Inside The Penalty Box 10.15.07: Winless In Atlanta
Posted by Neil Borenstein on 10.15.2007
The Atlanta Thrashers are the only team remaining in the NHL to be without a win in the 2007-2008 season. A lackluster defense and offense not stepping up like it needs to is to blame. Neil Borenstein examines this issue, as well as the latest headhunting incident plaguing the league in the latest edition of Inside The Penalty Box!
don't think there is anything the NHL can do at this point that will force players to learn hits to the head are unacceptable. Excessive suspension times just don't seem to be a deterrent.
On Oct. 10, Philadelphia Flyers forward Jesse Boulerice decked Vancouver Canucks center Ryan Kesler away from the play with a cross-check to the face. After being nailed in the jaw, Kesler remained on the ice for several moments while being attended to by the team's trainer.
The NHL handed down a 25-game suspension on Friday, tying Chris Simon's suspension from last season for the longest in NHL history. Like Simon, Boulerice's stick made contact with Kesler's face on the infraction.
"This was more than a careless and reckless play – it was senseless," said NHL Senior Executive Vice President of Hockey Operations Colin Campbell. "This was a deliberate cross-check to the face where Jesse Boulerice broke the shaft of his stick on Ryan Kesler's jaw. Boulerice went out of his way to deliver the cross-check and we will not tolerate this kind of conduct."
This is the second time in a two-week span that a player from the Flyers was suspended for his overly physical play. On Sept. 28, the NHL gave Steve Downie a 20-game ban for leaving his feet on a hit to Ottawa Senators forward Dean McAmmond, who suffered a concussion as a result of the hit. Downie has since been sent down to the Flyers' AHL affiliate, the Philadelphia Phantoms.
Boulerice apparently did not learn from Downie's mishap that trying to take out an opposing player is not the way to make a name for yourself in the NHL. He had an issue with Kesler and chose to attack him when the game was already in the books and Kesler was not even remotely near the play.
Boulerice regretted the attack afterward, much like Downie did after his flying check on McAmmond. But that doesn't excuse the fact that they had a mental lapses on the ice – something we can't be convinced won't happen again.
What's worse is that this hit overshadows the Flyers' dominating victory that evening. The Flyers blasted the Canucks, 8-2. And it's perhaps the biggest statement game from the Flyers thus far that last season was, in fact, last season and that their demoralizing last place finish was forgotten with this new Daniel Briere-led era of Flyers hockey. But none of that mattered once Boulerice attacked Kesler with 11:39 remaining in the third period.
The real problem stemming from this is that these kinds of incidents are still happening. All I keep hearing is that the league is trying to eliminate these hits to the head. But when are we going to stop trying and actually do something? When is the NHL going to take action that gets the point across so sternly that we never have to witness on-ice incidents like these? Will it take somebody actually dying on the ice?
I believe the NHL really lost control in 2004. The league severely mishandled Todd Bertuzzi's situation. For quite possibly ending Steve Moore's career with a gutless sucker-punch, Bertuzzi received what was, in the end, a 20-game suspension. I'm sure he really learned his lesson there. Bertuzzi has since skated for three different teams. Moore hasn't stepped back onto NHL ice and may never again.
The only proper punishment for Bertuzzi would have been to suspend him for life (or at the very least until Moore could return to the league – which probably would turn out to be life.) What does the loss of 13 regular season games and seven playoff games really accomplish?
Bertuzzi did lose approximately $850,000 in salary and endorsements during the span of 20 months, that included the locked out season when no games were played. But that kind of money is practically nothing for a professional athlete. The loss of hockey would have been much more significant.
And that's what needs to happen for the players now who go overboard. Don't just take 20-25 games away from them. Take hockey away from them – for life. Is that too harsh a penalty? Maybe. I'm not going to claim it isn't drastic. But desperate times call for desperate measures sometimes. And if removing hockey from these goons' lives will make players learn to keep their cool on the ice and not be reckless, then it's a measure worth taking.
Because lets be honest, it's not going to stop unless these measures are taken. Just one night after the NHL handed down Boulerice's 25-game suspension, this happened in a Nashville Predators vs. Phoenix Coyotes game:
What the league is doing now just isn't working. Players aren't getting the point. They aren't afraid to go overboard. Before something completely tragic happens again, a la Steve Moore, the NHL needs to fix this. It can't just talk about it anymore. It needs to take action. Start banning these guys from NHL hockey, for life.
From Division Champs To Chumps
Thrashers Only Winless Team Remaining In NHL
Photo Credit: Yahoo! Sports
A Thrashers offense that only has nine goals is sorely missing an injured Marian Hossa.
Only one season removed from making the playoffs for the first time in franchise history, the Atlanta Thrashers remain the only team left in the NHL without a win this season.
Atlanta has played five games and only really managed to get its juices flowing in its last game against the New Jersey Devils. Prior to that contest, the Thrashers were outscored 17-4 in four games, including being shutout against the Buffalo Sabres, 6-0. On Saturday, the Thrashers finally seemed to kick their season into high gear against the Devils, who were having struggles as well early on this year.
But the Thrashers could not pull out a victory in the 6-5 affair. They blew a 4-3 lead going into the third period, and gave up a game-winner to Patrick Elias on the power play with 28 seconds remaining in the game.
With five regulation losses to start the year, the Thrashers don't have a single point and have a difficult set of three games this week against highly competitive Eastern Conference franchises.
The Thrashers have been absolutely deplorable on defense to start the year. They sit 28th in the league in goals against (23.) A lot of that has to do with poor goaltending, as Kari Lehtonen and Johan Hedberg have easily stunk up the joint with goals against averages over four and save percentages of .870 and below. But the Thrashers' defenders have not helped very much, either.
This is hardly surprising since the Thrashers really don't possess potent defenders on their roster. A defense led by Ken Klee, Niclas Havelid and Alexei Zhitnik is hardly anything to fear. It's also a unit that can do very little to help its goaltender protect the net. These players are not good when they are the main attraction of a team's defense. Instead, they are good role defenders. Maybe Zhitnik can handle top defensive unit duties so long as he has a good compliment on the other side of the ice. But to have these players lead the way just sets the Thrashers up for disaster.
Something that was supposed to help ease the Thrashers' pain of a lacking defense was an incredible offense. The only problem with that is the team's star right wing, Marian Hossa, is day-to-day with a groin injury and the Thrashers have scored only nine goals this year.
Outside of Ilya Kovalchuk, who has three goals, nobody on the Thrashers is showing up. And Kovalchuk only has four total points on the season himself, which is hardly anything to brag about.
The Thrashers need to be a team about offense. They don't have the defense to get them out of trouble. And we're really starting to see that early this year.
The Minnesota Wild, for example, are a stark contrast to the Thrashers. The Wild only had nine goals as of Sunday night. However, the Wild have the goaltending and defense to keep them in games. That's the system they have employed with head coach Jacques Lemaire. The team has some weapons that can put up points, like Marian Gaborik and Brian Rolston. But it's the goaltending of Niklas Backstrom and the play of the defenders in front of him that will dictate the team's success.
It doesn't work that way in Atlanta. The Thrashers don't have those kinds of resources in their own zone. Lehtonen has not lived up to his hype and they don't have a good enough defensive system employed by Bob Hartley to make up for the team's lack of talent. If the Thrashers can miraculously work their way back into competition as the season progresses, bringing in some defensive talent will be key for the organization come the trade deadline.
Right now, the Thrashers need to work off the offensive spark they had against New Jersey. Though they didn't walk away with a win, or any points for that matter, Atlanta put the puck in the net like it's going to need to do this season as it lives and dies by scoring. That's what this team is built for.
Kovalchuk has to be the catalyst there and he has to play like a 50-goal scorer all season long. This is especially true since he's carrying the team with Hossa out of action.
When Hossa comes back, he needs to play a good two-way game to aid the lackluster defense in Atlanta. And he more importantly needs to be the good all around offensive asset that he's been throughout his career with the ability to setup some plays and put the puck in the net.
It's tough to see the Thrashers take a step back after making a huge stride forward with their first ever playoff appearance last season. After being swept in the first round by the New York Rangers, they at least had something to build upon. But they've regressed since that round and now sit in a much tougher Southeast Division with two playoff-caliber teams (Carolina, Tampa Bay) and two others that could surprise a lot of people (Florida, Washington.)
There is still plenty of time for Atlanta to improve and move up in the standings. But that's going to continue to be increasingly difficult unless they keep putting pucks in the net and find a way to fix their obnoxiously obvious defensive deficiencies.
Send all comments, questions, suggestions and telephone numbers from the ladies to br7qbsteelers@yahoo.com.
Until next week, you have just been Inside The Penalty Box!
don't think there is anything the NHL can do at this point that will force players to learn hits to the head are unacceptable. Excessive suspension times just don't seem to be a deterrent.
