NHL superstars being on the receiving end of unnecessary cross-checks, slashes and hooks has been the topic du jour during the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs.
Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby is out with a concussion after taking a Matt Niskanen stick to the face earlier this week, while Edmonton Oilers captain Connor McDavid seemingly has opposing players hanging off of him on every shift.
“For me, to watch Crosby and McDavid take the punishment that they do, and the stick work—I mean, I talked to two current players yesterday and they brought it up to me that there’s more stick work in the game today than there’s ever been,” former NHLer Gary Roberts told Sportsnet’s Starting Lineup Thursday. “I mean we’re seeing some flat out tomahawks out there in the playoffs as far as I’m concerned compared to what it has been in the past.”
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Roberts racked up 2,560 penalty minutes during his 22-year NHL career, so he’s well versed in the grittier side of the game, but even he thinks enough is enough.
The two biggest stars were Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux for a big chunk of Roberts’s time in the league. Those two legends didn’t have to put up with the same type of hassles that Hart Trophy finalists Crosby and McDavid, plus a handful of other stars, do on a nightly basis. It was considered taboo to lay out No. 99 or No. 66 with a big hit or rough them up in a scrum. And if you did there were repercussions.
“For me it was like the code,” Roberts explained. “You just don’t take that extra slash. You don’t take that extra punch in the head.”
So why is it different for today’s stars?
“Part of it is respect,” Roberts said. “I think there was so much respect for the top players in the game [when I played] … I don’t believe Crosby and McDavid deserve to take the beatings they do with the stick.”
The incident involving Crosby has understandably gotten more attention than McDavid’s nightly hardships. Still, the 2015 first-overall pick has had a rough go of it courtesy of Ducks players—in particular Ryan Kesler. Anaheim’s coach Randy Carlyle even suggested the officials are giving McDavid too many calls.
“To me, it seems like there is somewhat of a white-glove treatment for Mr. McDavid,” Carlyle told reporters earlier this week. “The restrictions on anybody touching him seem to be a little bit higher than normal. It’s fact. Simple. We review the tape numerous times.”
Suffice it to say, Oilers fans disagreed.
McLellan responded to Carlyle’s comments with a similar opinion to Roberts.
“There are two, three, maybe four players in the league … that have to play through that hooking, holding, mauling,” McLellan said. “Not just [in the playoffs] but all year long. Yeah, they do draw some penalties. When it’s all said and done you probably could double that total.”
Roberts understands the game has changed and that more is required of high-end skill players compared to 30 years ago.
“In order for those great players to get their points and to make their plays they’ve got to go into the areas that maybe Gretzky didn’t have to go and Lemieux didn’t have to go there much …,” Roberts said. “But should they take extra sticks and extra punches to the head because they are the greatest players? That’s where I have a problem with it.
“Unfortunately, I have to say the rules aren’t the same for those players. They’re different rules and they should be. They’re the greatest players in the game and the players we turn our TVs on to watch.”
Roberts, like many, also believes a little fisticuffs could go a long way towards quelling all the hacks and whacks we’re seeing.
“When you look at it, would you rather someone drop their gloves to even a score or would you rather take your stick to somebody? For me I’d rather still see that element of the game that there’s an occasional fight,” he added. “I’m not sitting here being the old-school guy promoting fighting. I’m not saying that. But I’m saying by having those players who can still play that are prepared to do that, I believe there’s going to be less stick work.”
