Puck Podcast – November 7, 2009

On this week’s show we’ll discuss more controversial hits and the controversial punishments handed down for them. We’ll also tell you about more big name players going down with injuries including the reigning league MVP. We’ll have an interview with two time Stanley Cup winner Chris Kunitz of the Pittsburgh Penguins. We’ll also read your e-mails and posts and give some more tickets to a couple of NHL games away.

MP3 File

About Doug Stolhand 27106 Articles
Doug Stolhand is one of the co-founders and co-hosts of the Puck Podcast and has been a member of the NHL media since the show's inception in 2006.

19 Comments

  1. Great Podcast as usual gentlemen. Happy anniversary Eddie. My wife and I hit our 6 year anniversary 2 weeks ago. Doug, loved your play by play during the closing seconds of the podcast ala an end credit blooper clip.

    My guess as to Rob Blake’s undisclosed upper body injury is an ingrown armpit hair.

    Hal Gill, who hardly ever fights, fought Rick Rypien of Vancouver last month. He got popped a couple of times towards the end. Gill had an 8″ height advantage. Gord Miller of TSN’s commentary, “Get that guy a ladder”. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9XxMmYvarCg

    Here is Ottawa’s Chris Neil’s hit on the Lightning’s Victor Hedman. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wzcJfHtqkgw

    For those that haven’t seen it, the Michael Liambas Hit On Ben Fanelli (Erie Otters VS Kitchener Rangers) OHL, that you discussed in this weeks episode.
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9unlpJMAVHA

    Here is Mattias Ohlund of the Lightning popping Toronto’s Phil Kessel in his debut. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bov63RMMIUQ

    I know some people may not want to join facebook to see some of the videos that the guys talk about each week, so if it’s OK with Doug and Eddie, I’ll try and post ’em here each Sunday or Monday.

    Here is my suggestion to help solve incorrect penalty calls during the game. Each coach is provided one timeout during the game, why not give them one coach’s challenge for review? Goal/no goal will still be automatically reviewed by refs/video replay in Toronto. In the case of a legal/non legal hit at least it would be a little more definitive than just calling what they see. We all know that one ref sometimes makes a call that is flat out wrong that the other ref will give a “makeup call”. And the call should be based solely on the action not the result as you have said. The league can worry about intent to injure and suspensions, since they handle that so well.

  2. Eddie and Doug – I’m right there with you and many others who are perplexed by the NHL’s definition of “charging”. I’ve always been under the impression that referees distinguished “charging” from “checking” based on how many strides the hitting player takes before checking an opposing player who recently had possession of the puck. For the longest time I wondered why players who were in the process of finishing their checks didn’t continue to skate after their target had passed or lost the puck. I’m pretty sure it was in an interview with a NHL player in which I heard that doing so would result in a “charging” penalty. I think he even mentioned the number of extra strides that is generally considered to be acceptable, one or two maybe. Whatever game you watch next try to keep your eyes on a player that is finishing his check (on a player that no longer has the puck) and I’ll bet he finishes it without taking more than one or two extra strides, if any. But I could be wrong!

  3. I live in Edmonton, and I’m a Canucks fan, so I clearly hate the Flames. Still, I’m in complete agreement that they should be getting vaccinated — after public workers like police, firefighters, EMTs, doctors, etc.

    The revenue these entertainers generate for Calgary and Alberta far exceeds that generated by the regular Joe, and the province should absolutely be doing everything they can to make sure they stay healthy and able to keep on entertaining the people in the province. People are so focused on the fact that they got the vaccines when other people got turned away in the lines, they forget the simple fact that it is in every Albertan’s best interest to keep their pro athletes healthy. Yes, the province screwed up by not prioritizing young children and pregnant women for the vaccines, but the Flames and Oilers should absolutely have been at the top of the list. The only person who should be fired for this is the Minister of Health. Instead, it’s been trickled down to two of his assistants. Truly a shame.

  4. I just wanted to take a minute to point out how good the NHL.com site is. No other site comes close. I love being able to go on every night and see highlight clips right on the homepage. The NHL has done a lot wrong, but I think they really outdid themselves with the website.

  5. Nate I was always taught that charging was anything over 3 full strides. Anything greater than that you had to break stride before making the hit. It is a nebulous rule to be sure but lets remember that on the main it is a 2 minute minor and on par with penalties such as tripping, delay of game, and too many men on the ice.

    I really don’t care what penalty they call but they need to get a handle on players launching their shoulders into the head of an opponent. I honestly think that it is time to take some of the plastic out of the shoulder armor.

  6. Mathew – Thanks for the clarification on charging, that sounds very similar to what I heard in the interview with the NHL player. As far as eliminating head shots I’m still on the fence. While I don’t think it’s necessary to crush a guy simply because he doesn’t keep his head up I think good, hard hits on guys who forget the golden rule only reinforce it. I realize there’s some flaws in that logic but there it is. As much as I hate to say it, I think this issue is best left in the hands of (God help me) the league discplinarians. Hopefully one day they’ll start to be consistent.

  7. I have to agree with Mathew – toning down some of the equipment might be the only feasible option, since the league and the players seem to be incapable of stopping these kind of hits. Why stop with toning down the size of goalies’ equipment? Your typical player is floating around the ice with all this hard plastic reinforced padding on and, as Doug mentioned in the last show on the flip side of this subject, they feel invincible. If you want to hit some guy in the head with your shoulder then maybe it would be a deterrent if that shoulder was less protected and the attacking player more prone to sustaining a separated shoulder or the like. Maybe that’s idiotic. Just thinking out loud here.

  8. Wow, the Wild were involved in two games tonight, in Tor and Mtl…. What? That WAS Montreal? With the red and green? Really? REALLY? Oh. Oh, wow…

  9. Ha ha, I kinda liked the Habs’ uniforms – red and green, very Christmas-y. Anything is better than the barber pole jerseys, the ones Eddie was talking about last time. I got so disoriented I had to go lie down. Maybe they can combine the two uniforms – have the Candy Cane tops with the Christmas tree pants and maybe some blinking lights for the helmets. Joyeux Noel!

  10. Can someone please inform Washington Capital fans who attend home games that a shoot out goal DOES NOT COMPLETE A HAT TRICK!! It does not count as a goal in your stats, therefore cannot complete the hat trick. Seriously, come on…

    Maybe Cyndi Crysby can do a PSA to play before Caps home games? Since he doesn’t like the practice even when it actually is warrented?

  11. Kris I was flipping through the channels and thought the same thing. It actually took me an embarrassingly long time to figure out that it wasn’t the Wild. Did the Habs have hunter green as a color at some point?

  12. Do you REALLY have a “Mike Lange” disclaimer at the beginning of your show? I think that is rather unnecessary and borderline classless as Mike Lange is a HOF broadcaster. He might not be everyone’s cup of tea, but a disclaimer? Seriously?

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