity while recovering from a concussion is not normally good news, but Quenneville still hopes to have one or both of his stars for games Thursday at Nashville and Friday against Montreal.
"We're still on that track with short term," Quenneville said. "Hopefully this week they're ready to go."
I completely agree the hit on Booth was absolutely ridiculous. More so than Ruutu's hit on Tucker. Knowing Ruutu has a history (family and personal) of cheap shots was no doubt in play when the suspension was determined. But how Richards was not suspended is truly alarming. Granted Booth fell head first to the ice but the shot itself was vicious.
Again, the NHL has players dropping like flies. Considering the Hawks have five guys out of their core lineup truly speaks to Q's ability to keep the active players focused. He has managed expectations and continues to stand behind his players.
I appreciate the way Q handles the media and refuses to romanticize some of the drama that has gone on thus far. I do think the injury reporting needs to change. It would be nice to know what the hell is going on with Eager and to get better ideas of what has truly happened to our players (a la Sharp last year).
I am all for the physical aspect of Hockey. I love the fact it changes the pace of games and increases the rivalries throughout the league. Players need to be accountable for their actions, both those that give the hit & the ones who receive 'em.
Toews went back to the bench upset with himself cause he had his head down. But reading the Philly papers, Richards is acting like what he did was perfectly legit when in fact it was one of the cheapest hits I can remember seeing. A page out of Claude Lemieux's book. There is no place for that but if Bettman wants to say one thing and do something different, that's when the Ottawa/Flyers brawl should show up.
Will the tough get going? Is this team more than .500 record while Seabrook and Toewes are out?
The "NHL on the Fly" program discussion concerning concussion and hard, legal hits is a big clue to Bettman that something has to be done. Another two concussions to players on this team alone is not unlikely, because hockey is a rough sport and there hasn't been a proper answer or reply to the problem with numerous concussions. Then the Blackhawks surely will be pressed to make the playoffs. Maybe then and only then Mr McDonough tells the comish that there is a problem handing out big contracts for a major market team, then said team cannot make playofs due to this problem with concussions being numerous.
I say any concussion caused with a deliberate intent to injure, or improper (penalized) style in delivering a check means that the player who made the check, he is suspended with pay for the entire period of time the injured player is out. I don't feel you can take pay away from a player who is trying to do his job; however, management and the league office needs to re-define what is a proper way to check -- clean, hard hits are ok when they can be administered properly. The last few words of the preceding sentence, "when they can be administered properly" -- that's the rub. To be specific, if you must deliver a clean hit, you better be sure to do so legally. If there is difficulty in delivering a healthy mid- ice body- to- body check (Toewes example), then perhaps you better find a different way to backcheck.
Concussions will ruin this game. Can you imagine the Stanley Cup playoffs with a handful of stars and regular top line, top blueline pair players MIA? Maybe Bettman needs to see a few players missing from Madison Avenue's NY Rangers lineup. Maybe Bettman needs the hockey paying world to send an avalanche of protestation -- maybe then he "gets its." I do like tough hockey, but no need for these open ice hits and checking from behind. Clean hockey can include rough play but when concussions are now numerous, this takes too many players out of the lineup for a lengthy period-of-time. NHL teams invest lots of $$ in drafting and or signing players, then hype their product. Next, (nowadays) too many concussions -- who will it be from tonight's slate of games?. Tell me, comish, can I have the balance of my season ticket money returned? Your failure to properly rule on concussion -causing checks leaves an inferior product for fans to watch. In Chicago alone, this is our best chance for the holy grail maybe for a while...ruined because of the problem with concussions.
Tell me, am I missing something when I call for Bettman to take action?
I think for the most part we all agree Mitchell's check was clean and I think in Seabrook's case accidental so under current rules legal and no penalty. To you point HP maybe the league needs to redefine what is a good clean check and what is not in order to protect the players. Some of these checks look like a crackback block or clip in football. The crackback was legal at one time I believe. Hockey is so fast that I don't know how they could legislate it but I agree it's worth at least taking a look at it.
...that Bettman could take to make me happy would be to resign.
Huh?
Toews and Seabs aside, is Eager recovering?
...the game is available on the internet via www.atdhe.net.
My first time watching via this link. Not bad at all.
Thanks for the tip CanesDad. With WOW Cable, I don't have Versus on the home cable system. Now I can watch ALL THE GAMES. Jeepers, I think I need to get a life somewhere along the way.
Good job CanesDad to alert others to this great resource. The bad news is that it can be unreliable....sometimes your game is on the docket...sometimes it is not. Word to wise though....never give up on this link....your game might suddenly appear in the lineup....an hour after it starts....so keep refreshing the page if your matchup doesn't appear initially. Also, the streaming can falter at times too..... but all in all....A FANTASTIC RESOURCE.
As for tonight's game...
terrific team effort again....this team continues to prove they are a very solid unit.....replacements continue to play well.
Ebbett was very solid.....great faceoff man...and took a couple big hits to make clears.
Dowell...good presence in limited ice time even scoring a nice win a first period fight with Shane Hnidy. You're doing Larmer proud kid.....keep it up 28.
Hendry....no mistakes...so a good night for him.
Sopel...had a great night....some big time shot blocks that must have hurt...even the Versus announcers wondered aloud if was wearing 'body armour'.
Huet...i'll never be a fan since i despise goalies who telegraph their style but
another workmanlike effort....he was particularly sharp in the opening stanza.
The PK.....DYNAMITE....killing off all but one PP.......great job by all involved, especially
Versteeg who had a great night.
Kaner.....awesome goal to make it 3-1 and give us some breathing room after we gave up the shortie.....vintage Kaner.
Coach Q.....great job to get all 4 lines and all the d-man consistent ice team.
On the downside....not many negatives...but too many bad penalties......Kopecky ran a stop sign and boarded a Wild player leading to an obvious whistle. Bolland with a bad cross check....great teams stay out of the box and the VS guys said we were the least penalized team in the league....but still too many lazy hooks, holds and other bonehead penalties. This needs to be cleaned up over the long haul. But a good night and another 2 points.
Go Hawks.
Jakey in the famous Larmer sweater showing a nice sledgehammer left......nice job kid. Keep up the great work.
...Dowell being a physical presence early.
Maybe if Buff just keeps watching him...
Better safe than sorry.
Duncan Keith went on IR last year after he had similar symptons when Drew Stafford hit him. Maybe they should do the same with these guys.
As for Jake Dowell....I thought he did a solid job Saturday. Only thing that bugs me is him wearing Larmer's number. I miss Grampa.
Averaged over a point a game while playing stellar 2 way hockey.....great shot....quiet leader...helped Canada win a Canada Cup in '91 scoring a key goal in the clinching game...won a Cup with the Wranglers in '94 and would have broken the NHL Iron Man streak if that Judas Darryl Sutter hadn't f'd him over when he was a Hawk. Love ya Gramps.
Thought he played pretty well on Saturday. Would like to see what kind of presence he has against a more phsical team.
He deserves another game. He had good jump in the game against the Preds and he can handle some of the PK minutes #19 would normally take.