James Neal should not be made of teflon

Here we see Neal inflicting grievous harm before swiftly exiting the ice for the bench.

It should be no secret that I do not like the Pittsburgh Penguins. Besides being a pain in the ass and currently involved in a heated rivalry with the Flyers, I consider them to be an aberration in sports. They are a franchise that has been sustained not by hard work, but almost entirely by luck. They had the good fortune to suck at the right time, unlike Panthers, Blue Jackets or Coyotes for example. First in the 80s they win the Mario Lemieux sweepstakes, and more recently in the mid 2000s they drafted first or second overall in four consecutive years yielding them Marc-Andre Fleury, Jordan Staal, and the generational talents of Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby. Crosby is of course the biggest example of the Penguins good fortune, his draft choice being awarded through an actual lottery involving every NHL team.

What is worse however is how the Flyers and the Penguins are being viewed by outsiders and more casual hockey fans. The Flyers have earned a reputation in the 70s as the Broad Street Bullies, a mean and physical team. They have suffered from this reputation ever since, never being awarded the benefit of doubt whenever something less than wholesome has happened.

On the other hand the Penguins are the darlings of the NHL and presented through its marketing, which routinely focuses on them due the presence of Sidney Crosby, as the dynasty-to-be and the clean-cut shining example of how a franchise should conduct itself.

However, anybody with more than a passing familiarity with the NHL knows that nothing is further from the truth. The Penguins are just as rotten as the rest of the NHL. They commit cheapshots and penalties just like everybody else. However, considering that they have employed the consensus dirtiest player in the league Matt Cooke for a long time they may have been even worse than the rest while masquerading as sheep.

Matt Cooke's history of dirty play has been chronicled pretty well. But to give credit where it is due, he has actually managed to turn his career around in the wake of a 10 game suspension and make his living as a defensively responsible player and penalty killer, as opposed to a cheapshot artist. He is still a pest, but at least he is a clean one. Cooke is however tainted which is why the Penguins opted to not bring him back during the 2013 offseason.

In his wake the Penguins quickly found a successor for the mantle of local cheapshot artist, and his name is James Neal. Neal is a very skilled player, has a great shot and is a genuine power forward impressing with size. He is also dirtier than a sewer rat, routinely getting his elbow and stick out against opposing players for little to no reason, often just because there is an opportunity.

What is odd however is how Neal appears to have somehow snuck into the blind spot of the Department of Player Safety, either being punished with a slap on the wrist or not at all.

Take for example his hit on Sean Couturier from the 2012 playoffs. It was a leaping headshot at an unsuspecting player who was not in control of the puck and hadn't been for several seconds. Neal was not called on a penalty, giving him the opportunity to deliver another cheapshot only seconds later on Claude Giroux. Neal was finally kicked out of the game for that one and was assessed a 1 game suspension for his hit on Giroux, but got no discipline at all for his hit on Couturier. How the NHL at all bites on Neal's excuse that he tried to brace himself for the hit on Couturier and it was incidental is beyond me, considering how deliberately he goes after Giroux only moments later. Seems to me like he was on the warpath from the get go.

What makes this decision truly bizarre is the fact that only a couple of days later, a similar incident between Raffi Torres of the Phoenix Coyotes and Marian Hossa of the Chicago Blackhawks occurred. The hit was in my opinion essentially identical to the one between Neal and Couturier. An unsuspecting player who has lost the puck gets drilled by a predatory, leaping hit. The only real difference is that there was a stretcher involved as Hossa had to be transported off the ice, unable to skate by himself. Torres was suspended initially for 25 games, which would later be reduced to 21.

While there is much to be said about Torres established history as opposed to Neal's only burgeoning reputation at the time, as well as the fact that Torres caused a severe injury while Neal thankfully did not, I can not understand for the life of me how the difference between the two incidents is 25 games.


Fast foward to this week. James Neal has now earned himself quite the rap sheet, over the last couple of years, including a 5 game suspension this season after planting a knee in the head of a downed Brad Marchand from the Bruins. This in and off itself should already be a travesty considering how obvious and deliberate he undertook that penalty.

However, to make things worse, this week Neal crosschecked Red Wings forward Luke Glendening in the head. Very deliberate and opportunistic. Considering how much the NHL is attempting to limit contact with heads in order to prevent injuries, and given Neal's status as a repeat offender, this should be another lengthy suspension, right?

Wrong. The NHL chose to only fine Neal for $5,000. What. The. ****. Compare this to the crosscheck Jesse Boulerice delivered to Ryan Kesler in 2007, which earned Boulerice a 25 game suspension. And this was before the NHL declared war on concussions. Do I think Boulerice's hit was worse? Most definitely. The puck was long gone and Boulerice made a bee-line for Kesler for no damn reason in a game which was decided for a while. Is there 25 games worth of difference between the two incidents? Most definitely not.

Or as a different example, here is Washington's Nicklas Backstrom cross-checking Bruin's forward Rich Peverley in the head. That at least got him a 1 game suspension in the playoffs.

The Department of Player Safety has a reputation problem as it is, with many of its decisions appearing to be completely arbitrary and not rooted in precedent or any formal logic whatsoever. There also seem to be different sets of rules applied to high scoring star players and bottom six plugs. And in the playoffs the entire system seems to go straight out of the window anyway. Stuff like the above is definitely not helping.

Something also needs to be said for the lack of initiative at the hands of the Penguins. Yes, Matt Cooke improved himself after a stern talking to by the Pens brass, but this was only after being severely punished by the NHL. For years they let things slide and let Cooke run amok before actually stepping in. And they seem to be content with letting Neal continue down the same path.

It also doesn't appear that Neal is at all remorseful or has any understanding of the consequences of his conduct. From Shanahan's videos we get relays of his cheap excuses. When asked by reporters he never admits fault or shows regret, and even on the plays themselves he is quick to exit for the bench rather than face the music.

Somebody has to step in and make Neal actually feel the some punishment for his transgressions, which appear to have become routine for him. I just hope that it is either the Department of Player Safety finally wising up, or the Penguins leadership doing what is necessary. Otherwise we might see things come down the way they did in 2011 when the Islanders chose to goon it up against the Penguins as they did not believe the NHL had served them in correcting previous wrongs inflicted at the hands of the Penguins. This prompted Mario Lemieux to write an angry letter to the NHL calling for stronger discipline and sharper suspensions, despite his own team being mostly the beneficiary of this lax situation and the root cause in how it got that far.

The situation is also becoming increasingly more dangerous. It is already borderline miraculous as it is that Neal hasn't severely injured a player already, but every cheapshot is a new opportunity for this to happen. I hope for all parties involved Neal corrects his path before then.

Somebody has to step in, as the lack of initiative to punish a "star" player like Neal is slowly but surely becoming an untenable embarrassment to the league.

Flyers vs. Capitals: A blood feud in the making

There is no love lost between the Philadelphia Flyers and the Washington Capitals. Together with the Pittsburgh Penguins they are in a triangle disdain, with every team hating the other two very much. The Flyers-Penguins rivalry has been taking all the headlines, but now it seems that the matchup between the Flyers and Capitals is hitting its boiling point.

The two teams have been staring at each other pretty much since the end of the 04-05 Lockout. Alex Ovechkin was ascending to superstar status and the Flyers made a quick rebuild and played their typical Flyers hockey under the leadership of Mike Richards and Jeff Carter. The two teams met in the first round of the 2008 playoffs which was decided in a game 7 overtime by a goal by Joffrey Lupul. Since then the two teams pretty much fought each other to a standstill with nine of the last fifteen regular season games decided by a goal or less, many of them in overtime, with each team getting one up on the other on various occasions (my personal favorite being the game on December 20th, 2008, in which goaltender Antero Niittymaki was the first star in a 7-1 Flyers win because he had 47 saves and miraculously kept the Capitals off the scoreboard in the first period. Perhaps the best game of his career).

But something changed this season. Perhaps it's that the two teams are back in one division as they were from 1979 to 1998, though I can't remember this rivalry ever hitting this level of intensity (mostly on the account of the Capitals sucking for most of their existence up to that point).

Many would say that the foundation was laid during the game on November 1st, but they might have forgotten about the chicken-wing elbow John Erskine dealt to Wayne Simmonds the previous season, earning Erskine a three game vacation. However, the first game of the season was indeed a doozy. The Flyers were down in the dumps after an absolutely horrid October in which they went 3-8-0. Though they had won two games against the Rangers and Islanders before being handed a 5-2 loss by the Ducks, the team was still in no mood and they were being outskated and outhustled by the Capitals. The Caps took a 4-0 lead with three goals in the first 3:49 of the 2nd period, and tempers flared and the Flyers lost newly acquired Steve Downie to an injury inflicted at the hands of Aaron Volpatti in a fight.

Joel Ward completed his hat trick early in the 3rd to finish off a 7-0 rout and then the game turned into a complete shit-show. The Flyers, frustrated and fed up with themselves and the Capitals skating circles around them, let it it all out and it ended in a line brawl that injured Vincent Lecavalier and made an enemy of the state of Ray Emery after he fought an unwilling opponent in Braden Holtby.

It was the absolute low point of the season for the Flyers. Bad play, bad sportsmanship and injuries. The future looked grim for the Flyers who had already dismissed Peter Laviolette after just three games and replaced him with Craig Berube. Nothing seemed to work and the team just completely embarrassed themselves.

Thankfully they could right the ship and went 7-1-2 immediately following the debacle against Washington, though they were struggling again when the teams met for a home-and-home in the middle of December. The Capitals were on a 12-5-3 run at that point, though 10 of those 20 games were decided in overtime or a shootout (7 of those won by Washington). The game on the 15th was no exception as the Capitals managed to rally from a 4-1 deficit and push the game to OT on a late tying goal by Ovechkin, and the game was decided in a shootout in which the Flyers are notoriously bad.

The rematch immediately followed on the 17th. The game was somewhat of a see-saw battle early in the 2nd period, but then the Flyers took a 4-2 lead by the end of it thanks to goals by Read, Streit and Voracek. The last two came on a power play following a vicious charging hit by Tom Wilson traveling the entire zone charge at Brayden Schenn, which earned him a 5 minute major. Wayne Simmonds added another tally in the 3rd for a Flyers 5-2 win.

The Wilson hit was subject of a review by the Department of Player Safety. The resulting explanation was a long-winded discussion about fore-checking by Brandon Shanahan, that seemed more like a distraction than anything else. It was very ambiguous in the end. No supplementary discipline was handed out and Shanahan failed to ever refer to the play as illegal, though he also not explicitly declaring the incident fair play. This gave fodder to people who believed that the play itself should not have resulted in a power play for the Flyers or a penalty on Wilson. Such was the opinion of Capitals General Manager George McPhee and head coach Adam Oates as well as many Capitals fans. Retired NHL referee Kerry Fraser disagreed, as did his former colleague Paul Stewart.

In the end it wouldn't much matter as Schenn, despite his dazed behavior directly following the hit, continued to play and did not miss a single game. However, it was undeniable that this hit cost the Capitals a win as the Flyers took all the momentum from the power play, grabbed a lead and never relinquished.

History would repeat itself in the next meeting of the two teams on March 2nd, now the two teams both in the hunt for a playoff spot and only separated by 1 point. The Capitals outplayed the Flyers in the 1st, outskating them and keeping the Flyers on the ropes. They had a 2-1 lead after the 1st period, which could have been greater if not for some great play by Steve Mason and an inconclusive goal review which was called no goal on the ice and could not be overturned.

The roles were reversed in the 2nd period with the Flyers coming out to play and Holtby having to keep them at bay with several unbelievable stops. The Flyers tied the game on a short-handed goal after a give-away by Ovechkin at the side of his own net, but the Capitals answered shortly after during a goal-mouth scramble and Dmitry Orlov would add his 2nd goal of the night (and 3rd of the season, all against the Flyers) with a low shot from the point through a maze of players. The Capitals lead 4-2 after two periods.

The Flyers struggled to get things going in the 3rd and things were looking grim when Brayden Schenn delivered a devastating but clean hit on Orlov. In retaliation Orlov ran Schenn into the boards seconds later. Orlov had to be put into protective custody immediately as Brayden's brother Luke was ready to rip his head off his shoulders, and this again resulted in a 5 minute major penalty that cost the Capitals a game against the Flyers. The Flyers scored once on the PP, then tied the game late with the goalie pulled and earned an overtime victory on a knuckler by Vincent Lecavalier that dipped just under Holtby's glove.

The Orlov hit again resulted in disagreement among hockey fans, with a minority faulting Schenn for putting himself into the position. The majority saw reason however, condemning Orlov for a dirty, high and leaping hit that was predatory and retaliatory. The Department of Player Safety saw fit to suspend Orlov for two games, which included the rematch on the following Wednesday.

The last game of the season series did not disappoint. The Flyers jumped to an early 2-0 lead on the account of a deke leaving Holtby stranded on his back, as well as a power-play goal by Jake Voracek. The game had been feisty up to that point with Zac Rinaldo attempting to turn Mike Green into a parking lot multiple times, but it erupted when a hit by Luke Schenn leveled Ryan Stoa, which prompted Tom Wilson to start a fight. Things did not get started at first as Schenn and Stoa had their legs tangled up, making both unable to get off the ice. When the two finally got separated, Wilson and Schenn dropped the gloves, but meanwhile John Erskine and Vincent Lecavalier looked to do about the same when Wayne Simmonds pulled down Erskine from behind. This lead to a full on line brawl. In the end Lecavalier and Erskine were both thrown out for the game, and after 56 penalty minutes were assessed in total the Capitals ended up on a power-play, which the Flyers killed off.

The 2nd period was not as grinding, but the Flyers extended their lead to 4-0 on goals by Giroux and Michael Raffl, which lead to the Capitals pulling Brayden Holtby in favor of Philipp Grubauer, their trade deadline acquisition Jaroslav Halak having not yet arrived. The Capitals looked just about dead by then with only 7 shots on goal up to that point and the Flyers skating circles around them. However, a power play goal Joel Ward gave them life.

That would be the story for the rest of the night. The Capitals came out guns blazing in the 3rd, putting in 12 shots on goal before the period was halfway done, but it would be the lopsided penalty calling which would work in their favor as the Capitals scored on two more power-play opportunities and a 4-on-4 from offsetting minors. Ovechkin's power-play goal appeared to punch straight through Mason's glove while that of Brooks Laich's tally was deflected with a stick just below the crossbar and sneaking just by Mason. Thankfully for the Flyers they never lost their lead as Jake Voracek scored an insurance goal for a 5-3 lead in between.

Many anticipated overtime with only a matter of time until Alex Ovechkin or someone would find the net, or the Flyers were called on yet another penalty, but the Flyers managed to hold them off until time ran out. Steve Downie scored on his second attempt for the empty net and the game ended, perhaps with things left undone.


What's left now is wait for the playoffs. With the new structure of the NHL, it is not entirely unlikely that the two teams meet in the first or second round. However, this would require the collapse of the Rangers, Maple Leafs or Red Wings, if not multiple of them. But if the two teams meet open warfare is to be expected with a slew of recent events resulting in bad blood. This rivalry has all the qualities to be a bitter one for years to come.