LONG ISLAND, NY – Much has been said in the wake of the brawl which marred the New York Islanders’ win over Pittsburgh last week. Suspensions and fines have been dished out and even Mario Lemieux weighed in on the ‘culture of violence’ in the sport. Despite everything that has gone on, it seems some players are still missing the point though.
Islanders’ tough guy, Zenon Konopka responded to Lemieux’s comments, in which the Hall of Famer branded what happened between the two teams a ‘travesty’, and claimed that the two-time Stanley Cup winner and now Penguins owner was out of touch with the modern NHL.
“I can’t believe he’s that far removed from the game that he doesn’t realize in the heat of the moment what happens,” said Konopka. “We’re trying to keep our best players on the ice, we want John Tavares to be a superstar in this league and play every night.”
Despite the slightly ironic sentiment, given Tavares’ own slash/chop on Kris Letang (which surprisingly went unpunished), it does seem to highlight that some within the Islanders organization don’t quite get what all the fuss is about.
Konopka continued, “He (Trevor Gillies) is a first-time offender, he hits a guy, throws a few punches – he gets a 9-game suspension. The guy’s got a wife, two kids, he’s played in the ECHL and the AHL most of his career and now he’s going to lose $35,000. That’s not right.”
That’s Trevor Gillies, a man with 54 games NHL experience since he was signed as a free agent by the New York Rangers in 2004. Gillies sidelined Pens rookie Eric Tangradi with a concussion after he skated almost the full width of the ice to throw a wild body check at the youngster, before landing a series of punches at his already dazed opponent and then topping it off by abusing him from off the ice as he received treatment.
Gillies showed a startling lack of class when he chose to ‘voice’ his opinions from the gate whilst Tangradi was down. What’s more concerning is that Konopka spoke out so strongly in Gillies favor when he may have put a serious dent in the career of a young man just starting out in the NHL.
It’s not unusual to see a teammate support another player, but to be so vocally opposed to Gillies’ suspension and fine after the incident does indicate a lack of ‘understanding’ as to the wider issues from Konopka.
Whilst some of Konopka’s frustration is understandable to a point, with the fight-filled Montreal Boston game hailed as one of the best of year whilst, as Konopka put it, the Isles are getting crucified, it appears the big forward is not alone in an apparent lack of really ‘getting it’ at Islanders HQ.
GM Garth Snow said his players ‘showed restraint’ during the altercation! As the Puck Daddy Radio team quipped, “It’s true, I didn’t see a single fire arm and no one drew a samurai sword or threw a net or trident like they did in the brawl in the film Anchorman” – Snows’ comment certainly seemed to be ripe for mockery, but once again displayed a remarkable lack of grasping the current issues relating to violence in the sport and the lack of respect some players seem to be showing their fellow professionals.
Konopka suggested the team will continue to play that way in order to protect its players. It’s either some devious ploy to sell more tickets on the highly questionable logic ‘fights fill seats’, an attempt by Isles Head Coach Jack Capuano to do his best Reggie Dunlop impression or simply a case that there is a worrying culture in the Islanders dressing room right now that standing up for each other, something all hockey players and fans can understand and respect, means this kind of action is acceptable.
It’s one thing to stand up for a teammate as the Islanders felt they were following a controversial hit by Maxime Talbot on Blake Comeau during a previous encounter but it’s another to unleash premeditated thuggery on an opposing team as the Isles did last week.
Contact the author: rob.mcgregor@prohockeynews.com
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