Hopefully, you were able to laugh at Lindy
Ruff's postgame commentary on the hip check
that Darius Kasparaitis used on Tim Connolly.
It was legal.
And depending on how much context you were
able to recall related to Lindy Ruff, that
laugh could have easily evolved to a guffaw.
Give yourself two points if you recalled
that Mike Grier viciously boarded Kaspar with
a leaping-off-his-feet-while-opponent-was-prone-
against-the-boards hit in the team's prior match.
Give yourself two points if you recall that Sabres
players under Ruff's tenure skirted the game's
rules with their physical play, such as Varada.
And it's not as if Ruff was an angel in his playing
career. Give yourself four points if, like poster
'Supernal T' you were able find a recent article
by Tim Graham, who pens a story that is loosely
re-described by me in shorter form as follows:
"Ruff was dumped accidentally by an opponent.
He was mad. He charged down the ice and delivered
an elbow to the opponent. Only he hit the wrong
player. And it was a no-contact beer league. And
it was only one year ago."
And if you collected all of those eight points,
you matched Lindy Ruff's career point totals.
Congratulations!
But Seriously Folks ...
Watching a hypocritical loudmouth is funny; in fact,
that seems to be the main purpose of the Internet
nowadays. But then I got to thinking ...
This is dangerous. Coaches have an overwhelming
amount of power of players, particularly to young
players trying to establish themselves.
If a coach incites the equivalent of a riot in
the dressing room, particularly against one player,
how much responsibility does he have for the outcome?
The Bertuzzi-Moore Precedent
Todd Bertuzzi is a pariah in many NHL arenas because
of his hit on Steve Moore, but is there any doubt
that Coach Mark Crawford played an emotional role?
That incident should absolutely be on the minds of
Colin Campbell and Gary Bettman when they listened
to Lindy Ruff today.
In a press conference, when a coach's verbal filter
is at its greatest, he still called Kasparaitis a
"cheap shot artist" and taunted him to "show some
guts" by fighting.
Now think about what Lindy Ruff will say before
the next game against the Rangers in the private
confines of his team's dressing room.
NHL Needs to Make a Decision
I happen to prefer old-school hockey, I miss bench
clearing brawls, and I still have the puck I caught
when Nick Fotiu would throw them into the crowd after
the pregame skate. Those were good times.
But this is about the new NHL. And if Bettman and Campbell
expect this league to be about offense, and expect
the need for a protective fighter to be a thing of the
past, then they need to address this with coaches.
Otherwise, another Bertuzzi-Moore incident is
only a matter of time.
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