flames v. wings postgame: annoyances

it incenses me that nhl.com, in their selected game highlights, rarely IF EVER include questionable hits or hits that lead to injury/suspension. it's beyond annoying because (i'm sure i speak for a lot of people) those are PRECISELY the plays that i want to watch... last night, for example, my nemesis cal clutterbuck took out adam foote in a play that saw the aging blueliner leave the game and not return. in retaliation, mccormick delivered a dave-brown-on-tomas-sandstrom-like cheapshot to the head. is that what it looked like ? i wouldn't know cause there's NO REPLAY FOR ME TO WATCH.... (that's how i imagine it, though).... mccormick gets a two-game suspension, clutterbuck gets off scot free (albeit with what i would guess would be an awfully sore neck)...

i'm also currently thoroughly annoyed by the dudes on NHL LIVE ! i've watched this show a few times before, but it's a classic case of eastern hockey pundits knowing pretty much nothing about what goes on in the western conference... the number of times that EJ whats-his-name admits "i didn't actually see that game" is totally embarassing for a guy working on a show about the NHL. i mean, he doesn't even appear to have seen the HIGHLIGHTS. i would prefer if this show was called NHL EASTERN CONFERENCE LIVE !... hell, it's not even live, it's telling me right there on the top right that the show has been previously recorded....

while the NHL LIVE! guys appear to know there WAS a game in detroit last night, i'm not convinced the referees were aware. absolutely SHOCKING... i realize that dion phaneuf's nudge on cleary might have looked like an infraction in real-time from where the ref was standing, but it was babcock's vocal displeasure and cleary's presumed injury that convinced the zebras to turn it from a two-minute minor to a five-minute major. this is unacceptable... furthermore, the scrums that were occurring in front of kiprusoff on the ensuing powerplay were entirely to be expected. this is not the first game in the history of the NHL that defenseman have pushed and shoved post-whistle, and i honestly wonder if the escalation to gloved punches (ie: vandermeer on franzen) had something to do with the fact that the ref's whistle was not working properly !!! i'm totally serious on this one: in the midst of the penalty mayhem in the first period, there was a shot of one of the officials swapping out their whistle... so imagine it: there's a loose puck and a bit of a scuffle in front of the net, the puck gets covered but no whistle is audible, what's gonna happen ??? well, the offensive team (detroit) is gonna keep shovelling at the puck and the defensive team (calgary) is gonna get... well... DEFENSIVE.

totally bunk. an absolute outrage, if you ask me...

either way, it was nice to see the flames dig deep and push on. if they came out in the first period the way they did in the third, this would have been a much different game. i'm also entirely impressed with kippy's newfound ability to play the shootout, and clearly i'm warming to jokinen (though i still think his "second goal" should have been credited to glenX).

toronto tomorrow: a game i'm devastated to not be attending... :( hopefully duncan's scored a ticket, and maybe ST will be going ???? it won't be a slamdunk, that's for sure....