Friday night fists of fury: Who is to blame for Isles-Pens brawl?

The fallout continues from Friday night's brawl-filled tilt between the New York Islanders and Pittsburgh Penguins that featured 11 game misconducts, 15 fighting majors, and 346 penalty minutes. Late Saturday night, the NHL handed suspensions to three players and fined New York for their inability to control their players. GMs, owners, writers, commentators, and fans have all expressed varying opinions on the game and the disciplinary actions that followed.

The actions and infractions

Martin received a four game suspension for mugging Maxime Talbot at center ice. The commentators, among others, compared this instance with the vicious Todd Bertuzzi incident from 2004 that left Steve Moore with three fractured vertebrae in his neck and ended his hockey career. Warning: this video is graphic and can be very disturbing:

While similar, the difference in these two plays is that one combatant exercised last-second better judgment and restraint to a player in an extremely vulnerable position, but the other obviously did not. Martin certainly warranted the punishment he received, probably deserved a couple more games, but to be compared to one of the most notorious plays in NHL history is unfair.

Is what Martin did to Talbot any more dangerous than what Philadelphia Flyers forward Daniel Briere (and league-selected All-Star) did to Frans Nielsen earlier this season?

 
Briere received three games for that infraction. Now, onto the second disgusting spectacle from Friday night:

Trevor Gillies was slapped with a well-deserved nine game ban for a hit to the head, dropping the gloves against a defenseless opponent, and his bonehead decision to taunt an injured player. Eric Godard received an automatic 10 game suspension for leaving the bench to protect goalie Brent Johnson (who as you'll see later on, can handle himself).

The following is a statement from NHL Senior Executive Vice President of Hockey Operations Colin Campbell:

"The actions by the Islanders' Gillies and Martin were deliberate attempts to injure by delivering blows to the head of players who were unsuspecting and unable to defend themselves. The message should be clear to all players: targeting the head of an opponent by whatever means will be dealt with by suspension."

Fair enough. In addition, the Islanders organization was slapped with a $100,000 fine for what Campbell called "their failure to control their players". The problem here is Penguins coach Dan Bylsma also failed to control his players throughout the game, yet received no penalty for what happened Friday night. Only one player left their bench all night, Godard of Pittsburgh. One can assume the NHL disagrees with the age-old saying goes "it takes two to tango".

The cause(s)

• Islanders vs. Penguins, February 2nd, 2011 - The Isles were shutout 3-0 in a game where they were outplayed, outhit, and downright embarrassed. Talbot (the main target Friday night) hit an unsuspecting Blake Comeau up high, causing a concussion but was not penalized or suspended. The physical Pens pummeled the diminutive Isles all night and culminated with a brawl at the end of the game:

• The hit on Comeau, combined with image of smiles and laughs on the Pittsburgh bench surely served as the impetus for the fiasco Friday night, but it is more than just that one game. The Islanders, for years now, have been physically abused time-after-time by their opponents, while the on-ice officials and members of the NHL front office failed to do their jobs of punishing the guilty parties. Whether correct or not, this forced the close-knit team to police themselves, and police they did.  

• The Islanders were recently referred to by some on Canada's SportsCentre as "doormats". With this statement fresh in their minds, the players got fed up real quick and decided they needed to act. 

The aftermath

Scores of NHL officials, anchors, and writers lashed out at the Islanders for their actions. Some made valid points, while others simply made wild accusations and failed to do their research. Damien Cox of the Toronto Star tweeted the following:

"Gillies, Haley, Martin - where do the Islanders dig up these thugs? Not one of them could score 10 goals in a full ECHL season."

Actually, Micheal Haley has scored more than 10 goals in a season in both the ECHL and AHL; Martin scored 12 goals last season in the AHL (his first professional season). On the other hand, Pittsburgh's Godard has never scored more than seven goals in a season (NHL, AHL, or juniors) in 14 years of playing hockey. When Cox was bombarded by replies from Isles fans he responded with:

"Love these Islander fans - didn't know there were that many! - trying to promote skill level of their various thugs."

Classy to say the least. The funny thing is his twitter account is @DamoSpin. Spin couldn't be more accurate to describe his work. At the same time he completely backs the harsh comments from Penguins owner, and former NHL superstar, Mario Lemieux. Seems pretty clear to anyone who follows the NHL (except this guy) that Mario's comments are the definition of hypocritical. Lemieux said the following Sunday:

"Hockey is a tough, physical game, and it always should be. But what happened Friday night on Long Island wasn't hockey. It was a travesty. It was painful to watch the game I love turn into a sideshow like that."

Alright. I, like almost everyone else, would agree with that. Well done 'Super Mario'.

"The NHL had a chance to send a clear and strong message that those kinds of actions are unacceptable and embarrassing to the sport. It failed."

Okay. Martin could have received another couple of games and it would have been understandable. Ditto for Gillies. Fair enough.

"We, as a league, must do a better job of protecting the integrity of the game and the safety of our players.  We must make it clear that those kinds of actions will not be tolerated and will be met with meaningful disciplinary action. If the events relating to Friday night reflect the state of the league, I need to re-think whether I want to be a part of it."

Whoa, hold on a minute. How can someone come out with such a bold statement while they employ one of the dirtiest players in the entire league? Matt Cooke (currently suspended) is a repeat offender who has the distinction of effectively ending Marc Savard's career.

Facts: Pittsburgh leads the NHL in minor penalties (290), major penalties (63), total penalty minutes (1113), and penalty minutes per game (19.2).

This reeks of an owner complaining about his team getting the short end of the stick, and not an ambassador of the game looking to make things cleaner or safer. No one should be surprised by such comments. This is the same guy that called the NHL a "garage league" in 1992. Meanwhile, the team he played on that season had two guys (Kevin Stevens and Ulf Samuelsson) register over 200 penalty minutes each.

The truth

No doubt that the actions of Martin and Gillies were despicable and warranted suspensions. The code in the NHL allows players to drop the gloves and fight man-to-man, face-to-face. If the Isles went that route, the backlash from this game would have been minimal.

Fact remains that the Penguins continued their physical play throughout the game and refused to back down at any point, regardless of the score or who was already tossed from the game. They continued hard body checks, punishing hits to the upper body, and dirty cross checks all over the ice. Therefore, the circus broke out and lasted the entire third period. It is unfortunate it had to play out the way it did; however, if there was one team in the league that deserved to be physically ambushed, it was the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Are any fans of the Boston Bruins, Philadelphia Flyers, or Washington Capitals outraged by the events Friday night?

I didn't think so.

Déjà vu for Isles and Poulin

The New York Islanders find themselves in an all too familiar situation: their goalie of the future has suffered a recurring injury. Years after the fact, the team is still waiting for Rick DiPietro to return to 100% from a smorgasbord of ailments. Now, all the organization can do is hope that Kevin Poulin can avoid going down the same path.

Poulin was injured Tuesday night in pregame warm-ups when his left skate got caught in a rut, forcing him to twist his body and fall awkwardly to the ice. The 20 year-old, unable to put any weight on his left leg, had to be helped to the locker room for further evaluation. Click here to see the video. An MRI Wednesday revealed a dislocated left knee cap that would require surgery, consequently ending the rookie's first professional season.

Katie Strang, via reader Tom Meehan, reported Friday morning that this is not the first time Poulin has dislocated his left knee cap (also known as the patella). While playing junior hockey in the QMJHL, the goalie suffered the same injury playing soccer in a pregame warm-up. Poulin rehabbed the injury, and did not undergo surgery at that time.

Ryan Shulman, of sportsinjurybulletin.com, takes a look at the general injury and why there is a growing trend of undergoing surgery as treatment.

"Athletes who wish to return to sport early and whose functional demands are high, may require early surgical management. MPFL reconstruction using hamstring grafts and repair of VMO and retinacular structures can have most athletes back to training at four to six months, assuming no osteochondral damage." 

That timetable would have Poulin ready just in time for training camp; however, the severity of the dislocation may not be fully realized until the surgery is underway. The fact that he has now suffered a second dislocation complicates matters and furthers the need for the operation.

"In the case of chronic repeat dislocations, the main purpose of surgery is to address the underlying cause of symptoms. Trochlear dysplasia (malformation) can be treated by reconstruction."

As we await more information, the team is on track to make history. Once recent acquisition Al Montoya plays, a franchise record six goalies will be used in one season. In addition, it would bring the total number of goalies to have played for the Isles since DiPietro signed his 15-year contract to 11. For those who did not know, or chose to forget, that mega (bust) deal was signed in September of 2006.

Mets approaching fork in the road with Reyes

With each passing day it becomes more and more evident that someone other than Jose Reyes will be playing shortstop for the New York Mets after the trade deadline in six months. As the team goes through a rebuilding phase, without actually admitting so to its fan-base, they will have to make the ultimate decision on one of the most popular players in franchise history.

Reyes was a highly regarded prospect upon making his ascent to the majors in 2003. The concern of an injury-prone talent quickly manifested itself as the middle infielder failed to top 300 plate appearances in either of his first two seasons. Critics were just as rapid to dismiss such claims as Reyes proceeded to post four straight seasons of over 700 trips to the plate.

• Statistical averages from 2005-2008: .288 BA, 113 R, 14 HR, 66 RBI, 65 SB (81.5 attempts)

Pretty impressive numbers for sure, unfortunately 2009 was an injury-plagued campaign for the budding superstar (limited to 36 games). Reyes managed to play in 133 games in 2010 but there were noticeable drops in his numbers. 30 stolen bases in 40 attempts is not exactly a positive sign for a speedster with a history of lower-body injuries. GM Sandy Alderson is a sabermetrics guy and surely will not look highly at the .321 on-base percentage posted by the lead-off hitter.

His gloomy future with the Mets has been further complicated by the recent announcement that the Wilpons are looking for a buyer to take on roughly 20-25% ownership of the team in order to provide a much needed cash infusion. Bernard Madoff rears his ugly head again. According to Mike Ozanian of Forbes.com, Alderson would have to slash $20-30 million off the current payroll for the team to just break even on its operating costs.

Reyes told Adam Rubin of ESPNNewYork.com that he has no intention of discussing a possible extension during the upcoming season. With the growing potential of a departure after the season, would Alderson risk losing a player who could command a nine-figure contract without getting anything in return? Probably not. Perhaps if the Mets were expected to be in a pennant race this season things would be different.

A rebuilding team, in need of cutting payroll, cannot afford to lose a prime talent without acquiring potential building blocks for the future in return.