Campbell responds to Simon
Posted on March 17th, 2008 – 11:39 AMBy Michael Russo
Just had a long conversation with NHL discipline czar Colie Campbell. He and I had email problems yesterday, so his response to Simon’s complaints never got in the Star Tribune.
Simon’s complaint: He got 30 games for stepping on Jarkko Ruutu, while Chris Pronger got eight games for stepping on Ryan Kesler.
Campbell said the severity of his suspension had to do with the fact that Simon had just served a 25-game suspension for slashing Ryan Hollweg in the face.
“It was the relative time between both acts and not learning,” Campbell said. “My biggest fear with Chris is him hurting another player by not being able to control himself. These were back-to-back.”
Campbell said that in the back of his mind was Simon cross-checking Ruslan Fedotenko two years earlier in response to what he said was a slash.
“I said, ‘why would you react this way? This is not a mean, vicious player,’ and he said he slashed me in the thumb.’ Well, watch the play. This was the Todd Bertuzzi play without the injury. I only suspended [Simon] two games because there was no injury, but it stuck in my mind. It was a vicious attack and I probably should have given him more games.”
Campbell said he was also upset because he let Simon play in the preseason during his 25-game suspension for slashing Hollweg, and Simon reacted by running Hollweg from behind, then cross-checking him up high in an exhibition game. He didn’t suspend Simon for that incident. (Remember, this was a big issue here in the Twin Cities because Simon was allowed to play during his suspension, and Sean Hill wasn’t during his).
“[Simon’s] big defense always is that he doesn’t hurt anybody,” Campbell said. “Well, he’s been pretty lucky for that, especially [the first] Hollweg thing.”
As for what he sees is the difference between the two stomps, Campbell said the Simon vs. Ruutu one, “there was no hockey play involved. He went to the bench and said, ‘Oh, what the heck.’ And he just got finished with the 25-game suspension, so it was like, ‘Chris, did you not learn?’ He’s always apologetic as hell, but this is about protecting players he’s playing against now. You just don’t know what he’s going to do. The unpredictability is what got him the 30 games. Does he not care? Does he not think? Can he not control himself?”
So why was Pronger’s so much less when he’s also been suspended eight times and has injured loads of players? “They’re all hockey plays. It’s plays where he plays too tough, plays too hard, gets carried away. The guy had him in a leg lock. Those are factors and I didn’t do this in a vacuum. I consulted a lot of people. Plus, he loses $600,000 in salary.”
In other news:
– NHL Live, a two-hour radio show on XM Home Ice 204, will be simulcast every day on NHL Network at 11 a.m.
– Also, the Denver Post reports that the Avalanche will have to start the playoffs on the road if it wins the division. Here’s the story. Why should you care? As I wrote a month ago, 3 vs. 6 in the West will most likely be two Northwest Division teams, so if the Wild finishes sixth and Colorado third, the series would start here.
– Looks like Kyle Okposo will make his NHL debut Tuesday for the Isles.
106 Responses to "Campbell responds to Simon"
Sounds like Campbell makes it up as he goes and doesnt know what the hell he is doing.
I agree with the reasoning behind the actions taken. I do think that you have to consider the time between and for a “tough” guy Simon sure does complian a lot.
He’s got a point, but I still think that Pronger’s suspension was arbitrary and capricious. As it was pointed out in the last thread, you can see Pronger looking downward as he’s bringing his foot down.
If he’s talking about the immediacy of Simon’s stomp in relation to the end of his suspension, why didn’t Campbell suspend Pronger more in last year’s playoffs? Didn’t both of Pronger’s events occur in about a two-week span? This is just more NHL double-speak. I wish just one sports league would let the players be in charge, what Campbell should have done was have a communication with the captains from every team in a big meeting. Why am I not an NHL executive? I think too clearly.
The explanation does justify the length of the Simon suspension, Pronger still got off easy.
That said, Campbell does have a good point that Simon ought to consider more seriously than he has.
That point is “whether Simon is able to really learn from his past sins”.
For JL, it must be an issue too, because Simon did not see much ice time after the altercation with Clarkson.
I wonder if the timing of the incident was a factor. By that I mean if there was 20 or 30 games left in the regular season would Pronger get a longer suspension? God knows the NHL needs/wants it’s star players for the playoffs.
Plus, he loses $600,000 in salary
Everything he said prior to this made great sense. This point made everything lose all validity to me. Salary of the player being suspended is totally irrelevant. Pronger should get few games because he makes more? That is moronic at best.
very good point jdw
Who cares what Simon says, he should be playing in a prison instead of the NHL. Pronger got lucky he didn’t end a career by stomping on Kesler’s leg. Is there a penalty worse than stomping in hockey? Why wait until a player is crippled by a skate. Eight games is a joke.
BNAG, agreed. It’s just less that he needs to report for child support!
Of course, $600K will make the wife even more upset. She probably turned the juice up on that monitoring device up to 11!
his explanation makes sense, and I would agree with it if, as Rockybo pointed out, Pronger hadn’t had TWO suspensions in the same playoffs, and both of them were just one game and guys were injured as a result. and, as VoR points out, Pronger deliberately stepped on Kesler with his skate in the calf, which could cause a career-ending injury if the skate had cut Kesler’s leg.
Campbell is still an idiot in my mind.
I read the sports sections of newspapers for most of the hockey markets on most days, and if there was an article about this subject over the weekend, they were all about how Pronger’s suspension should have been longer. and not necessarily just because Simon had 30 games, just because it’s such a dangerous and jerk thing to do.
Just left work early because server problems made it impossible to get any work done and made the 30 minute drive home, any of you going to the game drive uber careful it’s not good out. If you think 30 minutes is nothing for a commute, it’s normally a 10 min drive.
Bandgeek,
Maybe your employer can contact Stribs crack IT department for help with that server issue. They have everything buttoned up well.
Thanks for making me feel better about the trek from ‘Tonka to Cottage Grove to get home at 5:00, I appreciate it.
I agree with Campbell’s points. Simon is his worse enemy, he has a history of acting more like a thug than a hockey player. His actions have shown a complete lack of control. He has been very lucky not to have completely ending a player’s career, it’s ridiculous that he still can’t see that he f*cked up. Campbell was making a point to Simon by suspending him for that amount of time.
I feel that Pronger plays with a edge and most of the stuff that I’ve seen him do has been done during the act of playing hockey. He is a bit taller than most so his elbows will tend to be high. He was trying to head the other way the player was clamped on to him. I don’t think it was that blatant. It did deserve something though. Also isn’t there supposed to be an enforcer going after Pronger, isn’t that “The Code”. He intimidates by playing hard, you must match the physical play if you want to compete with him.
Just my 2 cents though.
I’m excited for the next four games! I love seeing the Wild up against quality opponents with playoff intensity.
Will the entire team follow suit and shave their heads?!?
8 games for Pronger is a lot better than 0.
Matt Kassian hits hard.
Rockybo nailed it. Further proof that CC just makes it up as he goes.
So in less than 6 games, in the games biggest stage (the playoffs); Pronger was suspeneded for 2 measley games, for ruthless hits to the head (somethig the league had stated was one of their top prorities to reduce).
He boarded Holmstrom, while his elbow came up and drove his head into the glass — That was in Game 3 of the WCF. He sat for Game 4.
Then in game 3 of the SCF, he threw a blatent elbow out and hit Dean McAmmond.
Another 1 game suspension. So much for punishing harder the 2nd time when dealing with repeat offenders in a short amount of time.
REALLY wish Russo would have called him out on this and we could have seen CC stumble over his words and try to backpeddle on how that was a different situation all together.
Looks like Campbell spent all his time looking for a way to not suspend Pronger for 30 games. Had he spent his time reviewing Prongers viscious hits to the head, kicking, etc. and then reviewed only the 30 game precedent he had set, his own logic would have resulted in a much longer suspension. Nice to see Campbell focusing on how he could do less rather than send the message to Pronger, who just like Simon, makes you wonder what he will do next.
Tuesday 1-7-3 (no more - THANK GOD)
NiNY, Tuesday is my beer league night. I don’t think this is a coincidence. My focus is elsewhere, there is a ripple in the Force. It is strong in this one. Hopefully either no playoff games on Tuesday or my season ends before the Wild’s. 
I’ve got no problem with CC’s explanation.
Sorry BNAG it’s crappy out. Good luck on the trip home, and hopefully the new server we are being switched to (hence the problems today) will fix all our old problems. ‘Tonka to Cottage Grove is a trek anyway way you slice it.
I hope tonight goes well for our boys, it should be a good game if the Wild team that showed up on Saturday shows up tonight as well.
Not sure if this has been posted, but found this interesting site yesterday: Sports Club Stats, Your team’s chances for making the playoffs.
Wild at 90% right now.
Oh, and that playoff odds calculator site is very cool. In a nerdy kind of way (and yeah that’s me).
I think NiNY posted a link for it in the previous thread.
Russo,
Thoughts on Pouliot’s first NHL game of the season?
Wait - Wyatt Smith’s recall wasn’t the main part of the Denver article? 
Yorbington - that was earlier this season. Saturday’s game was B-B-B-Benny’s fourth with the big club.
So far, he’s played 4 games, 0-0-0, no PIMs and 3 SOG.
And I forgot about his 3 games last season where he had 1 SOG and was a -1.
If the theory that “because it was in the course of the game” is valid then it was OK what Bertuzzi did to Steve Moore “because it was in the course of the game”. CC is just covering his arse. IMHO CC is just splitting hairs. Pronger is part of the beloved Ducks and there will be no messing with the favorite team.
way too many inconsistencies in CC’s message on this stuff to take him seriously.
Do they base on result (as he said after the Mikko slash) or not?
As was mentioned above, what about Pronger’s tally in the playoffs last season?
If his position is that Simon didn’t prove that he learned anything as judged by how quickly he did something stupid again after being suspended, then doesn’t that mean that Pronger DID show that he learned his lesson by keeping his nose relatively clean since his last suspension? That’s total BS - and completely unprovable in any event.
And, as was also mentioned above, the salary lost angle is utterly ridiculous. He should be ashamed that he even mentioned it.
My thoughts were that Benny looked ok (about as good as he could with 6+ minutes of ice time). I was hoping that they could get a little lead so that he could play some more, but it just didn’t happen.
He did play more in the 3rd than Parrish did (0 mins) and had a couple shifts between the Mafia, but the close score and penalties really limited his and some others ice time.
Pretty scary last night. Pohl did not move a muscle for a minute or so. He seemed to hit his head on the boards near the bench after receiving a hard, maybe high check.
From DuluthNewsTribune “Minnesota hockey player Tom Pohl is in intensive care after suffering a skull fracture in a game Sunday night in Mankato, Minn.
The senior sustained a skull fracture when his head hit the boards in the second period, according to a University of Minnesota news release. Pohl was airlifted to St. Mary’s Hospital in Rochester, Minn., where surgery was performed to stop his brain from bleeding.
The Gophers defeated Minnesota State-Mankato in double overtime to advance in the WCHA playoffs.
“We are very fortunate that he has tremendous medical care,” said Minnesota coach Don Lucia via the news release. “We’re looking forward to him returning to school at one hundred percent and our thoughts and prayers remain with Tom and the Pohl family.””
GreenStar - from last thread, we were in Sec.121. We thought the seats were going to suck because we were behind the stage. But they were Awesome? Right behind the Big Man. I wish I would have known you were going but wait I think we like the anonymity thing, yes?
Had a great time. Best Christmas gift I’ve gotten in along time.
Iceman: that was an ugly situation. It sort of reminded me of the Claude Lemieux on Kris Draper hit - without the malicious intent, though, I thought (though I obviously can’t say that the MSU kid wasn’t trying to crush him.)
He was out cold well before he hit the ice. In fact, I wonder if his head hit the ice because he was out cold and that’s how he sustained the fracture, or if it was contact with the dasher that did it. His pot flew off pretty quickly.
…so if the Wild finishes sixth
Mike, is that a prediction?
Iceman, I think he had just whipped his body around to put the puck back in the zone and the Mankato player came in and nailed him right after he had spun. He was in a vulnerable position and I don’t think the Mankato player had any intent to lay him out that bad (he wasn’t moving all that fast when he hit Pohl and it looked like the player may have been going off on a line change). The scariest part was on the low angle replay when you saw Pohl’s neck snap and helmet fly off as he went into the boards. I certainly hope he is able to fully recover.
Thank you Don for getting the indepth interview with Mr. Campbell.
Although the 8 game suspension is very low compared to Simon’s, the fact that Mr. Campbell revisited the event and took action certainly indicates that the NHL is serious about maintaining a standard.
Actually it happened in front of the Gophers bench so it would not have been a Mankato line change. He still didn’t look like he was trying to injure him.
Poor kid. But at least he’s in Rochester, they have Doctors that specialize in everything there so they have to have good head trauma guys. I should know, I grew up there.
I thought the elbow took his helmet off but I agree it wasn’t a malicious hit given the postioning of the players. However, it was a good call - when you throw an elbow bad things can and do happen. All the best to Tom.
It was definitely an unfortunate play, but I don’t think there was any malicious intent. I think the Gopher bench would have reacted. Someone would have stood up for their teammate had they felt it was malicious. The whole series up to the 3rd period and overtime was hard checking but clean. No one was going to get a penalty late in the final game, which I feel is a good thing.
Colin Cambell. Its sad. His response just shows that the NHL makes it up as they go.
Whether or not we agree or disagree with the suspensions handed out. I feel the NHL has to sort out its justice, based on act, not player. If it doesn’t, eventually a players career will end. Then the players will do take the code beyond what it is now, and the league would become as relevant as professional lacrosse.
Russo,
I heard a couple of ramblings that Jeremy Roenick was almost traded here AT DEADLINE any chance you could check on that? just curious why I’d be hearing that now. read it a few places (two to be exact), he would have been a veteran and as much as I like him, I dont think he has much in the tank but I’m not getting the big bucks like DR.
I have heard other rumors like the O.Jokienen and Bobby Holik, but for some reason I would have rather had Roenick then Holik
I think we like the anonymity thing, yes?
depends on who we care finds out?
i was back there for the november show and it was excellent. the floor was ok. had to bob and weave to see things. upside is you don’t get asked to sit down.
off to vegas. the blog will be releived of my musings until sunday. so if a greenstar posts, it ain’t me.
i leave the task of keeping up the positivity to kj.
later y’all.
have fun, G*…and remember: the house always wins.
Where are you staying out there, BTW? I’m a Mandalay Bay guy, myself.
Good luck on the NCAA wagering!
ICEMAN/NiNY,
I saw the hit on the Gopher player last night , and my immediate thought was. His helmet must have been on WAAY TOO LOOSE to fly off so easily, because from the angles I saw the hit, it was not that vicious.
Don’t get me wrong, it was a hard hit, and high as well, but I got no feeling from the hit, that there was any maliciousness intended. I firmly believe that if his helmet had been strapped on tighter, he would not have suffered the injuries he did.
These players need to strap on their helmets tighter. You helmet won’t do you any good, if it flies off first. (I am always amazed on how loose most NHL players wear their helmets.
*** I sure hope the Gopher player is able to make a speedy and full recovery ***
I guess I never thought of myself as Nicky Naysayer, but this stat suprised me:
“Of the five Northwest Division teams, the Minnesota Wild have had the most success against teams within the Western Conference. That trend must continue this week, when the Wild meet four conference opponents in six days, beginning Monday night against the Colorado Avalanche at the Xcel Energy Center.
Minnesota owns the fourth-highest win total against Western Conference foes, trailing Detroit (40), San Jose (37) and Dallas (36), at 34-22-6.”
http://www.nhl.com/nhl/app?articleid=357179&page=NewsPage&service=page
From Russo’s message the other day…the deliberate act of kicking an opponent with an exposed skate blade, especially where the opponent is in a vulnerable position, is and always has been a repugnant and totally unacceptable act in the game of hockey.
“In addition, while the act itself was extremely dangerous, the fact that this is the eighth incident requiring the imposition of supplementary discipline on Simon compelled me to impose a very severe penalty in this case.”
Colin Campbell’s rulings are about as consistent as the NHL’s officials penalty calling. There is zero consistency in any of it. It’s been obvious that Pronger has anger management issues also, throughout his entire career. They are all not hockey plays. He’s been a cheap artist goon all of his career, and those of us that watch religously all know that. Brian Burke and Colin Campbell are good buddies, and Burke still has plenty of stroke with the NHL, you can’t tell me that he didn’t call in a couple of favors.
I don’t care what the reasoning is, the NHL and it’s disciplinary folks are a complete joke. They will not make an actual stand on any of these issues, and then, even when they make a half-a@#ed effort at changing something, they stick to it for a while, and then everything falls back to how it used to be. As far as I’m concerned they can quit blowing smoke up our a@#es, change their skirt for a pair of pants, and actually stick to something.
BTW–Maybe Simon and Pronger can be roomates on the road, when they both are taken in the Expansion Draft of the PHL (Penal Hockey League).
VoR: Not that either is bad per se, but Mandalay’s got a decent pool scene too.
I’m a Mandalay Bay guy, myself.
I love the MGM Grand. If I go, it’s typically in the summer and the Grand’s pools are always a welcome sight.
Erock - are you saying that Brian Burke is to Colin Campbell what Lucius Malfoy is to Corneluis Fudge?
flamingo. i spend very little time in the room.
i take the best deal available on a week that is tough to get good deals with the NCAA’s starting. Used to get comp’d at IP but that place isn’t worth $1 a night so since they don’t comp anymore, i go elsewhere.
we do congregate to watch hoop at IP. they are good for that.
How do these spammers post here? Does anyone know?
[…] who was a team manager under Brown at KU and followed him to San Antonio. …www.kansascity.comCampbell responds to SimonCampbell responds to Simon Posted on March 17th, 2008 ?? 11:39 AM By Michael Russo Just had a long […]
Have a good time GreenStar. I don’t care who finds out.
Who was that that was curious about my gender a few threads ago? I think this conversation would intrigue them, no?
Anyway, GreenStar enjoy. Don’t do anything kj wouldn’t do. And if she’s “sparkly” STAY AWAY. just a litte “mom” advice
Wow ss6, an HP reference, although Burke is certainly Slytherin material.
Ok…So Campbell pretty much just admits that part of his retoric in suspending Simon was that he was “upset” at him? Colin Campbell is an absolute idiot, plain and simple. The fact that he uses personal grudges to decide the terms of his suspensions is absolutely 100% ridiculous.
Oh I think DeathEater for sure, Bandgeek. Maybe I should change my name to HPGEEK!?!
What a joke…It shouldn’t matter if Pronger’s suspensions occured during a hockey play. A stomp is a stomp and a cheap headshot is a cheap headshot whether this whistle has blown or not. Phanuef, Pronger and Simon should all be suspended for their reckless play and disrespect towards other players well beings.
Suggesting that Pronger’s foot stomp was a hockey play is like saying that Ohlund’s two-hander to Mikko was also a “hockey play.” Both were mere retalitory acts.
Having said that, I am OK with the difference between Simon’s and Pronger’s suspensions, though CC’s expplanation has its inconsistencies.
A bit off topic, but does anyone know of somewhere online a ‘non-live’ Wild game? I will be traveling and won’t be able to watch it live on Versus, but will have time much later tonight.
Well is Campbell suggesting that Pronger is in control of his actions? Because if that is the case and because Pronger has hurt so many of his hockey brethren isn’t that alot scarier than Simon?
The thing that stinks the most about this to me is the fact that the league initially said it wasn’t going to take any disciplinary action at all. No promise to review the incident and ponder it before deciding. Nothing. I think if they could have gotten away with that, they would have. There must have been some outrage from somewhere and enough pressure applied that they then had to act, so they came up with this 8-game deal to save face.
Pathetic.
WildinSeattle: I *think* if you get the 1-day pass for Center Ice online (through nhl.com, I think it’s $15) you can watch replays of the games anytime during that 24-hour period. But I’m not 100% on that, so check the fine print before buying I guess.
If I am in charge of positivity, we’re in deep doo-doo… 
ss6…there isn’t much I won’t do…at least once.
I am a Circus Circus guy (is it still there?)…like Green*, I don’t go in the room either.
Me and the lovely Mrs. kj would like to check out Bellagio someday. Although, staying there would seriously cut into my action $$$.
Never been to Vegas.
Thanks ss6 I now have the image of Burke firing off a Dark Mark over arenas when they win games.
Dave you make more sense than Campbell.
The NHL should come up with some sort of a disciplinary matrix or something if it’s really serious about it. They could break it down like this:
Elbowing incident to the head:
1st offense = x
2nd offense = x
3rd offense = x
Stick incidents:
1st offense = x
2nd offense = x
3rd offense = x
Deliberate skate incidents:
1st offense = x
2nd offense = x
3rd offense = x
And so on.
These punishments would not be arbitrary, and would be enforced equally no matter who the offending player is, which team he plays for, at what point in the season the offense occurs, and regardless of the number of games, if any, lost to injury by the victim. It should be entirely objective.
Then again, what do I know? I just watch hockey on TV.
Dave,
I agree that something needs to be set in stone. The current suspensions are just too arbitrary.
Apparently I’m in the past today. Blog doing that freaky time thing again. My “2:49″ post should have been after Daves.
I know kj. That’s why I said that.
“Plus, he loses $600,000 in salary.” So, what Campbell is saying is that apparently the price to possibly cripple a player and ruin his career is $600K.
Nice job Campbell, you jackass. For NHL sake, get rid of Bettman and his half-brained cronies.
Campbell had a quote in the other paper today where he said something like, “If Chris [Simon] didn’t do what he has done, he wouldn’t need to complain about how we handle discipline.” That one had me simultaneously scratching my head and checking my dictionary to see if there was one ’s’ or two in asinine.
Re: Gophs vs Mav’s, I did not think it was a malicious hit on Pohl either. I thought some of the penalties were warranted, except I thought perhaps the Game Misconduct given Mankato player was more than necessary.
As Lucia commented, “essentially five hockey games in three days”.
All hard fought games. Great goalie play on both ends, good scoring opportunities on both ends.
But, probably more interesting was the lack of chippy play and no acrimony toward each other. I really liked the respect both ways. So, I appreciated the total effort from both teams right to the end, and I left with the feeling both deserved to go on.
Without sterling goalie play from both GT’s, their were many chances to end any of the games early and either team could have won.
I also agree something (a minimum at least) needs to be set in stone. I say a minimum because each incident is different. Also, you want to take frequency of infraction into account.
So say using your stick as a weapon (Ohlund or Simon) gets you a minimum of 10 games. They could then add to that in Simon’s case because he swung at the head rather than the leg.
Using your skate as a weapon (Simon or Pronger) gets you a minimum of 15 games. Then, they can tack on to Simon’s because he’d just come back and apparently not learned his lesson.
etc.
Never spent time in Las Vegas. No attractions there for me. I know, I’m boring, but hey, I got road trips to pay for!
I’ve never heard of a 1-day pass for CI Online. I think I could really use it on Wednesday, as I’ll be in Seattle and ‘Da Boys’ will be 700 miles down the Left Coast in San Jose…and no Seattle bar/restaurant wants to admit to carrying NHL Center Ice!
Phil, I posted response for you on the previous thread.
WRT: I discovered it a couple weeks ago when I was away from home. It was very easy to sign up for. A good little product.
As a Minnesotan living in Seattle, I can tell you that you aren’t going to find anywhere to watch hockey here. It’s a terrible hockey city.
CI Online 1-day seems like a good solution for you, but I just found out they don’t replay Versus games, so I think I am screwed for tonight’s game.
to coin a phrase…
Is this the game…that Skoula shows the Avs what they missed out on when they let him go?
Is this the game…Gaby finally drops his purse, and with Adam Foote to boot?
Is this the game…Foppa’s foot finally falls off his leg?
Is this the game…Fridge, Simon and Voros skate together like some latter day Hanson Bros?
Is this the game…the Wild puts all the pieces together and plays a complete, 60-minute game?
Is this the game?
ooh…WildInSeattle: that stinks…sorry about that.
Roger, Austin..I’ll check it out
Re: No NHL CI in Seattle: That’s what I’ve been getting. To make matters worse, the Sonics are playing the Phoenix Suns (Shaq-fu & Co.) at Key Arena, which is 6 blocks from our hotel. I’m really thinking I’m screwed unless I get the 1-day deal…and I hope that the hotel’s system can handle it.
WRT: FYI…you’re welcome.
Am listening to Joe Satriani’s “Crowd Chant” as I write…hopefully we hear that a lot tonight!
BTW, thanks for the info/update Austin, and the link.
WildinSeattle: The game is on Versus. You should be able to go to some sports bar (Spectators? Fox Sports Grill?) and find it. (Well, maybe not Fox Sports Grill.) But it will be more available than Wednesday night’s titanic clash in the HP Pavilion with all those mean San Jose fans…
NiNY,
Sadly no.
The WILD will most likely forget to show up tonight, and will get spanked around for the entire game. 4-1 COL is my prediction.
The only fight of the game will involve Ian Lapierre, and he will win in convincing fashion.
All in all, another bad night for the Wild. 
*** I sure hope I’m wrong however ***
Nice find NiN - I am surprised to see someone in Seattle besides me has CI!
WRT - the problem is I just happen to be flying tonight during the game, so was hoping I could watch online at my convenience when I get to the hotel tonight.
Oh well, thanks to Comcast and HDNet, the last game was the first I missed this season and it didn’t turn out too bad!
Dampland…that was kinda damp prediction..HA! You might even say your assessment was dank! thank you thank you very much
They will also replay the game tomorrow at 4 central. At least, that’s how they usually roll.
WildInSeattle - no worries. As soon as Bettman finds out Seattle is a crap hockey town he’ll get working on getting a team there.
Geez Dampland that was a drag. Somebody get Dampland some rock-a-dile, STAT.
Isn’t it time we were fed?
Better vibes than that for me Dampland.
My prediction would be based on which Wild team shows up…if it’s the Wild team from the 1st two periods of the last Detroit game, Wild win 4-1 (Backs lets in a softie)…if the “play when we wanna play brigade” show up, it’ll be 1-4. If anything in between, luck or lack thereof will rule the day.
No problem Phil.
Like I said, I hope I am wrong, but I just think that too many people here are giving the Wild more credit than they are due. They have underachieved all season, and are playing without passion at the time of the season when it is needed most. Add to that this team’s total lack of a killer instinct, and I am sadly confident that the next 10 games will be an exercise in futility.
I have tickets to the 3/30 game against the AVS, and I fear that by then, the game will have no meaning; as the WILD will already be out of the playoffs.
Sorry folks, but I refuse to drink DR’s Kool-aid this year.
Fair enough Damp. Although I would like to think this team can pull off a play off spot, my realistic side has not purchased 1st round play off tix. Last year we only got 2 game for our 1200.00 up front. Although that money goes towards the next season’s tix it’s still steep with gas at 3.10/gallon, parking, dinner at approx. $20.00 for a really bad hamburger/pizza and the 2nd period bag of peanuts and 2 waters at $16.00. Wow, need a sip.
My sister’s live in Seattle and apparently there is a new bar that opened specializing in MN sports.
Once I get the name I’ll let you know.
Damps, I like your reasoning (mostly cuz I’ve said similar things ), if not your faith.. intensity will be the key, if we see it Oh Yeah! if not…Damps, you will be correct sir (or ma’am)!
Phil,
Believe me when I say, that I would like nothing more than for the Wild to prove me totally wrong.
well, I guess I would like more for the ‘Nucks team (plus Cookie) to fall into a vat of honey, and then be tied naked to Fire Ant mounds, while Mikko and Boogie spray gallons of skunk scent oil onto them.
NiNY:
Is this the game… where kids start shaving their heads like Gaborik and Demitra?
okay I’m out…gotta go run the kids around for an hour and a half so they’re tired in time for the early start!
Go Wild!
FOOD……
Damps, I hope you’re wrong too, but what you wrote is largely the truth…no killer instinct, no heart…talent alone will not win you a SC anymore and the Wild better realize that starting today…’course, I’m not holding my breath…
I will be watching on a delay again as usual thanks to work. So will a win to my dvr please!! Hopefully this game is as good as it should be. It definitely should be a battle tonight. Hope the boys are ready.
