So last night's pre-season game against Buffalo was quite a spirited affair. 8 goals scored,and 239 penalty minutes handed out. Central to all that mayhem was Phil Kessel who scored two goals and got himself the rare Match Penalty for defending himself against John Scott. Scott, found himself out against Kessel playing the role of ham-fisted idiot because his teammate, Corey Tropp, got KO'd the shift before by Jamie Devane (pronounced Duh-van). After seeing his teammate of exactly 1 prior pre-season game get injured, he didn't the only honorable thing his pea-sized brain could think off; throw fists in defense of his sworn brother for whom he felt such a deep bond with (formed during their 1 previous game together).

What I'm trying to say here is that Randy Carlyle is an idiot and incapable of thinking what Randy Carlyle, had he found himself on the Sabres bench instead, would have done in that situation. Randy Carlyle is a coach who puts the 4th line out after a goal against to "send a message" that his team won't be pushed around. (Of course that's nice in theory, but in practice he's given the opposite a great chance to double up their earnings.) Were Randy Carlyle on the Sabres bench when Tropp got KO'd, you'd better damn well believe he'd be sending the Murdersaurus over the boards with instructions to kill so I find his comments, that he "was trying to diffuse things" as justification for putting his best player on the ice with last change in his pocket AFTER he'd seen the line that (whoever in the hell the Sabres coach is) put out there, idiotic. It's John Scott. Does Carlyle not remember the reason why he's even on this Sabres team, or what his sole purpose has been for his entire NHL "career"? Dumb move by the Leafs coach. Also dumb move by David Clarkson for leaving the bench to pile onto the already large John Scott pile. Great thinking genius. Enjoy your 10 game suspension.

Links

The Whos and Hows of Shot Blocking

Dellow cracks open the case of how teams shot bock and how it influences their defensive game. Notice the Leafs, smack dab in the middle of everything.

Randy Carlyle Explain Huge Brawl

Somehow doesn't blame it on helmet induced brain swelling.

Reimer Stakes His Claim

And so does Bernier.

From The Branches