#6 UNH, Home and Home with #12 Merrimack, Fri 2/11 Sat 2/12

[dmjossel]

Re: #6 UNH, Home and Home with #12 Merrimack, Fri 2/11 Sat 2/12

How would an interested fan gain access to this video that you have viewed?

Pack Network included it in their webcasts of Friday night's game (purchased from unhwildcats.tv) and Saturday night's Merrimack game (purchased from B2TV.com). The highlights they have publicly posted only include goals, not the hit. I've inquired if they will be posting a clip of the hit or submitting to the league. In the meantime I was hoping perhaps another fan had recorded it-- I did not.

 

[dmjossel]

Re: #6 UNH, Home and Home with #12 Merrimack, Fri 2/11 Sat 2/12

What did you see the replay on, ESPN?

Pack Networks does video production for Hockey East games at both UNH and Merrimack. During the Lawler game they showed replays of the hit several times between periods, including slow motion.

They have archive access for sale separately, but I'm not paying $90 just to see the hit again. Perhaps a UNH fan with a season pass from unhwildcats.tv can view the archive footage and comment?

 

[Onion Man]

Re: #6 UNH, Home and Home with #12 Merrimack, Fri 2/11 Sat 2/12

Well, the Merrimack players clearly thought that Desimone did it intentionally. After UNH tied the game, they went after Desimone. He received several cross checks to the head in the Merrimack zone along the boards.

Then there was a blatant leg check on Thompson attempting to enter the offensive zone, in what would appear to be in the nature of "an eye for an eye." Merrimack also took a couple other runs at Thompson. In fact, after the leg check, Thompson slowly skated back to the bench, letting the ref know his displeasure. This sequence resulted in the "too many" penalty on UNH.

Good for Merrimack. Glad to hear that puke Desimone got run

 

[GoUNH]

Good for Merrimack. Glad to hear that puke Desimone got run

Desimone is not a dirty player

 

[Onion Man]

Re: #6 UNH, Home and Home with #12 Merrimack, Fri 2/11 Sat 2/12

Desimone is not a dirty player

I wonder if DaCosta and the rest of the Warriors feel he is. Dirty is as dirty does.

 

[GoUNH]

I wonder if DaCosta and the rest of the Warriors feel he is. Dirty is as dirty does.

Being a BC fan, you know that Bigos is a goon and dirty player. The hockey gods work in mysterious ways.

Thank You.

 

[C-H-C]

Re: #6 UNH, Home and Home with #12 Merrimack, Fri 2/11 Sat 2/12

I'm not ascribing any intent to DeSimone, as I'm not a mind-reader. I'm also unsure that intent here should be relevant; only whether or not player actions could have had any possible legitimate intent, so perhaps my description went too far.

Having viewed the video, it was my opinion that had DeSimone not stuck his leg out, there would have been no contact, and the result would have been a clean miss, sending DeSimone into Merrimack's defensive end, alone, while the play continued on without him.

DeSimone could have stuck his left leg out for any one or more of several reasons, including changing direction. However, until DaCosta was past him there would have been no reason to change direction, and although it does involve trying to guess intent, I'd say the way the play looks, it appears as if DeSimone was attempting to hit DaCosta, not to skate past him into the Merrimack defensive end. To infer that he was sticking out that leg to change direction indicates that he already knows or believes that DaCosta is or will be past him, and since they hadn't yet made contact when he stuck the leg out that seems premature.

In fact, given the relative player positions, the way in which DeSimone could have most quickly changed direction would be either to keep his skates parallel and cross over his right leg-- meaning that if there had been any leg to leg contact, it would have been his right leg and DaCosta's left-- or to pull up and stop. For either of those manuevers, DeSimone's legs would be expected to be parallel and tight. There's no way that broadening his stance at that moment by sticking his left leg out turns him back into the neutral zone any faster; in fact, it would slow him down and keep him pointed towards the Merrimack zone and DaCosta.

Thanks for the clarification. Seems like a reasonable interpretation of what you saw on the video.

 

[goblue]

Re: #6 UNH, Home and Home with #12 Merrimack, Fri 2/11 Sat 2/12

I guess probably Smeaves wasnt suspended huh? And if you cant see the irony, you must be blind. In any event, we probably wont be hearing UHN fans whining about other teams being overly dirty in the future, eh? Glass houses is right

I have no interest in searching back to see if Smith was suspended. I'll give you the benefit of doubt and say he wasn't. Fair enough?

My point about the whole thing is that unfortunately, a player was injured. Doesn't matter how good he is. He's out for some period of time -- that's most unfortunate. Again, if there was intent to injure, then DeSimone should receive full justice, whatever that is -- I (and I'd say all fans) have no problem with that. Fair enough?

As to the "irony" and "glass houses", I don't think you can look at any team, or any fan base, and make declarative statements such as "they play dirty" or "they don't", or "their fans always 'beetch' about calls or non-calls." The players are human, after all, playing a contact sport at speed, and susceptible to responding to emotion. On a macro level, the games usually appear to be played cleanly, but -- and though I never played organized hockey -- I'd say it's a safe bet that all kinds of dirty things happen on a micro level, mano a mano, and occasionally they get carried to the macro. I'd also say that most fans of any team complain about apparent or perceived injustices that happen on the ice, whether or not said injustices are valid. Fair enough?

In my mind, no single team or fan base holds a distinction of being dirty or whining. Things happen and things are said, most often in the heat of the moment, but we all like to give chiding reminders of sordid events past, do we not? And there will always be good apples and bad apples, and that applies to all of us. Fair enough?

Finally, I will not defend the actions of DeSimone -- Although I was at the game, with center-ice seats high up and an excellent view of the play, I honestly was looking the other way, and never saw the contact. I only saw DaCosta on the ice in obvious distress. I would say, however, that he is not known to the best of my knowledge as a dirty player, which isn't to say that he didn't succumb to a rash notion to take out DaCosta. He may have. Let the powers-that-be make that decision. Fair enough?

 

[i'zonprize]

Re: #6 UNH, Home and Home with #12 Merrimack, Fri 2/11 Sat 2/12

I have no interest in searching back to see if Smith was suspended. I'll give you the benefit of doubt and say he wasn't. Fair enough?

ACS has a selective memory and an affinity for bringing this up mis-remembering time and time again. Smith was not suspended- as he didn't do anything remotely close to wrong. Bishop lalligaged it back to his crease conveniently leaving his leg behind for Smith to potentially trip over. If anyone was wrong there, it was Bishop. Not Smith who simply kept his line and skated through the intended trip. Had he tripped he could have gone head first into the boards. Justice was served however as Bishop got himself hurt on the play.

 

[thecomicbookguy]

Re: #6 UNH, Home and Home with #12 Merrimack, Fri 2/11 Sat 2/12

Second best part of the game (other than the go-ahead) was SDC tapping his crutches on the glass taunting Kessel's Fat Brother.

Phill was there?

 

[walrus]

Re: #6 UNH, Home and Home with #12 Merrimack, Fri 2/11 Sat 2/12

ACS has a selective memory and an affinity for bringing this up time and time again. Smith was not suspended- as he didn't do anything remotely close to wrong. Bishop lalligaged it back to his crease conveniently leaving his leg behind for Smith to potentially trip over. If anyone was wrong there, it was Bishop. Not Smith who simply kept his line and skated through the intended trip. Had he tripped he could have gone head first into the boards. Justice was served however as Bishop got himself hurt on the play.

Was their a penalty called on the play?

 

[thecomicbookguy]

Re: #6 UNH, Home and Home with #12 Merrimack, Fri 2/11 Sat 2/12

Was their a penalty called on the play?

Does it matter? Breathe on the goalie and you get a penalty (AMC seemed to make a reference to this earlier in the thread). I've seen players get blatantly pushed/checked into the goalie and get sent. I've seen the goalie initiate the contact and draw the penalty.

And, if you really want to use that defense, then I guess the DeSimone play was perfectly fine, as no penalty was called.

 

[Hokydad]

Re: #6 UNH, Home and Home with #12 Merrimack, Fri 2/11 Sat 2/12

whole other story
goalies are like quarterbacks.
if not protected wack jobs would take runs, at what one could argue the most vulnerable position.
if goalies flop or whatever, who cares. they are goalies and in their own world. thats why we love them and teammates find them so ammusing

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x5Xp9hvTvPk&NR=1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hyazTXDqiZw&NR=1

 

[GoUNH]

Re: #6 UNH, Home and Home with #12 Merrimack, Fri 2/11 Sat 2/12

Regardless of the loss, I enjoyed watching a great game last night at the Mack. My 6 year old daughter was especially pleased because she got a game puck that was shot out of play in the UNH bench.

 

[walrus]

Re: #6 UNH, Home and Home with #12 Merrimack, Fri 2/11 Sat 2/12

Does it matter? Breathe on the goalie and you get a penalty (AMC seemed to make a reference to this earlier in the thread). I've seen players get blatantly pushed/checked into the goalie and get sent. I've seen the goalie initiate the contact and draw the penalty.

And, if you really want to use that defense, then I guess the DeSimone play was perfectly fine, as no penalty was called.

if there was a penalty called, I doubt the parties were innocent as was implied. If there wasn't then it could go either way. I remember the play with Bish, he stuck his leg out.

Until I see video of the Da Costa I withhold judgement, hopefully someone posts it. As MAine fan I got nothing else to do

 

[acs64]

Re: #6 UNH, Home and Home with #12 Merrimack, Fri 2/11 Sat 2/12

I have no interest in searching back to see if Smith was suspended. I'll give you the benefit of doubt and say he wasn't. Fair enough?

My point about the whole thing is that unfortunately, a player was injured. Doesn't matter how good he is. He's out for some period of time -- that's most unfortunate. Again, if there was intent to injure, then DeSimone should receive full justice, whatever that is -- I (and I'd say all fans) have no problem with that. Fair enough?

As to the "irony" and "glass houses", I don't think you can look at any team, or any fan base, and make declarative statements such as "they play dirty" or "they don't", or "their fans always 'beetch' about calls or non-calls." The players are human, after all, playing a contact sport at speed, and susceptible to responding to emotion. On a macro level, the games usually appear to be played cleanly, but -- and though I never played organized hockey -- I'd say it's a safe bet that all kinds of dirty things happen on a micro level, mano a mano, and occasionally they get carried to the macro. I'd also say that most fans of any team complain about apparent or perceived injustices that happen on the ice, whether or not said injustices are valid. Fair enough?

In my mind, no single team or fan base holds a distinction of being dirty or whining. Things happen and things are said, most often in the heat of the moment, but we all like to give chiding reminders of sordid events past, do we not? And there will always be good apples and bad apples, and that applies to all of us. Fair enough?

Finally, I will not defend the actions of DeSimone -- Although I was at the game, with center-ice seats high up and an excellent view of the play, I honestly was looking the other way, and never saw the contact. I only saw DaCosta on the ice in obvious distress. I would say, however, that he is not known to the best of my knowledge as a dirty player, which isn't to say that he didn't succumb to a rash notion to take out DaCosta. He may have. Let the powers-that-be make that decision. Fair enough?

A little history for ya since I dont believe you've been here as long as others. The SMT's of UHN (Skating Mother Theresas) were tabbed I believe by PC fans I'd guess 4 or 5 years ago now due to the apparent over-whining of UHN fans when it came to contact. That descriptor stuck on this board because I, and others from different schools, think it pretty much fit the description of many UHN posters, some of which dont post here anymore. Non the less, old perceptions are hard to break, no? In any event, to get back to my original point which is: I found it very ironic that a team known for being overly physical has its star player sidelined by a team whose fans have the reputation of the SMT's. My other point had to do with a certain BC fan but thats irrelevant at this point.

None of my point had to do with whether the hit on DaCosta was cheap, or whether or not Desimone should get disciplined (which apparently he wasnt). I havent seen a replay so wont pass judgement. Someone mentioned that Umile disciplines his players for crossing the line, so I can only assume that Umile thought it was a clean hit or didnt warrant any sort of suspension or Umile does not actually discipline his players. One of these three.

 

[walrus]

Re: #6 UNH, Home and Home with #12 Merrimack, Fri 2/11 Sat 2/12

A little history for ya since I dont believe you've been here as long as others. The SMT's of UHN (Skating Mother Theresas) were tabbed I believe by PC fans I'd guess 4 or 5 years ago now due to the apparent over-whining of UHN fans when it came to contact. That descriptor stuck on this board because I, and others from different schools, think it pretty much fit the description of many UHN posters, some of which dont post here anymore. Non the less, old perceptions are hard to break, no? In any event, to get back to my original point which is: I found it very ironic that the star player of a team known for being overphysical has its star player sidelined by a team whose fans have the reputation of the SMT's. My other point had to do with a certain BC fan but thats irrelevant at this point.

None of my point had to do with whether the hit on DaCosta was cheap, or whether or not Desimone should get disciplined (which apparently he wasnt). I havent seen a replay so wont pass judgement. Someone mentioned that Umile disciplines his players for crossing the line, so I can only assume that Umile thought it was a clean hit or didnt warrant any sort of suspension or Umile does not actually discipline his players. One of these three.

Give credit where credit is due, I coined the phrase SMTs and it was more like 10 years ago

 

[Greg Ambrose]

Re: #6 UNH, Home and Home with #12 Merrimack, Fri 2/11 Sat 2/12

So we are still debating whether the DeSimone hit was intentional or not and whether he is some sort of dirty hockey player, or that UNH, as a team is. Unlike some folks, I was actually looking at center ice when DeSimone and daCosta got tangled up. Their legs definitely crossed and daCosta went down in a heap. My initial comment was "leg check" because when you see something like this, and it always seems to happen in center ice, most of the time you can assume that it was intentional. I have not seen a replay and I'd bet that, even if I did, it would be inconclusive. You also have to consider the reputation of the player who is being accused. DeSimone is many things, positive and negative, but he has never gotten the rap as a dirty player. That may be why he wasn't penalized. I still think that there might be some sort of review by the league office, and it could result in a game suspension (like the Diamond case) if Bertagna sees something. We'll just have to see.

As for the game, I can only wish that UNH had played with the same intensity on Friday that they displayed last night. It was a great college hockey game, up and down, plenty of chances, plenty of turnovers, great goaltending at times and certainly a great crowd. I thought the most egregious play for UNH was when Kipp backed in on DiGirolamo and pretty much screened him on the second Merrimack goal. UNH was very fortunate to get the two man advantage at the beginning of the third and they made the best use of the opportunity. They had their chances to win in regulation, didn't, and were caught flat footed (once again), in the OT. I said it yesterday, and I'll say it again. This is the way the games are going to be played the rest of the way. Vermont and NU are fighting for playoff seedings and, of course, BC is their usual juggernaut self. There will be no easy games the rest of the way. The players, especially the first line, have to understand this and go full bore the rest of the way. If they do, they can do damage, if they don't, even if it is just for a few stretches in the game, they will drop.

One last thing. Can someone please explain to me why the officials could not have sorted out the penalties at the end of the second period during the intermission, then tack on the extra nine seconds at the start of the third period? I've been at games, including one at Merrimack, where they have done just that. Instead we had what seemed to be a 15-20 minute delay which served no useful purpose in my book.

 

[acs64]

Re: #6 UNH, Home and Home with #12 Merrimack, Fri 2/11 Sat 2/12

if there was a penalty called, I doubt the parties were innocent as was implied. If there wasn't then it could go either way. I remember the play with Bish, he stuck his leg out.

Until I see video of the Da Costa I withhold judgement, hopefully someone posts it. As MAine fan I got nothing else to do

I'm gonna use my "selective memory" here and say I recall Bishop standing up with his legs spread apart in the crease and Smith(?) deciding not to go around his big frame but instead deciding to take out his right leg on the way around the back of the net. And, as I recall ( imo ) Bishop was out several weeks with a sprained knee or torn cartilage?

Either way, we can all agree that goalies must be a protected species....hence the call on Diamond which I fully support, though the way in which Jackie brought it to light and late manner that the league took action cerrtainly has to raise eyebrows. But in the interest of not acting SMT-ish I'll say its all good and necessary.

 

[acs64]

Re: #6 UNH, Home and Home with #12 Merrimack, Fri 2/11 Sat 2/12

Give credit where credit is due, I coined the phrase SMTs and it was more like 10 years ago

hmmmmm......you'll need to prove that one...I think it was Jon over at Friar-ville. If you can get him to dispute his origination of that, I'll stand corrected and will humbly offer an apology....(cough, cough, bs!)