In the comments below, Doug was kind enough to link to a youtube clip of the Zetterberg/Malkin fight. On second viewing, it's even stranger than I remember.
I was under the impression that Malkin was initially involved in the scrum. That's not true. Malkin was 15 ft away from the scrum and then made a B-line straight for Z. I also noticed that Filppula tried to separate the two. That must've been what brought Satan to jump into the fray. Filppula quickly jumped out of the fracas once he realized these two dudes were throwing real uppercuts and, in Malkin's case, "stick punches." Satan still tried to pull Z off Malkin but only succeeded in jerseying Z.
What a weird fight. One of the comments under that youtube vid is "Nice to see some passion from the Europeans." I hear/read this all the time. Since when do North Americans have a patent on passion, fighting, and grit? Have these fans never seen a World Cup game? Europeans play sports with a passion that far exceeds anything we can comprehend in the States. Nor should we want to comprehend it, since the passion often boils over. Nevertheless, it's anti-European prejudice that leads to the stereotype that Euro players are soft. Would the typical NHL fan have the guts to call one of these dudes soft? It's like most fans think the Euros are all Pavel Bure, and North Americans are Mark Messier. I don't get it.
Thanks for the quote Steve! Tough loss tonight... put ourselves in a position to win though in the 2nd period if we had converted once or twice on all of that pressure. I'm expecting Draper to replace Maltby in game 4 and center the 4th line w/ Abdelkader and Leino to correct for Abdelkader's 1/8 mark on faceoffs. Also we should remember that "Game 4 Specialist" Hossa is due.
ReplyDeleteThat might be one of the most disturbing pictures I've ever seen for so many reasons. If you have to ask which picture, you've been on the internet too long.
ReplyDeleteI gotta say, the players I hate the most are Pronger, Bertuzzi and Domi. Tough North American players... but its not that theyre tough. They're assholes. They're the ones that send player to the hospital or end their season and then cry on TV saying "I'm not that kind of player". Uh, obviously you are...face it. I hated Bertuzzi coming to the Wings. Hated it. Tough is only desirable when youre not an idiot always ending up in the box (2 minutes of shame) or when youre already good. Case in point, Pavel Datsyuk has gotten tougher every season...maybe playing with Cheli helps. And I think that has added to how good he is especially in the playoffs.
I heard on the radio that Draper is definitely "in" for Game 4. The local thinking is that he'll replace Leino and send Abdelkader to the wing. We shall see. Leino has not fared well in the defensive zone. With that said, he's got what... 7 NHL games under his belt? Not everyone can be Helm.
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