Concussed Crosbys

When it rains in the Crosby household, it pours. Two weeks ago, Sid's little sister, 14-year-old goaltender Taylor, suffered a concussion just like her big brother. Fortunately, unlike the elder Crosby, Taylor missed just a week and two games before returning to team practices. Given this latest turn of events, their parents must be very concerned about their children's futures in the sport they both love so much.


As for Siddo, well, according to Pittsburgh Penguins spokeswoman Jennifer Bullano, his condition remains the same:

“He is continuing functional rehab, but he is still experiencing symptoms.”

This is very distressing news. In the aforementioned article, GM Ray Shero makes an astute observation:

“We are a league where you can accidentally hit a guy in the head with your shoulder and not be penalized,” Shero recently told USA Today. “But if you clear a puck out of your zone and it accidentally goes in the stands, they give you two minutes.

Does that make sense?”

No, Mr. Shero, it absolutely does not. I've been hoping the NHL would crack down on the unnecessary violence for years now, to no avail. Without proper punishment, guys will continue to get hurt - "proper" being the key word. David Steckel went unpunished when the then-Caps forward delivered the first crushing blow to our title man's head. Fast forward a few weeks later when, as a Devils forward, he pulled a nearly identical move on our own Chris Conner. (Fortunately, he didn't connect with Conner in quite the same way he did with Sid.)

Then of course there is professional arse-hat Trevor Gillies. He was punished...with a paltry 9 game suspension for a dirty hit + punching a concussed victim who has yet to return + taunting his victim afterwards. Colin Campbell had a chance to really send a message, yet inexplicably he chose not to. Fast forward 9 games off the roster and 1 minute & 51 seconds back on it, when Gillies threw an elbow into the back of Cal Clutterbuck's head. He really got the message, didn't he, Colie? So what was the punishment for this latest assault? A 10 game suspension. You know, because the 9 game suspension was just 1 game short of this guy "getting" it. Campbell, himself proving to be a professional arse-hat, should hang his head in shame and offer his resignation.

The NHL must get serious about this. Eliminating headshots would not make the game less exciting. In fact, the NFL implemented stiffer penalties for headshots midseason, and guess what? Headshots went down! Imagine that! And ratings didn't suffer, the games weren't less exciting, and even professional arse-hat football players like Pittsburgh's own James Harrison admitted that they were more conscious about the hits they delivered. Proof it can be done. As for Gillies, Islanders GM Garth Snow and coach Jack Capuano know exactly what kind of player he is. They know exactly what they're getting when they put him in the lineup: a thug on skates. He played in 354 AHL games, scored only 7 goals and 14 assists. In that same number of games, he was assessed 1,471 penalty minutes. I'm with Clutterbuck: "There's no way that guy should be in the National Hockey League."

Tonight, we face the Sabres for the final time this season. It's Kovy's first home game since rejoining the team. In honor of the occasion, please enjoy this lovely wallpaper that longtime good Friend of The Show Jaime made for me to celebrate the return of my first favorite player:

Many, many thank yous, Jaime!!! :) Click to enlarge for full-sized wallpaper.

We haven't lost to Buffalo yet this year, which bodes well for me, as I have an on-going bet with my coworker, Johnny Sabre. ;) My Facebook profile pic for a week is on the line. Kuni is a game-time decision.

Don't let me down, Boys! DO IT.

GO PENS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!