After announcing that Jamie Mclennan received a 5 game suspension, both of the aforementioned men were quick to say the punishment was overly severe (and this coming from a man, Hrudey, who recently told me at a Q&A session that he wished the NHL would start handing out much more severe disciplinary sentences to players and coaches). Craig Simpson said that watching the action live, it looked like Jamie really smoked Franzen, but upon review of the play, it was obviously not a serious slash. (Franzen himself confirmed this when he acknowledged he was more surprised than hurt. So surprised in fact, he fell to the ground for several minutes while Detroit trainers evaluated his psychological well being...). I don't really blame Franzen for hamming it up, it was his best option to help his team at that point. But let's call this what it is: the league over-reacting because the game was broadcast for a nationally televised American audience.
Like I mentioned in my last post, Turco got 2 games for knocking out a few of Smytty's teeth with his stick. Trust me, that was a far more brutal play. The league disciplinarian remains the same, so what changed? I'll let that question hang.
As for Daymond Langkow and Jarome Iginla, Hrudey and Simpson both agreed no further discipline was necessary. In fact BOTH men were quick to condone the actions of Jarome Iginla, and remarked that his play was remarkably similar to another dirty but great hockey player: Mark Messier (Jarome Iginla's boyhood hero).
Hrudey suggested to Simpson that whenever the Oilers were out of an important game in the Moose days, Messier would take it upon himself to go out there and send a message to the other team, a message that said if you want to beat us, you will have to pay the price.
To say that either of these men (especially Craig Simpson) have anything to gain by defending Iginla or the Flames would be a lark.
Craig Simpson and Kelly Hrudey: Classless? Dinosaurs? Embarrassments?
Ex-NHLers?
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1 comment:
Good post.
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