The respect issue is a deep one. Perhaps it is something that is being handled at the GM’s conferencek. I was startled and really disgusted when I heard a head coach of a professional sporting team applaud his player on national TV for laying out another player and causing injury. Suggesting that it is very rare to catch a skilled defenseman in a vulnerable position and thereby capitalizing on it and putting that player on the injury roster made me sick to my stomach.

If ANY Red Wing laid out ANY player and Mike Babcock suggested that it was an event to be proud of, I would burn every winged wheel in my possession and throw a brick through my television.

Again…I ask….when is the last time a Red Wing put a player out? I
really don’t know. I remember when it was common place for pre-Bowman players to put players on IR, but who have we done that to lately?

If you mean to imply that Brian is an Avs fan, you’re wrong. His point about message board reactions is valid, though I don’t see how it’s applicable to Sarah’s post. She captured the feeling of the moment well and certainly had me wishing I could see the game, if only in replay.

Brian,

I hope Wings can be forgiven if, for however brief a time, they thought something major had happened to a player long held the most important on the roster. Even now, there is some level of doubt as to the seriousness of the injury and in that case, some overreaction is to be expected.

When you hear of a hit that caused an injury, your first thought is naturally going to be that it had to have been dirty. That was certainly my expectation as I waited for a replay to be posted online. Of course, I was glad to see that it was not as violent a hit as I feared.

That said, I’m not quite sure how Laperriere’s hit can be called “plenty clean,” as use of the elbow is a key aspect of the definition of a dirty hit. As I wrote in my post on the incident, it looked innocent enough live and in real time. That’s because Lidstrom wasn’t four feet from the boards and sent headlong into them in a Laraque-on-Downie-type situation. So it’s not like we’re talking about an egregious boarding penalty.

However, the fact remains that Laperriere did use his elbow to make contact with Lidstrom’s head and, though the League often chooses to deny there is anything wrong with that, most people not in the sport’s “old boy’s club” tend to define hits to the head as dirty. Whether it’s common or not is irrelevant. A high crime rate does not mean it’s no longer crime. Without that elbow, it’s just a hard hit and probably one Lidstrom gets up from none the worse for the wear.

Was it a suspendable offense? No. But it was a clear show of disrespect to one of the League’s greats. Fans of teams without players of Lidstrom’s caliber may be offended by the notion that second- or third-rate players such as Laperriere should show some measure of respect for superstars, but the fact is an active Nick Lidstrom is better for the NHL than a Nick Lidstrom on the IR. Relatively few people would pay NHL ticket prices to see a team of Laperriere’s, but they pay to see one Lidstrom.

If you’re concerned that this will be blown up into some Naslund-Moore-Bertuzzi fiasco, I wouldn’t worry. Laperriere was dealt with in the accepted way and there isn’t any talk of retribution, except from the more vindictive fans.

Honestly, when I saw that hit in real time it looked innocent and that type of hit happens all the time. It was plenty clean. Lidstrom was off balance and fell into the boards awkwardly, which cannot be blamed on Laperrierre. I bet if you look at other hits in slow motion you can see some elbow in those hits, too. Big deal.

It’s hard to tell you’re joking around unless I know who’s writing it and possibly see them laughing hysterically as they write it. I suspect Megan has an advantage over me in that respect. And it’s not like you post that often so it’s tough to read into that - at first I thought Matt posted it so maybe that’s why I thought it was a straight forward piece. Sure I’ve read A2Y / Jes Golbez type posts and expect sarcasm from them…

Bottom line is, if you were joking, whatever. I know some Wings fans out there weren’t and then you can take that as a blanket reaction to them.

He’s out 7-10 days. Sheesh. A bit of an exaggeration, perhaps?

By, “Crisis,” I was referring more to the panic that the hit caused among Wings fans than the hit itself. And as Megan pointed out, the tone of the post is not really meant to be dead serious.

you cannot compare the Laperrierre hit to the Lemieux hit

Um… I don’t remember doing that… I just compared Downey to McCarty - i.e. he’s taking on the enforcer role.

You seem to be reading a lot into everything. I’m really not that upset about “The Hit” (nor do I think it mattered to Downey whether it was clean or not - the message would have been the same.), I just really enjoyed the feel of the game after that. Felt like the old days. Sure it was no “Fight Night in Detroit”, but it was far more intense than any other game these teams have played this season and it was nice to see it showing on and off the ice. I don’t think it’s far-fetched to imagine some of that emotion carrying over into the playoffs, but maybe I’m just a crazy dreamer.

http://www.nhl.tv/team/launch.htm?hlg=20072008,2,900&event=COL20

“Nicklas Lidstrom crisis”??

He’s out 7-10 days. Sheesh. A bit of an exaggeration, perhaps?

“he [Chelios] looked like he’d just been to a funeral”

more exaggeration…

“attack on Nick”

further exaggeration…

“Aaron Downey did his best Darren McCarty impression”

you cannot compare the Laperrierre hit to the Lemieux hit, at all…not even close to as dirty. Downey’s reaction wasn’t nearly as warranted as McCarty’s reaction. So again, an exaggeration…

“they revived a treasured rivalry…the cup of hate has just been refilled”

If that hit fills a “cup of hate” then the NHL has problems. Come on, plenty of times captains are checked by relatively clean hits. If you’ve watched non-Wings games this season you’ve seen this happen before, and pretty often. That Wings fans are playing it up as a dirty hit is just their wishing the rivalry was alive again like it used to be. This was NOT the Lemieux hit. Not even close.

Maybe you wrote this in the passion of the post-game, but a lot of this is just Much Ado About (Relatively) Nothing if you’re using the same scale of Lemieux hits and McCarty revenge. Lidstrom skated into the boards pretty awkward (on his own doing), and got caught. Laperrierre is no Lemieux…even if he did get some elbow in there.

“I think Meechy played his best game.”

(via Helene St. James. The Freep’s looking pretty spiffy with that re-design, eh?)

“Meechy” lead the Wings’ defensemen in TOI with 24:26. I’m glad the Wings have such reliable youngsters who can step in at time like these.

If Nick’s injury turns out to be more serious than originally thought, I think the Wings need to go after a veteran somehow (Jaroslav Modry just went to Philly for a pretty low price). If he’s back in a week or two, though, I’m becoming more and more convinced that they’ll be just fine.