Well, that's one way to make National headlines. The Canucks are being talked about on every sports talk radio show around the US and Canada today, and it's for all the wrong reasons. Hockey is taking a small piece of the center stage in this football dominated country of ours today, and it's for all the wrong reasons. Rick Rypien is going to become a household name for at least one day, and it's for all the wrong reasons. The Canucks pathetic 2-6 loss to the Wild last night was completely overshadowed by the bigger story, and that isn't necessarily a good thing for us.
Before I get into the incident, I'd like to first point out something that makes me kind of upset. It's the fact that the National media talks about what happened just based on hearing about the story. The tools on sports talk radio didn't actually watch the game. They have never even heard of Rick Rypien, which they felt compelled to point out. So, the fact that I hear comments like, "This guy is a goon who was fighting all night and he was completely out of control," or "This guy should never play another NHL game," makes me completely crazy. It's sad to me that an incident like this is the only thing that gets the beautiful sport of hockey to be near top bill on SportsCenter or to be talked about on a typical dumbass sports talk show like The Loose Cannons.
Let's look at what happened like rational people, alright? The Canucks opened the scoring right away, with Daniel Sedin scoring a goal less than a minute in thanks to a beautiful pass from H-Bomb. Up 1-0, most of us were feeling good. At about the 6 minute mark, things kind of fell apart. The Wild started a scoring bash against us. Luongo looked less than sharp. With the game slipping away, as often happens in hockey, Rick Rypien and Brad Staubitz dropped the gloves in the at 10:52 of the first. There was nothing dirty about it. It was just a good ol' hockey fight where both players are trying to do whatever it takes to get their team pumped up. Both players went off for five minutes. As the Wild carried their scoring along into the second half, things got a little chippy. Down 1-5, the Canucks weren't really feeling great. Staubitz received a puck up along the bench, and quickly passed it away. Just after his pass, Rypien came streaking in and checked him. Okay, so maybe the hit was a little late, but it wasn't going to draw a penalty. Staubitz took exception, which was probably expected, turned around, and both players decided to drop the gloves for a second scrap between the well-known brawlers. This is the point where things took an unusual turn. Rather than letting the players settle their issues, the two linesmen jumped into the middle of the fight and worked on pulling the players apart. They were pretty physical in trying to get them apart, actually. One ref skated away with Ryp, who attempted to kind of skate back toward Staubitz to jaw a little back and forth, again, as players often do. The ref had Rypien by the collar, and took exception to his skating around, and yanked him by the neck to make sure Ryp knew the ref meant business. This really doesn't happen in the NHL. Rypien was almost yanked down to the ice by the ref.
Now, at this point, I want the reader to understand that I'm not trying to make an excuse for Rypien's behavior that occurred after this. I'm only trying to provide a little perspective on the incident, which is something that the "real" media is not giving us...because they didn't watch the game. I am definitely a Canucks apologist, but I am in no way an apologist for what happened next. I will, however, possibly submit to you that Rypien's emotions were probably running very high because of the way he was handled by the refs. In my opinion, if Ryp and Staubitz were simply allowed to fight until the refs could have easily and safely broke it up, rather than getting physical with the players, nothing would have happened. I really believe that.
As Rypien was being sent to the dressing room for his game misconduct, which I guess was for instigating the fight, a fan was standing up right along the railing clapping and shouting at Rypien. Ryp responded by reaching up with both hands and grabbing the fan, and pushing him back before he walked off (as pictured above). The fan was ejected, which I think shows that he did/said more than the media is telling us, or than the camera showed. There is word that he was yelling at Canucks players on the bench throughout the game. Again, I'm not trying to justify what Rypien did, just trying to give perspective. After Ryp was out of the picture, Kevin Bieksa took his stick and bashed it on the glass right in front of the fan, to show his displeasure as well.
So, Rypien has been "indefinitely suspended" until he can have a hearing with the NHL on Friday. "Indefinitely suspended" is also something the media is blowing out of proportion. They only indefinitely suspended him because they wanted him out until they could schedule the hearing. Who knows what the result will be, but I just hope that the Canucks will stand by Rypien's side and keep him with the team after he has served his time. Yes, he did something wrong. Let's let him take the punishment, and move on. Let's not kill a guy because his emotions got the best of him. It happens to all of us, and we're just lucky that our emotional outbursts and poor decisions aren't being broadcasted on a Center Ice Free Preview as well as going viral thanks to You Tube.
Quickly to the actual game, one has to wonder what the heck is wrong with Roberto Luongo. Remember how I said in the preview that Lu had given up 5 goals in each of his last two games in Minnie? This was way worse. He allowed 6 goals on 18 shots. That's insane! I know he's a slow starter, but come on. How many would my roller hockey team's goalie have let in on 18 shots? He got a shutout last week, so before you answer, consider that. Schneider stopped all 6 shots he faced after Lu was yanked, but something seems off. Word is out that Luongo WILL start in today's game against Chicago, and I think that's a good idea. Remind him that he's our guy NO MATTER WHAT, and don't forget that he was 6-1 with a 2.01 GAA and .929 SV% in bounce back games last year (stat thanks to 'Nucks Misconduct).
Tonight is huge. The Canucks have to show that they can completely turn things around after an epically horrible night like last night. The Chicago Blackhawks have quickly become one of our most hated rivals, a LSF rivalry that burns deep inside the heart of two of your LSF bloggers. If you think things get chippy when we play the Wild, just wait. But, I think it's fair to point out that these two teams have made a lot of changes since they last met. 7 Canucks players who were on the team when we last played Chicago in the playoffs are gone, and that number is 9 for the Blackhawks. However, even with Eager, Byfuglien, Sopel, Ladd, Burish, Bernier, O'Brien, Demitra, and Johnson all gone, these two teams still hate each other.
We still have Ryan Kesler on our team and they still have Keith and Seabrook on theirs, and as long as that is the case, this rivalry will remain out of control. Just imagine if Alex Burrows wasn't off with an injury.
Bring it on, Jon.
-- Sent from my Palm Prē
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