Enough is Enough!

The New York Rangers have a few days to rest up after a not so successful Western Conference swing through Canada (1-2-0). The final game of the road trip proved much more damaging than Rangers fans could have imagined. News that Brandon Dubinsky will be out for around 6 weeks with an apparent broken bone in his right hand surfaced after the game. The injury was sustained after blocking a shot in the game against Calgary. Chris Drury was also KO’d in the same game by a hit from Curtis Glencross (Who has recently been suspended 3 games) early on in the contest. Drury has not yet been ruled out for this upcoming Thursday’s contest- there is word that he may be able to give it a go. Here is the perfect point where I might as well vent about how I feel about the state of the Rangers…

It’s time for the players to understand that this is a team and these are your teammates that are getting hit! The Drury situation really bothers me. The hit by Glencross was cheap and nasty- period. The hit was very early in the game and there was about 59 minutes or so of hockey left to be played. Yet, there was no response by the Rangers as a team. Sorry, but Glencross needed to be dealt with sometime before the game ended. The Rangers find themselves being the target of most of the big hits, rather than being the ones that are dishing them out. It’s time for a pack mentality to set in for the Rangers and they have to stick up for one another. If not, this kind of thing will happen again and again.

Now, on to the other part of the problem: The NHL’s rules. The NHL thought it would be neat to take away obstruction-type plays and place the instigator penalty for those who felt like taking the law into their own hands. I wonder if the NHL has taken a hard look at how common it has become for hits from behind and head shots since they tried to “clean up” the game. More and more players are getting plastered all over the ice and I think I have a few thoughts that might make them re-think a few of their cherished revisions.

First off, obstruction. What a joke that has been. It hasn’t opened up the game or given the NHL that huge explosion of offense that it was supposed to create. What it has done has gotten the players in trouble with hits from behind at high speeds. In my day, we would shield a player just enough so that kind of play rarely happened. I’m not saying reach and extend your stick to obstruct, what I’m saying is to let the players slow down an opposing player who is coming at a high speed and chasing a defenseman/forward for the puck. I don’t recall as many hits from behind in the “good old days” as there are in today’s NHL.

As for the headhunting that is surfacing, that has a lot to do with the lack of respect that the players have today. There is no payback with the instigator rules in effect and the huge fines that hit the players and organizations in the pocket. I would definitely think twice if I had to pay a huge fine and possibly be suspended. We used to police our game by ourselves back when I played and believe me, if you had the balls (which some did) all hell would break loose! Overall though, headhunting was not quite as evident as it is today because there is no payback. Therefore, there is no respect amongst your peers. The NHL has had a lot to do with all these cheap shots and injuries that have been occurring. Constantly trying to “improve” the game is noble and I’m all for change when it works out the right way. But it takes a big man to admit when they are wrong. Do you think the NHL ever will? Enough is enough! Over and out!