Canada keeps playing dirty hockey

[JagrBomb]

For the call on the ice, I agree it is irrelevant. It may be relevant when the IIHF looks at the call to see if there's any further disciplinary required.

which is total bs if the IIHF looks to see if the player got injured on the play. shouldn't matter at all.

[doulos]

A team of 17-19 year olds with an entire country watching that have been groomed to be physical smashing machines that play hockey and people are surprised by this.

This is the only way hockey will be played here. Sometimes it will cost Canada the win and sometimes it is the reason they win.

People can get mad if they want, but it is never going to change and it's fun to watch, win or lose.

Bring on the US and the Putinites.

[ovi42]

I'm not sure why anyone who's watched international hockey for any length of time is finding this surprising. It's always been the kind of game Canada plays and I don't suspect that will change. They play on th edge, finish their checks and yup, sometimes take it too far. Call it dirty, call it physical, whatever...but it's not new. Not even close.

[northernnuck]

Like bulls in a china shop, there's going to be some collateral damage.

[arctic_rogue]

Like bulls in a china shop, there's going to be some collateral damage.

I can't disagree with you about hard hitting hockey being good. But, there's no place for late hits, head shots, and elbows in the game. It's caused far too many early retirements. I'm all for very heavy handed discipline for that stuff.

[Krysmo]

Hey, I'm Canadian and I don't necessarily disagree with the spirit of what Yakupov said. Canadian hockey fans (and I mean the rabid fans) often have blinders on when it comes to supporting our team.

[woodrow]

Camara's hit was fine. It was BS that after the play and a discussion among the refs that they decided it was 5 and a game for a perfectly legal hit. In fact, the IIHF decided not to review it further.

As for Lipon, yes he got the call he deserved by IIHF standards. It is debatable whether it should have been 2 or 5 and a game. From what I understand, he'll likely get another game according to what Bob McKenzie on TSN was stating.

Is Canada a dirty hockey team... no, but you will get rocked if you have your head down. When we cross the line, we deserve the penalties that are dished out. To say we are dirty because we play with an edge and skirt the line - not a chance.

[Luffy D Monkey]

If youre going to get upset and criticize people over what happened, even after the team was penalized heavily for everything you talked about, maybe you should be getting upset about the the medical response to the guy getting knocked out.

When the stretcher team is like 5 minutes late getting there because its being run by a bunch of old ladies, and the players and coaches have already moved the guy around (potentially exacerbating neck injuries) all over the place.

Canada might be dirty but Russia is medieval.

[metaldude26]

I was more ashamed of the Hamilton and Scheifele dives after the two majors. Looks like Canada has all the tricks. Bring it on!

[CascadeFilly]

If youre going to get upset and criticize people over what happened, even after the team was penalized heavily for everything you talked about, maybe you should be getting upset about the the medical response to the guy getting knocked out.

When the stretcher team is like 5 minutes late getting there because its being run by a bunch of old ladies, and the players and coaches have already moved the guy around (potentially exacerbating neck injuries) all over the place.

Canada might be dirty but Russia is medieval.

Yeah, I was shocked at the way the players, etc. were moving the injured player's head around before the medical staff arrived. I'm sure they were only trying to help, but wow, that was boneheaded.

[Chuk]

North American hockey can be viewed by europeans as "dirty" because it is an overly physical brand of hockey. The exeption is usually the games against Finland as they seem to be the most physical team in Europe. Historically against European teams, when Canadians took the body, you would easily identify the "scared" players on the other teams and then take advantage later in the games.

Conversely Europeans were viewed as "dirty" because they were far more likely to use their stick, to trip, slash, spear and crosscheck than Canadians. Stickwork was not permitted in the same way in Canada and you would eventually be called on it by the refs and the other players.

Yakupov is not stupid. He is playing it up for the Russian media, also preparing for a possible loss on home soil. It is much easier to lose to a "dirty" team than a better team. Most stars are trained and honed in Canada for the NHL and play the same style as the "dirty Canadians". Yakupov and RNH will have good laugh once they are back as team mates.

As long as the refs are consistent let the teams play and deal with the consequences. The standard of international reffing has grown by leaps and bounds over the last decade. Even though they may call more against the styles they are not used to (North American), it is their game to run and if done consistently, it is up to the teams, coaches and players to adapt.

Camara's hit was fine, the others were not. The fact that they called it after the play and injury made it worse. I would like to think the refs just made a mistake as opposed to being pressured into making the call. They should have not called a thing and let the IIHF dole out punishment if they saw it differently.

[Nehithaw]

North American hockey can be viewed by europeans as "dirty" because it is an overly physical brand of hockey. The exeption is usually the games against Finland as they seem to be the most physical team in Europe. Historically against European teams, when Canadians took the body, you would easily identify the "scared" players on the other teams and then take advantage later in the games.

Conversely Europeans were viewed as "dirty" because they were far more likely to use their stick, to trip, slash, spear and crosscheck than Canadians. Stickwork was not permitted in the same way in Canada and you would eventually be called on it by the refs and the other players.

Yakupov is not stupid. He is playing it up for the Russian media, also preparing for a possible loss on home soil. It is much easier to lose to a "dirty" team than a better team. Most stars are trained and honed in Canada for the NHL and play the same style as the "dirty Canadians". Yakupov and RNH will have good laugh once they are back as team mates.

As long as the refs are consistent let the teams play and deal with the consequences. The standard of international reffing has grown by leaps and bounds over the last decade. Even though they may call more against the styles they are not used to (North American), it is their game to run and if done consistently, it is up to the teams, coaches and players to adapt.

Camara's hit was fine, the others were not. The fact that they called it after the play and injury made it worse. I would like to think the refs just made a mistake as opposed to being pressured into making the call. They should have not called a thing and let the IIHF dole out punishment if they saw it differently.

This is one of the best posts I've seen on here.

Keep up the great work Chuk.

[Shoeless]

Nice post Chuk.

I am not trying to stir up anything here but when I looked at the Camara hit in slow mo a few times it looked like the initial point of contact was his shoulder in the middle of the guys visor. I may have not seen correctly but for sake of argument, if that indeed happen, is that considered a legal hit?

[metaldude26]

Nice post Chuk.

I am not trying to stir up anything here but when I looked at the Camara hit in slow mo a few times it looked like the initial point of contact was his shoulder in the middle of the guys visor. I may have not seen correctly but for sake of argument, if that indeed happen, is that considered a legal hit?

Not by IIHF standards because they don't allow hits to the head/neck area but that is always up for interpretation. Now I do think that hit is legal within the spirit of hockey but I think where we are headed with regard to knowledge about concussions that we will see hits like this completely removed, whether that's fair or not.

I don't think the hit was malicious but definitely a hit to the head and I personally think the right direction would be to move away from hits like this.

[Bomm Bastic]

I haven't read the whole thread but there is a difference between illegal by IIHFstandards and malicious.
Correct?

I mean it is possible that a hit could be illegal yet non-malicious? No?