Re: 12/31/11 - Will a Pioneering road trip go for naught? SCORES!!!!
But seems the only team anyone has a problem with is Castleton when they take one!!!
For the record: I didn't post about it here at the time, but I said verbally at the rink that the hit by Utica yesterday was horrible. Kid was lucky not to get a DQ for intentionally targeting the head. I was disgusted by that hit, and I didn't even have a horse in the race.
That said, the hit today by the Castleton player was CLEARLY right between the numbers. There was no question it was a 5 minute major penalty. The refs rightly stopped and discussed what they saw before determining that it was a game misconduct as well, but I do believe they got that call correct. Whether or not the player was seriously injured has NO bearing on the call. The call is made based on the actions of the offending player, not based on the injuries resulting. Alex Jensen was clearly shaken up on the play, and was checked by the trainer repeatedly for the remainder of the period for concussion symptoms. Thankfully, he wasn't seriously hurt and was able to play the rest of the game, but that doesn't change how the refs are supposed to make the call.
If you disagree, that's okay. You look at it through spartan green-colored glasses, and I look at it through cardinal red ones. That's why we have referees to sort it out, and in this case they agreed with my assessment.
But the key point here: you are complaining that a Plattsburgh fan commented about an incident in a Plattsburgh game, but was silent about an incident in a Castleton/Utica game... okay. Please. I don't know if you noticed, but attendance for the early game yesterday was more than 1,000 less than that of the late game. For all you know, he might not have even SEEN the hit yesterday. And even if he did, please tell my why on earth he should be expected to care enough about a game between two teams he doesn't support or watch regularly to comment about it on here. Just because you care about your Spartans, everybody who sees a dirty hit by one of their opponents should sudenly care enough to say "Oh my... [insert opponent here] is a dirty team! Maybe Castleton isn't so bad!" Yeah, that makes TOTAL sense...
And here's something for you...
Total Penalties for the weekend:
Castleton: 16 for 43 minutes (allowed 0 PPG)
Babson 16 for 40 minutes (allowed 3 PPG, scored one SHG)
Utica 10 for 39 minutes (allowed 3 PPG, 1 SHG)
Plattsburgh 4 for 8 minutes (allowed 0 PPG)
Is Castleton far and away the "dirtiest" team out there? No, clearly Babson and Utica were right there with them. But are they anywhere near the most disciplined? Far from it.
I saw a great hockey team in the Spartans this weekend. Start playing some consistently disciplined hockey, and we'll be talking about a serious contender to make a run at more than a few titles. I still haven't seen that out of them, but I hope it happens soon. I'll be there on Friday, and I look forward to seeing more great hockey out of these two top-level teams.
And one final note: geez, Coach Todd blew his lid a few times this weekend and went nuts on the refs. Almost reminded me of Coach Emery in the 90s... but 90s Emery was a little more animated about it, got a lot more red in the face, and let loose on his own players just as much as the officials. And 90s Emery earned himself more than a few early trips to the locker room. Coach Todd didn't quite get that bad.
