They'll probably find a way to suspend Avery over this
Yep. As that was happening I was fully expecting Avery to get a penalty. Can you imagine if he was the one who did that? You'd never hear the end of it.
Anyway I like that Byers is a scrappy little *******. He brings energy and grit and seems like a perfect addition to the fourth liner. I'll take him over guys like Voros and Brashear.
Loved how Torts smashed Avery in the arm to make him ****, was hilarious. Hope the other SOB will be suspended.
He didn't smash him in the arm, he gave him a little slap like your mom or dad would and said "quiet". Presumably because he didn't want Avery screwing anything up since we seemed to be getting the PP out of the whole ordeal.
I'm a bit surprised that SOB isn't suspended as well, while that kind of stuff makes hockey exciting, if Avery did it -- he'd be crucified. Probably multi-game suspension, and fines up the wazoo.
Already every Canadian fan especially 'nucks are blaming Avery somehow for that even though he did nothing wrong. Last time I checked you're allowed to pay lip service across the bench...not hit an opposing player with your stick.
Ah and Chico Resch in his usual homer self, what a surprise...
Was this the game where Torts had the heated press conference with the "We know what we did" stuff and the Brooksie exchange? Or was that another game in this series?
Oh and Good for Torts doing stuff like that -- we need to send a message to the league that we're not going to tolerate our star players being targeted. Between hank getting run all season so far and now people going after Gabby after his injury, I'm glad we decided to do something about it.
Avery said he was jabbed with Shane O’Brien’s stick “two or three times” from the bench during the third-period “melee” and smiled when he was told that O’Brien would face a disciplinary hearing. “I’m surprised they haven’t called me,” said Avery, “for being in the area.”
Torts doesn't seem pleased with Avery, not sure if it has to do with his yapping during the SOB debacle, but he's been moved to the 4th line according to Zipay.
It probably has more to do with Avery's blown coverage on last night's 2nd goal, but interesting nonetheless.
Torts doesn't seem pleased with Avery, not sure if it has to do with his yapping during the SOB debacle, but he's been moved to the 4th line according to Zipay.
It probably has more to do with Avery's blown coverage on last night's 2nd goal, but interesting nonetheless.
I wouldn't read too much into it. Those wingers have been shuffled nonstop all season. You could be right though.
Byers is like the player that Voros is supposed to be. He can play both sides of the puck well, BUT he's tough and he gets rilled up and he's willing to drop the gloves and actually not embarrass himself. He may not have won this fight hands down but he definitely got the better shots in, the other guy was just able to get him on the ground. We need a guy like this on the team.
I'm hopeful too that Byers does turn out to be the "player" Voros is supposed to be. But I've seen most of his fights at Hartford, and he actually IS a bit of an embarrassment when he fights. Whereas Voros usually hangs on for a while before he's eventually wrestled down, Byers almost always gets decked & goes down like a ton of bricks. It was no surprise to me it happened last night, and we better get used to it.
That doesn't mean he can't be a useful, agitating player... just don't expect him to fight any better than Voros.
avery likes taking it to the canadian teams. looking forward to his meeting with phaneuf in calgary.
dane's a killer and should stay with the big club
I can't believe i forgot all about that. It will definitley be interesting to see what happens. Avery vs Phaneuf....should be a good scrap.
I thought Byers should have made the club last season. He and avery on the same line sounds good. Kind of like an Avery and Ott reunion but not quite.
I'm not sure about Boyle in the middle though. I was actually thinking of Boyle playing on Prospal's wing. Reason being is he's a beast who can skate. And Boyle's skill level is not that of a Voros, Orr, or Brashear. It's much better.
I think Boyle could help free up more ice for Prospal and Gaborik. The very reason why I wanted Antropov back and didn't want to see him go. I liked his presence around the net.
Alright I'm off topic a bit. But someone did mention a possible line of Boyle, Avery, and Byers. IMO, i would just substitute Higgins for Boyle and that could be a productive line on the fore check (that's if the zebras let them play a little).
Got to think that if it were anyone else besides Avery O'Brien was poking with his stick he would have gotten more. I'm wondering what precedents if any Campbell used to give him one game?
Dog house? No. Tortorella needs to be the biggest A-hole on the team and feels that Avery might upstage him. I mean that with respect to Avery.
oh jeez You forgot to put a sarcasm face next to this. Gaborik is leading the team in scoring. So his ice time should really be getting cut so all the attention is on the coach.
I think what was most evident in this fight is that despite the sandpaper Byers plays with, he sucks almost if not just as bad as Voros at fighting. He's like a Ryan Hollweg minus the boarding penalties.
Hopefully SOB is suspended, because he really should be. No place in the game for ******** like what he pulled.
I disagree... I like it. Show some toughness, and personality out there. If Obrien were swinging his stick trying to knock Avery's head on the floor, then i would completely agree but I didn't see that. If it was Avery walking to the end of the bench mouthing off, and he gave the guy a poke, then we'd be laughing it and you'd see it in 30 different Ranger compilation video's...
I completely agree with you on Byers though - night and day from pre-season. He was a major let down to me, because I thought he had a legit shot to make this team. I'm glad he's showing some real fight out there. I think he deserves to keep playing at this point...
I think what was most evident in this fight is that despite the sandpaper Byers plays with, he sucks almost if not just as bad as Voros at fighting. He's like a Ryan Hollweg minus the boarding penalties.
I agree except I rate Hollweg a little higher as a fighter. Because he's really only 5'9" or so, I always gave him extra credit for hanging in there against bigger players. I remember he nearly fought Ben Eager to a draw once, for example. It's hard to feel good on the other hand watching Byers or Voros at 6'3" fall down every time they drop the gloves. Voros usually holds on for dear life and is eventually wrestled down. Byers just goes down like a ton of bricks.
That's not necessarily to say that Byers game won't be better than the other two. But get used to cringing every time he fights.
You forgot to put a sarcasm face next to this. Gaborik is leading the team in scoring. So his ice time should really be getting cut so all the attention is on the coach.
