Ton
New member
- Joined:
- May 14, 2010
- Posts:
- 3,991
- Liked Posts:
- 124
- Location:
- Park Ridge, IL
With injury comes opportunity, although due to unfortunate circumstances it has been decided that Brandon Saad will suit up with the Blackhawks in place of Marian Hossa.
“We know what he can do,” said Head Coach Joel Quenneville Wednesday. “Offensively, he gives us some nice assets and a nice opportunity to have some skill, and he can complement some guys with skill as well. The puck seems to follow him around; he protects it pretty well.” Quenneville continued on, “Just looking at him today, there was a remarkable difference in him [compared to earlier this season]. From training camp and the stint he had at the start of the season, he’s grown and filled out. He looks bigger.”
Saad appeared in two games for the Blackhawks after making the team out of training camp. After a halt in production the Blackhawks opted to send him back to his OHL club for the remainder of the year where he posted astounding numbers (34G, 42A) in his 44 regular season games and lead the league in points-per-game with a 1.73 average. In 12 playoff games he lead Saginaw with 8 goals and 9 assists before seeing elimination nearly one week ago.
“It was a great year,” said Saad. “I went back to Saginaw, and we weren’t the best team on paper, but we played really well. Being here [for two games] helped tremendously with my OHL season. I went back and led the way there, and I’m glad to be back now.”
Meanwhile, Raffi Torres will have an in-person hearing to determine the length of his suspension after the NHL has determined that he has been suspended indefinitely. Torres will receive a minimum of 5-games but most are speculating that he will receive a very lengthy punishment.
Gary Bettman was in attendance for the game and reportedly was not happy with the product. Rightfully so, the hit has received a vicious backlash from respectable people in the hockey community such as Pavel Datsyuk, David Perron, and Mike Modano among countless of other icons in the hockey community.
The NHL has a perfect opportunity to make an example out of Torres, but given recent developments in the Department of Player Safety, no one seems to have any faith in Brendan Shanahan's ability to make the right decision.
Don Maloney has no problem playing the villain after sharing his comments on the hit to Sarah McLellan of the Arizona Republic.
“You would think Raffi murdered a bus load of children the way he’s portrayed here in Chicago,” Maloney said. “Obviously an offense occurred, but it was not a situation where he took his stick and hit someone in the head. Probably two hundredths of a second it went from being a regular hit to being a little late hit.”
All of this coming from the organization that made sure Andrew Shaw would be suspended after keeping Mike Smith's status under wraps. An organization that obviously had an issue with his hit behind the net, the same area that Brent Seabrook was lit up by Raffi Torres one year ago and the NHL deemed the hit to be in a "hitting zone" that no one had ever heard of. Apparently that hitting zone does not apply to the Blackhawks. Shaw didn't need to use his stick to upset the Coyotes organization with his hit.
When will the NHL wake up? Is there any shred of decency left in the game to recognize the backwards thinking that is dwindling the respect that many people across the world once had for this great sport?
There is no definitive line in the sand if the NHL continues to change it's placement. Respect in this game has been long gone with the addition of the instigator penalty, which saw Brandon Bollig put his team on the penalty-kill for an attempt at swift justice. This rule is protecting players like Raffi Torres instead of weeding them out, placing no responsibility on his dirty habits.
This is not an over the top outcry as portrayed by Don Maloney from the Blackhawks fan base and media, this is a justified concern for the game that has reached out to many current and former players around the National Hockey League. It's time to wake up. God forbid if Marian Hossa didn't.
Click here to view the article
“We know what he can do,” said Head Coach Joel Quenneville Wednesday. “Offensively, he gives us some nice assets and a nice opportunity to have some skill, and he can complement some guys with skill as well. The puck seems to follow him around; he protects it pretty well.” Quenneville continued on, “Just looking at him today, there was a remarkable difference in him [compared to earlier this season]. From training camp and the stint he had at the start of the season, he’s grown and filled out. He looks bigger.”
Saad appeared in two games for the Blackhawks after making the team out of training camp. After a halt in production the Blackhawks opted to send him back to his OHL club for the remainder of the year where he posted astounding numbers (34G, 42A) in his 44 regular season games and lead the league in points-per-game with a 1.73 average. In 12 playoff games he lead Saginaw with 8 goals and 9 assists before seeing elimination nearly one week ago.
“It was a great year,” said Saad. “I went back to Saginaw, and we weren’t the best team on paper, but we played really well. Being here [for two games] helped tremendously with my OHL season. I went back and led the way there, and I’m glad to be back now.”
Meanwhile, Raffi Torres will have an in-person hearing to determine the length of his suspension after the NHL has determined that he has been suspended indefinitely. Torres will receive a minimum of 5-games but most are speculating that he will receive a very lengthy punishment.
Gary Bettman was in attendance for the game and reportedly was not happy with the product. Rightfully so, the hit has received a vicious backlash from respectable people in the hockey community such as Pavel Datsyuk, David Perron, and Mike Modano among countless of other icons in the hockey community.
The NHL has a perfect opportunity to make an example out of Torres, but given recent developments in the Department of Player Safety, no one seems to have any faith in Brendan Shanahan's ability to make the right decision.
Don Maloney has no problem playing the villain after sharing his comments on the hit to Sarah McLellan of the Arizona Republic.
“You would think Raffi murdered a bus load of children the way he’s portrayed here in Chicago,” Maloney said. “Obviously an offense occurred, but it was not a situation where he took his stick and hit someone in the head. Probably two hundredths of a second it went from being a regular hit to being a little late hit.”
All of this coming from the organization that made sure Andrew Shaw would be suspended after keeping Mike Smith's status under wraps. An organization that obviously had an issue with his hit behind the net, the same area that Brent Seabrook was lit up by Raffi Torres one year ago and the NHL deemed the hit to be in a "hitting zone" that no one had ever heard of. Apparently that hitting zone does not apply to the Blackhawks. Shaw didn't need to use his stick to upset the Coyotes organization with his hit.
When will the NHL wake up? Is there any shred of decency left in the game to recognize the backwards thinking that is dwindling the respect that many people across the world once had for this great sport?
There is no definitive line in the sand if the NHL continues to change it's placement. Respect in this game has been long gone with the addition of the instigator penalty, which saw Brandon Bollig put his team on the penalty-kill for an attempt at swift justice. This rule is protecting players like Raffi Torres instead of weeding them out, placing no responsibility on his dirty habits.
This is not an over the top outcry as portrayed by Don Maloney from the Blackhawks fan base and media, this is a justified concern for the game that has reached out to many current and former players around the National Hockey League. It's time to wake up. God forbid if Marian Hossa didn't.
Click here to view the article
