Suspension update

Riley Cote received three games for a hit to the head of Mat Niskanen of the Dallas Stars during Saturday's loss. NHL ruiner-of-all-things-holy Gary Bettman officially warned the organization, telling GM Paul Holmgren to speak with the team. Holmgren then told Bettman to take a hike.

I wish...

In all fairness, five suspensions for one team is out of hand. Like I've said before, I understand that the Flyers were embarrassed last season and pushed around by every other club in the league. It's easy to see how the team would want to show a higher level of intensity and start pushing back. Hits to the head, however, are unacceptable, even if the play seemed routine at the time (see: Hartnell, Jones). My biggest worry is that the Flyers are going to go into their next game looking over their shoulder at the refs and think twice about finishing a check or going hard into the corners. Not to mention the incentive for opposing players to embellish a foul or even fake an injury to draw the penalty (see: Crosby). The Flyers are good enough this year to win games without resorting to cheap shots, and clearly have more pressing issues to deal with than getting redemption against opponents. Keep up the intensity, by all means, but cut back on some of the cheap hits. AND FOR CRYING OUT LOUD, GET A WIN STREAK GOING YA BUMS!!!