Slap Shots: Game gone soft?

By DAMIAN CRISTODERO, Times Staff Writer
Published November 11, 2007

Lightning coach John Tortorella has no problem penalizing players such as Tampa Bay's Vinny Prospal for illegal hits such as the one he threw Monday on Florida's Bryan Allen. Tortorella said the from-behind blow into the side boards was worth a five-minute major.

But Tortorella has a problem when a big hit is penalized because it is, well, big. That is what seemed to happen to Tampa Bay wing Nick Tarnasky, who Monday was called for a five-minute boarding major after he left Florida's Mike Van Ryn crumpled in a corner with what appeared to be a hit from the side.

"That's not even a minor," Tortorella said. "That's where it's frustrating to me where our game has gone."

And that is?

"I think we have some hard players in this league who want to play hard," he said. "But I think the onus is on how we're directing this as far as where we're going in this game.

"Van Ryn, you don't want him hurt. But I was told immediately after that penalty it was a vicious hit from behind. My God, where are we going? I don't blame the players. It's how everything is being directed here."

Panthers coach Jacques Martin disagreed.

"That has nothing to do with taking the physicality out of the game," he said of calling penalties on a hair trigger. "It's still very physical. There are lots of opportunities for good hits, but there's a difference between good, clean hits and hits that are dangerous to the players."

Martin put Tarnasky's hit in that category. Tortorella sees a slippery slope.

"How do I go to Tarnasky the next day and say, 'You know you can't do that"'? Tortorella said. "What's Tarns going to do for us? He's not going to score 40 goals. I need him banging. What's going to happen any night when he goes in for a hit? He's going to hesitate."

"It means," Tarnasky said, "if I'm in the same situation, I'm thinking, 'If I finish my check, is it going to be a five-minute penalty and am I going to hurt my team?' There's a real fine line between what's a penalty and what's not. I've got to find it."

Buyer beware

The Oilers over the summer made every league general manager angry when they lured young star and restricted free agent Dustin Penner from the Ducks with a five-year, $21.5-million offer sheet. How's that working?

Penner had three goals and five assists in his first 15 games and, according to the Edmonton Journal, is 15 pounds overweight at 240.

"He has to get himself at a weight where he's comfortable going up and down the ice," Oilers coach Craig MacTavish told reporters. "It's going to take a while with the conditioning. It's a long-term plan with Dustin."

On the outs

According to Sports Illustrated, only 32 Russians were with NHL teams when the season began, down from 98 who played at least one game in 2000-01.

Several factors could be contributing, the story said.

The league and Russian federation still have not worked out a transfer agreement to compensate Russian teams when their players sign in North America.

Russia's Super League does not have a salary cap, meaning average players likely make more there than they would here, and several high-profile Russians (does Alexander Svitov ring a bell?) have been busts.e_SClBLindros file

During the 1996 conference quarterfinals in which the Flyers beat the Lightning, Philadelphia's Eric Lindros, upset at taking sticks to the face and punches to the head throughout, beat Tampa Bay's Igor Ulanov to a bloody pulp.

"He just killed him," Flyers defenseman Chris Therien told reporters last week after Lindros announced his retirement. "It was like, 'Here's what you get for playing me the way you did in this series.' We just stood there watching. We couldn't believe it."

He said it

"I'm here to send a message for guys to think about the consequences when you go for a hit like that. You have to hold back. Hitting is part of the game but not from behind." - Bruins forward Patrice Bergeron after sustaining a broken nose and a concussion from an illegal hit into the boards by Philadelphia's Randy Jones; Jones was suspended two games for it.e_SClBMoney, money, money

Forbes magazine came out with its annual report on NHL team values, and the Lightning, at $199-million, is ranked 11th. Does that mean Absolute Sports Enterprises, which wants to buy the team, the St. Pete Times Forum lease and 5 1/2 acres of adjacent land for about $200-million, is getting a deal? The top five and bottom five teams (values in millions) and percentage change from last season:

TOP

Pct. Team Value Change

Maple Leafs $413 24

Rangers $365 19

Red Wings $293 14

Canadiens $283 23

Stars $254 2

BOTTOM 

Pct. Team Value Change

Thrashers $148 16

Coyotes $147 3

Capitals $145 14

Blues $144 -3

Predators $143 7

National pride

The top NHL scorers by countries of birth with overall rank entering Saturday:

Country Player Points Rank

Canada Wayne Gretzky 2,857 1

Czech Jaromir Jagr 1,543 12

Finland Jari Kurri 1,398 18

Sweden Mats Sundin 1,266 33

Slovakia Peter Stastny 1,239 34

U.S.Mike Modano 1,233 35

Russia Sergei Fedorov 1,114 52

Source: USA Today

[Last modified November 10, 2007, 20:20:00]