Grabovski Goes Crazy

Toronto Maple Leafs rookie Mikhail Grabovski has been suspended three games by the NHL for abusing an official.

The incident stems from Thursday when the Leafs took on the Montreal Canadiens and lost 6-2. Sorry, just had to get in that score. One more time for good measure, the Habs beat the Leafs 6-2. That feels so fun to say.

Grabovski, a former member of the Canadiens, was getting attention from Habs fans and players all night long at the Bell Centre. Any time he touched the puck Habs fans started booing, and any time there was a whistle or a scrum against the boards Habs players made sure to get in an extra shot or rough up Grabovski a little more than usual.

It all came to ahead late in the third period when Grabovski seemingly had enough and decided he wanted to fight with fellow Belarussian Sergei Kostitsyn.

The refs weren't going to allow it and immediately got in between the two. This didn't sit well with Grabovski who after being knocked down on the ice by the linesman, got up and pushed the linesman and then kicked some snow at him. The horror!

Grabovski was immediately given a game misconduct and sent off the ice, much to the delight of the Bell Centre crowd who gave the former Habs prospect the send off they thought he deserved. Grabovski made some hand gestures to the fans, which included waving, peace signs, and what appeared to be the middle finger for just a few seconds.

Though I should say I have no prove he did give the one fingered salute as it was very brief. When I was watching the game live, I paused my dvr and rewinded and watched in slow motion, frame by frame over and over again. But I couldn't really tell.

Do I really care if he did it or not and am I offended by it if he did? No of course not. I just like to start controversies. Especially when they involve Leaf players. Speaking of, I might just happen to know of a juicy story involving Tomas Kaberle and a group of midgets. Or I believe they like to be referred to as "little people." Though Kaberle is a tall guy so maybe it was just normal sized people, but compared to him they look like "little people." Well that makes my story considerably less juicy doesn't it?

Here's full video of the Grabovski vs. Linesman vs. Kostitsyn incident...

Mmmmm Fingers

Just when you thought hockey couldn't get any violenter, (is that a word?) along comes Jarkko Ruutu of the Ottawa Senators.

Tuesday night during the Sens vs. Sabres game, Ruutu and Sabres tough guy Andrew Peters were roughing it up along the boards when Ruutu reached a whole new level of craziness.

As Andrew Peters was giving the Sens goon a face wash with his glove, Ruutu proceeded to bite down hard on Peters' glove. So hard that Peters could feel it through the glove and was in a considerable amount of pain.

After the game when asked about the biting incident, Peters seemed just as surprised as I would have been in the same situation. Except I would've used a lot more swear words.

"I've never experienced that before," said Peters, "I've been in a few altercations before, and I've never had anyone bite me before. I didn't even know that happened, for real."

This is a pretty bizarre situation, and here's the thing. I know times have been tough for the Ottawa Senators as of late, what with only winning two games in their last ten. But are they so bad that head coach Craig Hartsburg is with holding food from the team and Ruutu was just so hungry and couldn't take it anymore so all of a sudden Andrew Peters started to look especially delicious? Because if that's the case, then I think we have an even bigger issue on our hands. (Pun intended)

Check out the video of the incident and post game reactions from seemingly everybody. I'm even pretty sure I saw Barack Obama in there somewhere. Which is surprising because you'd think he has bigger things to deal with these days.

Obvious Disciplinary Update (3:27pm): Ruutu has been suspended for two games. I guess you could say the NHL has bit back! Oooooh, burn!

An Insider's Opinion On Crosby Punching A Guy In The Crotch

All around the interwebs there was outrage last week over the Sidney Crosby punching Boris Valabik repeatedly in the crotch and not being suspended incident.

I'll admit I was one of those people who didn't understand how you could get away with doing that. In any other sport, punching a guy in the crotch would get you sent home for awhile. But this is hockey, and maybe that's what makes this sport great.

Instead of just playing the outraged hockey writer role and condemning Crosby for his actions, I instead decided to put my college diploma in television broadcasting to good use and do some investigatory journalism.

Over the weekend, I got in touch with hockey insider Bob McKenzie while he was in Ottawa covering the World Junior tournament for TSN. I asked him about the incident and why Crosby wasn't disciplined. McKenzie thinks it's because it wasn't worthy of any disciplinary action in the first place.

"I guess the NHL saw it the same way I did – it’s not suspendable. It wasn’t nice but in a league where you get one or two games for taking off a guy’s head, I’m not sure that punching a guy with your glove on in the pants is going to cost you."

McKenzie also believes that the punch wouldn't be such a big deal if it was done by another player other than Sid the Kid.

"If it wasn’t Crosby, we wouldn’t even have talked about it, let alone considered it as a potential suspension."

So there you have it. Punching a guy in the crotch in the NHL is totally cool. Hockey players have it sweet, hockey writers not so much. I just decided to punch the mailman in the crotch while he was delivering my mail, and it was quite a scene. Police got involved, I was put in handcuffs, and now have to appear in court next month. I almost immediately regret making that decision.

Six Games For Avery

NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman has just handed down a six suspension to Sean Avery for his inappropriate sloppy seconds comments.

The disciplinairy action is retroactive to Tuesday, which means that Avery only has four more games to serve.

"Mr. Avery has expressed remorse for his recent comments and has sought a professional anger management evaluation," NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said in a league-issued statement. "I will require that he follow through with that process as a condition of his returning to the ice and that he complies with any and all recommendations."

One of those "recommendations" is that Avery seek professional anger-management evaluation and, if necessary, structured counseling in light of his pattern of behavior. Ah, so that was what Brett Hull was talking about when he suggested Avery needs medical help.

Avery will not be eligible to play again for the Stars until Dec. 16, when Dallas hosts the Phoenix Coyotes. Whether the Stars allow him back on the team or not remains the real question as pretty much everybody in Dallas has said that he's not welcome back.

Doesn't six games seem like an arbitrary number. How did they decide six? Back in 1997, Chris Simon received a three game suspension for some alleged racist comments he made on the ice towards Mike Grier. So maybe they're just doubling that. Either way, I'm glad this situation is behind us and over with. Because if I had to type "sloppy seconds" one more time, I was going to lose it. Wait, I just typed it again. Stupid phrase! You'll rue this day I tell ya! *shakes fist at the sky*

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And Now We Play The Waiting Game

Commissioner Gary Bettman has finished meeting with Sean Avery, and now we play the waiting game. As Homer Simpson once famously said "Oooh...The waiting game sucks. Let's play hungry hungry hippos!"

Avery met with Bettman, NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly, Senior Executive Vice President Colin Campbell, his agent Pat Morris, Stars co-general manager Brett Hull and a representative of the NHL Players' Association at noon on Thursday, where it was discussed what would be the appropriate course of action for Avery's sloppy seconds comments.

Hull said to the media after the meeting that he expects an announcement to be made late Thursday or sometime early Friday morning.

Interestingly enough, even before a punishment is handed down to Avery, the Dallas Stars appear to have already made up their mind. As of Thursday morning there was no mention of Sean Avery on the team's roster on their web site, though he was listed in the stats leaders category.

When Sportsnet.ca contacted the Stars PR department about the Avery omission, a representative said it was a "technology issue."

You know you're in trouble when you've been deleted from the interwebs. They'll put anything on here. I'm a great example of that.

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Avery's Antics Earn Him Indefinite Suspension

Everybody's favourite loud mouth, Sean Avery, has been suspended by the NHL indefinitely and will not be playing in tonight's much anticipated match up against the "boring" Jarome Iginla and his Calgary Flames.

Avery is being suspended for disparaging remarks he made this morning in reference to Calgary player Dion Phaneuf and Phaneuf's girlfriend Elisha Cuthbert, who previously had a relationship with Avery.

"I am really happy to be back in Calgary, I love Canada," Avery said on camera this morning in Calgary. "I just want to comment on how it's become like a common thing in the NHL for guys to fall in love with my sloppy seconds. I don't know what that's about. Enjoy the game tonight."

Avery will have a hearing with NHL brass to discuss the suspension, but no specific date and time has been set. Perhaps when he's done being the crazy ex-boyfriend obsessing over Elisha Cuthbert and driving by her house late at night.

Now with video update!
In case just reading his obnoxious statement wasn't enough, here's the video of Avery spouting off...

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Ruu-Two

Ottawa Senators goon Jarkko Ruutu has been suspended for two games as a result of elbowing Canadiens forward Maxim Lapierre during Tuesday night's game.

Ruutu was assessed a two-minute minor penalty for charging, as well as a five-minute major for fighting Francis Bouillon right after the dirty elbow.

Ruutu will miss a home-and-home series against the New York Islanders on November 13 and 15, and will forfeit $13,978.50 in pay.

Okay, so I know this might get some flack but how does Ruutu only get two games for this when Habs tough guy Tom Kostopoulos got three games for a well meaning clean hit on Mike Van Ryn? With Ruutu here's a guy who is a repeat offender who went right after Lapierre and delivered a nasty elbow right to the head. I don't get it. Did the league feel like they had to make an example of Kostopoulos because it was a high profile game between the Habs and the Leafs? Either way, something doesn't smell right. And no it's not me, I remembered to shower today.

Here's video of the elbowing incident and the resulting fight. Judge for yourself, Judgy McJudgerson...

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Three For Hitting

The NHL has handed down a three game suspension to Tom Kostopoulos of the Montreal Canadiens, for his hit from behind on Leafs d-man Mike Van Ryn.

The hit happened during the first period of Saturday's Habs vs. Leafs game. Both Kosto and Van Ryn were chasing after a dump in, and when Kosto went for a clean hard check Van Ryn turned his back and left himself open to the hit from behind. It would have been a clean hit, but apparently Mike Van Ryn doesn't know how to defend himself when up against the boards. Jeez, I feel like Don Cherry for criticizing a guy for getting injured. All I need now are some really ugly suits and a sheepish sidekick.Though apparently Kostopoulos and I are in agreement on the hit.

''First and foremost, I sincerely regret the injuries suffered by Mike Van Ryn,'' Kostopoulos said in a statement. ''This is an unfortunate turn of events. I was just trying to get in on the forecheck and get the puck. I didn't anticipate him turning and couldn't stop. I was trying to finish my check and obviously it did not end up well. I never intend on injuring another player. I feel bad. I hope he is going to be all right and resume playing as quickly as possible.''

Van Ryn suffered a concussion, a broken nose, a broken bone in his hand and a cut to his forehead. He is expected to miss a month.

Here is video of the supposed dirty hit from behind. I really don't think Kostopoulos should have been suspended at all for this. Maybe he should be suspended for having an impossibly hard last name to spell that I have to double check every time I write it, but that's it.

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