04/25/24
June 03, 2021
SportsFilter: The Thursday Huddle:
A place to discuss the sports stories that aren't making news, share links that aren't quite front-page material, and diagram plays on your hand. Remember to count to five Mississippi before commenting in anger.
Anyone who knows men's fashion knows that UNC coaching legend Roy Williams is a trendsetter. Them powdertone courtside Hollywood Squares jackets, yes sir.
And dadgum it, now look what ol' Roy has gone and done. Started a bona fide roynami of changes in the coaching profession. First he retires, then others follow suit. Yesterday it was Mike Krzyzewski and Brad Stevens / Danny Ainge in rapid fire fashion. The media can barely keep up with the action.
The national landscape is littered with the downcast souls of former Duke players who went into coaching thinking that someday, they'd get the gig in Durham. They all used to sit in a line on the bench alongside Coach K but only Scheyer gets to stay there when the music stops.
posted by beaverboard at 09:08 AM on June 03, 2021
Not even going to listen to local sports talk radio for the rest of the week. It's going to be wall to wall rat face talk. No thanks
posted by NoMich at 09:26 AM on June 03, 2021
Ice up son
posted by beaverboard at 10:13 AM on June 03, 2021
I can't! Not for this!
posted by NoMich at 10:40 AM on June 03, 2021
posted by tommybiden at 11:10 AM on June 03, 2021
Jets fan ... that was brutal.
Scheifele is pretty much known around the league as a player who steers clear of rough play. He is often a target because opponents know he isn't the type to fight or look for payback but can be ruffled. Habs were all over him all game but that is playoff hockey. Absolutely no defending that response. That hit was Wilson/Khadri level garbage and the NHL needs to deal with it.
Local news mentioned that Evans was not admitted to hospital but was being observed by team doctors. He's a good young player and hope he is ok.
posted by cixelsyd at 11:39 AM on June 03, 2021
Nik Ehlers deserves a stick tap.
posted by tommybiden at 01:33 PM on June 03, 2021
Sickening hit on the Canadiens' Jake Evans by the Jets' Mark Scheifele last night.
In the result--absolutely. But I'm just having a hard time condemning Scheifele for anything other than the result. As someone who has played the game my whole life, I really don't see an intent to hurt Evans there.
--I see Scheifele busting his ass to get back in an attempt to give his team any hope at all of tying that game--he was selling out completely to try to prevent the empty netter. There was a minute left in the game, plenty of time for Winnipeg to score the equalizer. It's not like there were 3 seconds on the clock and he was just trying to punish Evans.
--I also see Evans selling out completely to put the game away, and he did it. Head up or not, he had to assume that he'd be hit, and hit hard, like any player trying to wrap around the net. But he went for it to put the playoff game out of reach.
The circumstances were just right for that kind of sickening collision. There is no denying that Scheifele went 100% for the body, which every hockey player would do in that circumstance (IMO). He stopped striding at the blue line, tucked his elbow down, and hit Evens squarely in the chest. Evans was stretched out, low, and exposed, and the hit resulted in a hell of a lot of force. Evans flew back and hit his head on the ice, and a nasty injury resulted. Evans is a bright young player, and I sure hope he can recover.
I also think Scheifele deserves the benefit of the doubt. He's been in the league for a decade, and has never faced supplemental discipline. His reputation is as a solid two-way player and goal scorer, and he has never been accused of being a dirty player (that I can remember). Sometimes, in an extremely fast-moving game when the stakes are really high, bad shit happens. And it sounds to me like Scheifele is accepting the consequences for the result, intended or not.
tl;dr--the result of the play sucked, and I hope Evans is ok. I just can't jump on the Scheifele hate train.
posted by tahoemoj at 03:46 PM on June 04, 2021
I also think Scheifele deserves the benefit of the doubt
I partially agree with you. To date he's been as clean a player as there is in the league. Pretty certain the 4 games he got was influenced by the outrage directed at the league over Wilson's non-punishment ($5K fine) for deliberate intent to injure.
Evans lack of awareness contributed to the outcome. But Scheifele might have prevented the goal if he played the puck. More importantly he likely avoids suspension if he did make a play on the puck before the collision.
Outside of Montreal I doubt there is a Scheifele hate train. His game doesn't warrant it. The guy doesn't even swear or talk shit (crap in his words) on the ice.
posted by cixelsyd at 04:38 PM on June 04, 2021
Sickening hit on the Canadiens' Jake Evans by the Jets' Mark Scheifele last night. Absolutely no need for that level of a hit at that point in the game. Just take your fucking L and prepare to win the next game.