Sunday, November 7, 2010

Game 12: "Free Jumbo!"

Congratulations to San Francisco on its first World Series Championship! Yeah, Man. Sweet. Maybe I'll buy a ball cap. Okay the real news, though, is that Joe Thornton has been suspended for two whole games! For hitting some dude in the head! The replay looks bad, too, like, really bad. Thornton, stepping out of the box after serving a penalty he didn't like,* drops his shoulder into Perron's head while Perron is moving 20mph, looking behind himself. In that respect it looked vicious. On the other hand, what was Joe supposed to do, let Perron skate by with the puck because he wasn't looking where he was going? In this respect, I think that the NHL is sending mixed messages. The only thing this suspension shows is that players are unclear on what the penalty is. They can suspend Joe as many games as they like to "send a message," but he still isn't going to know what he did wrong.

But regardless of the penalties, I was excited to see what the Sharks looked like without Joe Thornton on the first line/power play. Now, having seen the Tampa Bay game, I can say that they looked awesome! Power play was great, too. Couture fit right in on the first line (love that guy) and got a goal to put him right in the middle of the race for the Sharks' goal-scoring lead. I would also like to take this time to note that Jamal Mayers has been making a big impression on me. I think he's really added to the scoring potential of that fourth line, but, not only that, there have been several moments when a puck squirts loose, where all I can think is "Somebody ------- get that!", and Jamal Mayers turns on the jets and gets there first. He's far speedier than I expected. Of course, the only thing anybody could tell me about this guy when he signed was "Was he the guy who shaved his eyebrows into tiger stripes in the playoffs?" So my expectations weren't high.

Go, Sharks!
6-6-0


*and his first of the season

3 comments:

  1. Have you seen the Willie Mitchell/Sidney Crosby hit that was used as an example of a totally kosher hit coming into the season? If you can point out to me a significant difference between that totally legal hit and the one that Thornton was suspended for, I will pay you cash money.

    And re: sending a message -- I completely agree. I don't think anyone can tell you what he should have done instead. Get out of his way?

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  2. I think you mean the Willie Mitchell on Jonathan Toews. And no, I see no distinction between it and Thornton's hit on Perron. Perron's not even as high-profile a player as Toews!

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  3. oh, oops, that's definitely what I meant.

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