12/22/24
May 09, 2005
No Nash! No!: Swedes want tournament co-leading scorer out despite no complaint from game officials.
But one has to wonder, why did it become a non-story in such a hurry? If the same thing had happened in another sport or if it had been a star on Canada's team, would it have been dropped so quickly? If it had been an American instead of a Canadien, I can only imagine what the world outcry would have been.
posted by graymatters at 02:09 PM on May 09, 2005
I thought Rick Nash was a star. Perhaps he's just fortunate that hockey's being wilfully ignored, and no one (read: the league, the players association or the media, who still sees a minimal moneymaker in the future of hockey, if not the present) wants to push the sport's reputation down further by publicizing something like this. Either way, that looks potentially gruesome, and when the NHL starts up again, he's going to have some 'splaining to do about his temper.
posted by chicobangs at 02:24 PM on May 09, 2005
If the article's presentation is accurate and in context, then this is a huge black eye for hockey and I can easily see it coming back to bite the powers that be in the behind.
posted by billsaysthis at 02:51 PM on May 09, 2005
>I thought Rick Nash was a star Agreed. I thought contact with an official was automatic penalty. Tom Lysiak took twenty games for tripping a linesman in the early eighties. Andre Roy took a few for pushing a linesman. And, of course, J.P. Parise, September 1972.
posted by Philfromhavelock at 03:16 PM on May 09, 2005
This became a non-story because none of the parties involved thought it was ever a story. According to the reports I heard through TSN and the CBC this morning, Nash was trying to get the ref's attention, but the ref couldn't hear him, so Nash hooked him gently. When the linesman skates up, Nash doesn't realize who it is and thinks it might be a Swedish player and puts his stick up. None of the refs made any mention of it in the aftergame reports, which is when those sorts of incidents are generally brought up. If the officials don't have a problem with it, it's over. In fact, no one said anything about this until the Swedish media made a fucking CD-ROM of it and asked the Swedish GM if he wanted them to submit it to tournament officials. Having watched the incredibly blurry video a few times, I don't think Nash had any intention of hurting anyone, but it was also a stupid way to go about trying to get the ref's attention. I'm very hopeful Canada and Sweden meet again, because I have a funny feeling there will be a few Swedes who pay for the stupidity of their GM.
posted by wfrazerjr at 03:30 PM on May 09, 2005
I thought Rick Nash was a star My bad. I meant if it had not been a star on Canada's team. Nash is definitely a star, which I think is one of the reasons that nothing was done. According to the reports I heard through TSN and the CBC this morning, the Canadien networks Nash was trying to get the ref's attention, but the ref couldn't hear him, so Nash hooked him gently. Most sports, the athletes are not allowed to touch the officials at all. Also, wasn't play still proceeding, which means Nash was interfering with the official's performance. When the linesman skates up, Nash doesn't realize who it is and thinks it might be a Swedish player and puts his stick up. So, I guess if he had actually hit the linesman, it would have been ok too, right? I'm very hopeful Canada and Sweden meet again, because I have a funny feeling there will be a few Swedes who pay for the stupidity of their GM. Or maybe a few officials could pay instead since it is ok to hook and swing at them.
posted by graymatters at 04:31 PM on May 09, 2005
graymatters, I'm willing to defer to the official who was there. We don't know, especially from just some grainy out-of-context footage, what exactly was happening. If the ref who was being hooked didn't file a report at the time, and no one thought anything of it until the Swedish GM saw what could become a way to get Canada's best player out of the lineup, then frankly I'm willing to let it go. Yes, it looks bad, but it's quite clear there's more to this than we're getting here.
posted by chicobangs at 06:02 PM on May 09, 2005
I too thought it looked bad - but clearly given the reaction of all the parties, it wasn't. Nash's NHL star status would mean nothing in this tourney, if officials thought a suspension was warranted, one would have to believe it would be delivered. Besides, nothing like a little controversy to increase attention. Nothing to see here, people. Move along.
posted by WeedyMcSmokey at 07:36 AM on May 10, 2005
well, that became a non-story in a hurry, eh?