FanNation - The Republic of Sport

Amusing as it is that you would defend a band of hooligans in hockey uniforms with phrases like "how hockey is supposed to be played", the timing of your comment is even more hilarious. Your poorly written monologue came one day before the Wild took a beating on the scoreboard and responded by beating the opposition physically for the rest of the game.

There is a difference between physical hockey and hacking at a player's oft-injured ankle with your stick. And there is a difference between playing tough and taking intentional runs at specific players in an attempt to bring the other team's talent level down closer to that of your own team. The Wild is a team of thugs coached by a cruel, sadistic evil little old man who was voted in an SI poll as one of the top coaches that NHL players would least like to play for. Face facts; your team makes up for lack of talent by playing dirty. You can spin it any way you want, make yourself feel better, but nobody called Anaheim dirty for five years as they played hard-nosed hockey game-in and game-out. Why? Because they played hockey the way it is supposed to be played. And the Wild just play like a team full of no-talent hacks still smarting from being schooled by truly talented hockey players since they were little pee-wee league mini-thugs.

Kiszlar is a whiner, and his article was a major POS full of holes. But his idiotic commentary doesn't justify yours or the way your team plays.

The thing i find interesting about all of this is the way the avs players have responded to this. Now obviously I am from minnesota and are a little bitter about how the series went. What I find interesting is the way Laperriere tried to put himself above fighting when asked about it durring the playoffs. however he was not above fighting gaborik, first career fighting major, on the last day of the season when Boogaard, Simon, and Voros were not in the game. That is what those guys are for. Kiszlar tries to draw a parralel between the Moore Bertuzi incident when there is none. I have followed wild hockey for a long time and, excluding Simon's previous actions which did not take place on our team, and never have I watched something and said, "that was trying to hurt someone. Excluding the second two periods of gavme 4, was a series full of hard, mainly legal checks. No Avalanch player was hurt, however two wild players were hurt, that seems to be a contradiction.

Finally Kiszlar and the previous commenter talk of the Avs superior hockey. Did you watch the game, You guys were dominated. You won the series because of the incredible play of you goaltender, who I read today is under investigation for using illegally large pads. Yes it is beutiful hockey when the opposing teams out shoots you threefold, and you just sit back and let your goaltender save you. Now don't get me wrong there is nothing wrong with this, except the illegal pads if that is indeed true, but lets not confuse it with beautiful hockey. Add to that the rediculous flops by Foresburg and your other skill players, do referees have eyes? and I was less than impressed with your beautiful hockey. I'll keep what we've got here in Minnesota.

Scoreboard.