Hockey Newsletter - Mar. 22, 2000
How do you plead?
Instead of a weekly injury tally maybe the CTVSportsnet.com newsletter crew should compile a police blotter, fingerprints and all. New Jersey's Scott Niedermayer joined Marty McSorely in the NHL 2000 ugly pages this week. He looked like Mark McGwire aiming for the fence with his two-handed swing at Peter Worrell's noggin. No accident this. Cost the Devil defenceman 10 games. And what the heck is the league going to do about Bryan Marchment... that is, repeat offender Bryan Marchment? No, he didn't end someone's career with a cheap knee shot this time, he just attempted a disembowelment on Paul Kariya. It is getting harder and harder to watch the most exciting game in the world. Hockey today is like Culloden on ice... without the bagpipes. And off the ice we have to hear about Eddie the (spread) Eagle's attempted bribes after being arrested for assault. Eddie, they had to use Mace on you... you were kicking the officers in the chest... you think they're going to cut you a break? Never before has the NHL brass faced such a black time. And no matter what penalties and suspensions are being handed out, it doesn't seem to be deterring the players from being downright dangerous.
Only 50 goals?
Last year, no one scored 50 goals. So this week when Bure hit the mark, Gary Bettman's sigh of relief was heard all around the league. This is the era of incredible goalies with monstrous pads. Even the best snipers have trouble seeing the net. Will the league ever get back to the days like 70-71 when Phil Esposito scored 76 goals? Or 90-91 Brett Hull scored 86 goals. And we won't even hope for Gretzky-like numbers... 92 goals in 81-82.
CTVSportsnet.com's Steve Milton ponders the elusive 50-goal mark:
"We shouldn't take too much solace in Bure's 50-goal season, though, because had he not held out until January last year, then been injured after his trade to Florida, he would have gone well beyond 50. As defences become more sophisticated, penalty-killers get better, and the era of the goalie continues, the 50-goal scorer is becoming as rare, and as celebrated, as he was in the 1960s."
Read more at:
(retired link)
Who's hot...
* Jaromir Jagr. Every time this guy comes back from injury, we remember why he is the league's MVP. With Jagr in the lineup, Pittsburgh's chances in the playoffs double... at least. How many time did we think he was down and out? Hmmm? The groin injury slowed him down... then his recent thigh injury might have threatened his season, nay career. But somehow JJ is still leading the scoring race with 91 points despite missing 17 games. And here we thought his Samson haircut would render him weak. No way, the guy's still a Hart candidate in our books!
Who's not...
* The New Jersey Devils. Even before Scott Niedermayer pulled a McSorely this week, the Devils have been stinky. So why are they STILL in first place? Because for the first half of the season, Martin Brodeur was God. Lately, though, he's as solid as a McSorely alibi, as dependable as a Bob (don't call me Bobby) Clarke trade, and as reliable as Eric Lindros. So what does coach Robbie Ftorek do? He puts Chris Terreri in the net against the Canes. The team then allowed 37 shots on goal, and lost 5-0 at home. So much for Mogilny bringing them that much needed offence. Until recently, many puck pundits picked the Devils as Cup favourites. Right now, they'd have a hard time getting past Montreal, or Buffalo, or Pittsburgh, or the Rangers in the first round of the playoffs.
In the corners
With all the brutal injuries this past season, we at CTVSportsnet.com are getting a little nostalgic, pining for the days when the groin injury was "a going concern." So to restore our faith in that sensitive spot, and raise our emotions, we feature a list of prominent yet ailing groins:
Marty McInnis
Curtis Leschyshyn
Grant Marshall
Darren McCarty
Stephane Fiset
Karl Dykhuis
May this list grow and grow!