I said it would a series to watch, did I not?
Well, it certainly wasn't lacking in fireworks. Let's get started.
First of all, I didn't see the game live. It was blacked out on Atlanta tv. Glad to see the NHL is trying to do SOMETHING for scorned Atlanta hockey fans (note the sarcasm). I mean, they take our team and Nashville makes an attempt to win over ATL fans, which makes sense geographically. But both Carolina and Nashville claim Atlanta as local, so there's a turf war. And I don't really care who wins it (I'm no Caniac and certainly no Pred-head), it seems wrong to block out the most realistic location choice for the city during the playoffs. The Canes aren't in it, so give Atlanta Nashville. Nope.
Okay, but onto the game. You know who did see it live because he was at the arena? The Commissioner. Bettman was there and because of that, we may see our first fines against a coach for comments made during a live interview during a game. Not really, but it wouldn't be completely out of the realm of possibility. Apparently, the Detroit coach, Babcock, thinks that the ref's were trying to make an impression.
He essentially said that the two least penalized teams in the League seemed to have the odds against them as the Referees were essentially auditioning for a Finals spot by calling everything under the sun.
Despite Babcocks' loss and unwillingness to accept the officials on-ice performance, he should be somewhat pleased with the supplimental department for player safety.
Shea Weber of Nashville was fined $2500 for his actions in the final ticks of the game.
"This was a reckless and reactionary play on which Weber threw a glancing punch and then shoved Zetterberg's head into the glass," said NHL Senior Vice President of Player Safety and Hockey Operations Brendan Shanahan. "As is customary whenever Supplemental Discipline is being considered, we contacted Detroit following the game and were informed that Zetterberg did not suffer an apparent injury and should be in the lineup for Game 2.
"This play and the fine that addressed it will be significant factors in assessing any incidents involving Shea Weber throughout the remainder of the playoffs."
Nashville defeated Detroit.
Weber wasn't the only one with a discipline problem. Vancouver's Bitz faces a hearing today regarding a hit during the game. This is noteworthy because, remember, the Canucks went the entire preseason and regular season without a suspension or fine from Shanahan.
It will be interesting to see how this plays out. Traditionally, playoff discipline is less than regular season discipline. A three game suspension is suddenly one or a fine. I wouldn't be surprise to see a one game suspension from Shanahan here, but probably not more. At least not in the post season. Regular season, yeah. Probably a multi-game. The more likely scenerio is a fine here.
Vancouver lost to the Kings.
In the other game of the night, the Penguins lost in overtime to the Flyers.
