Hall-of-Famer decries fighting

Link:

In an exclusive interview with TheHockeyNews.com, Hall-of-Fame defenceman Serge Savard reiterated a stance he's had since he was a young member of the Montreal Canadiens: fighting has no place in the game.

"It's 2007, and when I hear (NHL commissioner Gary) Bettman say fighting is part of the game, that's the way people were thinking 30 years ago," Savard said. "I like Bettman, but I'm disappointed to hear that. I didn't expect a comment like that after all those rule changes.

"(The league is) going backward. With the new rules, I really thought we were going forward."

[ . . . ]

Savard recognizes it is impossible to completely eliminate fighting from the sport. But he has never seen a legitimate role for players whose only skill is fighting.

"You can live with the spontaneous fight," he said. "That's something that can happen between brothers, two kids getting into a fight because of an argument. But you don't want the designated hitter. That's my view."

I couldn't agree more.

Propp goes from left wing to right wing

Brian Propp, the former All-Star left winger for the Philadelphia Flyers, has announced that he will be running for the New Jersey State Assembly as a Republican in the 7th District.

How do you write about a situation you never in a million years thought would happen? This is the predicament I have found myself in since the announcement.

As I mentioned previously, Propp is my favorite hockey player of all-time. The problem is that, much to my parents' chagrin, I'm not anything close to a Republican. I'm just incredibly thankful that I don't live in the 7th District and am spared the agony of voting against him.

Note: Click on this link for the Burlington County (NJ) Republican Party. They're "announcement" of Propp running for office is a copy-and-paste job of the article from the Philadelphia Inquirer. They couldn't even come up with someone to write a press release for them. I do give them credit, though, for at least linking the original article and giving credit to Cynthia Burton, the Inquirer reporter who wrote the article.

More on Simon

Here's the Inquirer's Tim Panaccio on Chris Simon's suspension:

When a player swings a stick like a bat at the throat of another player, he can break the opponent's neck, collapse his windpipe, fracture the cervical spine, and cause paralysis or death. What Chris Simon did to Ryan Hollweg was criminal, regardless of the fact that Hollweg is a punk. Simon should be suspended through the next half-season. The level of violence in the NHL has reached the point where radical change must be implemented. Such as: League general managers should adopt a rule whereby the offending player gets an automatic 25-game suspension. Furthermore, if the harmed player is injured and forced to miss games, the offending player should remain inactive until the other player recovers. Under this rule, Todd Bertuzzi would be out of hockey, just as Steve Moore is right now.

LeClair to retire as Flyer?

John LeClair, fifth all-time on the Flyers' goal list, may be retiring as a Philadelphia Flyer. The Courier-Post reported over the weekend that the team may sign LeClair to a tryout contract, have him play in the final few games of the season, and thus afford him the opportunity to retire with the team where he spent the 10 best years of his career.

Interestingly, the Courier also reports in the same article that newly acquired Scottie Upshall requested the number 10 upon his arrival and was denied. Could a number retirement ceremony be in the offing?

While I would have no problem with LeClair's jersey being retired, I think it's an outrage that former Flyer and current radio broadcaster Brian Propp has not had his jersey retired by the team.

(In the interest of full disclosure, Propp is my all-time favorite hockey player. I even have a Hartford Whalers jersey with his name and number on it.)

Propp is currently ranked second in goals (389), second in assists (480), and third in scoring (849) on the Flyers All-Time Lists, yet does not have his jersey retired. Even worse, he has to broadcast games while watching Darren Reid wear #26. For an organization that prides itself on its sense of family and togetherness, it's mind-boggling that Propp's number has not been retired.

Simon suspended 25 games

New York Islanders forward Chris Simon was suspended 25 games by the NHL for a vicious stick-swinging incident in a games against the New York Rangers on Thursday night.

Colin Campbell had this to say about the suspension:

"The National Hockey League will not accept the use of a stick in the manner and fashion in which Mr. Simon used his Thursday night," said Colin Campbell, NHL Senior Executive Vice President and Director of Hockey Operations. "As a consequence of his actions, Mr. Simon has forfeited the privilege of playing in an NHL game again this season, regardless of how many games the Islanders ultimately play."

I'm okay with the length of the suspension, though I would have preferred a longer one given the nature of the incident and Simon's past (five suspensions in 14 years).

For more on the suspension:

• Simon releases statement about hit on Hollweg -- Associated Press


• NHL should be ashamed of Simon's short suspension -- Kara Yorio (SportingNews)


• NHL sends right message with tough penalty -- E.J. Hradek (ESPN The Magazine)


• Simon may end up paying a far heavier price -- Eric Duhatschek (The Globe and Mail)


• The NHL got it right this time, but its haphazard approach to justice must end -- Damien Cox (The Star)


• Stick game is one NHL should avoid -- Helene Elliott (L.A. Times)


• Simon said wrong thing but was forgiven -- Victor Chi(San Jose Mercury News)

Binghamton Senators vs. Philadelphia Phantoms

It was Career Night at the Spectrum, with the Phantoms holding a job fair prior to the game that featured many local teams and Comcast-Spectacor entities. The home team wound up winning 5-2, though my friend Vin and I left with about 10 minutes left in the third period and the Phantoms holding a 4-2 lead. (The Flyers were playing the Devils at the same time in the building next door and Vin and I figured it would be better to leave a little early and beat the traffic.)

Note: In the game summary, it lists the attendance as 4113. This is not even close. There were easily less than 1000 people in the stands. You could hear the players' skates cutting into the ice (one of my favorite sounds), the smack of the puck on a stick with a tape-to-tape pass, and the players' voices as they were shouting back and forth at each other. While crowds are cool, this was a great way to see a game.

Immaturity Alert: The highlight of the night, though, was not a goal, nor a fight. It was seeing this player in the lineup for the Senators. Come on, you know you laughed, too.

NHL in London

As mentioned previously, the NHL will open next season in London. That's London, England, not London, Ontario (sorry, Knights):

The National Hockey League announced today the Anaheim Ducks and Los Angeles Kings will open the 2007-08 NHL regular season in London, England at Europe's most state-of-the art entertainment venue, the O2 Arena.

"Our commitment to grow the game globally has never been stronger," said NHL Deputy Commissioner, Bill Daly. "The NHL is extremely proud to be represented in London by two great hockey organizations in the Ducks and Kings as well as to be recording NHL history at such a fantastic facility in the 02."

Lowe, Smyth both in the wrong

Terry Frei, in a column at ESPN.com on the NHL trade deadline, hits the nail on the head in analyzing the Ryan Smyth deal:

Q: What stinks worse than unwashed laundry at the end of a road trip to Prince George, Kamloops, Chilliwack and Kelowna?

A: Ryan Smyth's trade to the Islanders, and not only because 102-year-old Lilian Hosking, whose answered birthday wish when she turned 101 was to run her hand through Smyth's mullet, gave it a thumbs-down to the Edmonton Journal.

There is no crying in hockey, whether it is from a 102-year-old woman or a 31-year-old winger. The Oilers at least, theoretically, still are within striking distance of a playoff spot, but this was a white flag. So, following Mark Messier's night, there's not much use showing up at Rexall Place.

Plus, the two sides -- the Oilers and Smyth, in the person of his agent, Don Meehan -- were very close financially, but couldn't close a multiyear deal. In this new era, with the cap limiting the maximum a player can earn to 20 percent of the available payroll and with absolute individual ruthlessness making it tougher to build a winning cast around the highest-paid players, it's ridiculous that a compromise couldn't be reached. And that's a pox on both houses. GM Kevin Lowe reacted petulantly by trading Smyth.

Furthermore, Smyth's love for Edmonton rings hollow if he couldn't step in and tell Meehan: "OK, you've done a good job getting these numbers on the table, but now let's get it done." The hometown discount, which already had been an issue in previous Smyth contracts, doesn't even have to be a financial concession, but an acknowledgment that satisfaction is priceless.

And if Smyth gets over his disappointment and re-signs with the Oilers this offseason, it will raise the question of whether this was preordained and all this drama was an act. More likely, it was a case of Lowe calling Smyth/Meehan's bluff and putting the onus on them in the offseason ("How bad do you want to come back?").

World Cup coming to US?

The AP is reporting that the United States may be hosting the World Cup in 2018:

FIFA may assign the 2018 World Cup to its North and Central American and Caribbean region, putting the United States in prime position to host soccer's showcase for the second time in 24 years.

Sepp Blatter, the president of soccer's governing body, discussed upcoming World Cups on Wednesday before meeting with Treasury Minister Gordon Brown -- the man expected to replace Tony Blair as prime minister.

"We have decided in the FIFA executive committee that rotation will be installed, and we have made rotation until and including 2014. The executive committee must take a decision whether the rotation should include all the confederations, in which case the 2018 World Cup should be in CONCACAF," Blatter said.

The United States (1994) and Mexico (1970, 1986) are the only members of the Confederation of North and Central American and Caribbean Football who have hosted World Cups.

Deadline deals

44 players were traded in 25 deals on Tuesday before the NHL trading deadline. The Flyers acquitted themselves nicely, gaining several draft picks, young players, and a guy who should be able to step in to be the number one netminder that has been missing for years.

I can't believe I'm writing this, but I really like the moves the GM Paul Holmgren made in the past few weeks. He's had some duds to be sure -- Mike York, anyone? -- but in dealing Peter Forsberg, Alexei Zhitnik, and Kyle Calder he shed a significant amount of payroll while at the same time getting younger and quicker, especially on the blueline.

Given these developments, it's not entirely unreasonable to make the argument that Holmgren should be retained as the team's general manager. The only drawback that I can see is that in dealing Zhitnik, Holmgren guaranteed that Derian Hatcher will remain with the team as the only veteran defenseman (not counting Joni Pitkanen, but really -- is anyone?). And, while the Daily News' Ed Moran would disagree with me, I still say the team needs to cut its losses in regards to Hatcher.

**See below for some extra deadline day commentary and analysis:

• TSN -- Jay Onrait's TradeCentre Blog


• ESPN -- 2007 NHL trade deadline: News and analysis


• ESPN -- Eight simple truths from NHL deadline day

Hearting Lauren Hart

ESPN's EJ Hradek files an article today on ten things he likes about hockey:

Forsberg has left Philadelphia, but (thankfully) Lauren Hart is still there. The Flyers' terrific anthem singer has a great voice. I've been fortunate enough to see her sing "The Star-Spangled Banner" and "God Bless America" several times during my various ventures to Philly. She's something special. She's someone the Flyers should never trade!

EJ, I couldn't agree more. And not just about her singing, either. I've seen her in person and she's just stunningly beautiful.