Hartnell explains jousting melee
Flyers forward Scott Hartnell explains his wild, stick-swinging incident in front of the Tampa Bay bench during the second period on Tuesday night.
Hartnell explains jousting melee
UPDATE (11:15 am): TSN's Darren Dreger reports that there is an ongoing NHL investigation into last night's altercation that is described below. Dreger says lack of video evidence may limit penalties to just fines or warnings.
TAMPA, Fla. -- Last night at the St. Pete Times Forum, Scott Hartnell was at the center of one of the most bizarre fights you will see in today’s NHL.
The way Hartnell and Lightning forward Ryan Malone were swinging their sticks at each other, you would have thought one was Dr. Hook from “Slap Shot” and the other was jousting like Racki from the Thunder Bay Bombers in “Youngblood.” It was old fashioned, quick-moving, and puzzling, all at the same time.
The end result was a 10-minute misconduct for each player, with possible supplementary discipline to come today.
It all started during a television timeout with 7:28 to play in the second period. As Hartnell describes it, he was standing at the face-off circle waiting for play to resume when the melee started.
“I was there at the TV timeout, on the left wing, and I was right in front of the bench. Their coach [Guy Boucher] looked up and started yapping at me,” Hartnell told the Daily News. “I was just sitting there, not doing anything. Then, two guys started slashing me from the bench. I just kind of pushed their sticks out of the way. I ended up getting 10 minutes for really nothing. I've never seen a coach start yelling at an opposing player from the bench for just standing there.”
Hartnell said he didn’t know what Boucher was saying because he could not understand him.”
French television station RDS reporter Renaud Lavoie, in town ahead of the Canadiens on Thursday, tweeted that Boucher was “upset that Hartnell was listening to what he was telling his players during the TV timeout.”
A late camera angle on the Tampa Bay feed shows Hartnell swinging his stick dangerous close to a player’s face near the Lightning bench. No contact was made. At that point, Malone jumped over the boards - to become the sixth man on the ice - and pushing and shoving ensued. No definitive video was available on YouTube or on GameCenter Live due to 48-hour local blackout restrictions.
Hartnell said former teammate Steve Downie was the “first one to spear me.”
“I was just standing there on that one dot,” Hartnell said. “And sticks start flying at me and he starts lipping off. I don't know how I got 10 minutes out of the deal.”
Malone told the Tampa Tribune that Hartnell was “standing too close to the bench, or something.”
Hartnell, who scored the Flyers’ only goal of the game for his 33rd point of the season, said he was surprised by Malone’s actions, since the two are friends and have spent time in the summers training together. Malone and Hartnell have been connected in strange plays over the years, as Hartnell once threw a glove at Malone on a breakaway which resulted in a subsequent penalty shot.
“He is a good dude and we have fun,” Hartnell said. “But I wasn't really doing anything. And I didn't initiate anything. I was just standing there.”
Both players could face a fine of up to $2,500 or a suspension. Malone faces the most serious penalty for entering an altercation from the bench, which usually results in an automatic suspension. The NHL routinely reviews all plays which are “not the norm.”
“It reminded me of Slap Shot or Youngblood, or something,” Malone told the Tribune. “I didn’t know what was going on.”
SHOTS TELL STORY? If the shot totals didn’t tell the story of the Flyers’ dominance over the Lightning on Tuesday, then the folks at PowerScoutHockey.com have explained it succinctly with this chart. According to them, the Flyers dominated 88% of the game, giving Tampa Bay the biggest “steal” of the night.
The Flyers outshot Tampa Bay, 29-8, in the first and third periods, but were outworked, 8-3, in the second period. The Flyers posted as many shots on goal (32) as the Lightning attempted at Ilya Bryzgalov (16 on net, 7 blocked, 9 missed).
“It doesn’t really matter if you outplay them or not,” Jaromir Jagr said. “The goal is to score more goals to win the hockey game. When they had the lead, they could do anything they want.”
ANOTHER DONNYBROOK: Just seconds before Hartnell got into it in front of the Tampa Bay bench, teammate Wayne Simmonds dropped Eric Brewer with a solid uppercut in a second period fight.
It was probably the Flyers’ top fight of the season and definitely one of the most decisive. There was no question as to the winner, when Simmonds finally connected with a blow that fell Brewer to the ice. Brewer was bleeding, wobbling, and needed to be helped off the ice by a team trainer for repairs. Video of the fight is below, courtesy of HockeyFights.com.
Simmonds, 2 inches smaller and 60 pounds lighter than Brewer, actually staggered for a bit after taking an early punch. As the two twirled around the ice, Simmonds was swinging for the fences.
Somehow, Brewer managed to return to the game. After looking the way he did leaving the ice, it’s a miracle Brewer didn’t end up sustaining a concussion.
For the latest updates, follow Frank Seravalli on Twitter: @DNFlyers
HA HA LOSERS!— phillyjoe2- Hartnell should be suspended.— phillyjoe2
- Hartnell was in the wrong. He should not have been that close to TB bench.— phillyjoe2
- Downie hasn't changed a bit....and did anyone see him skating late in the game searching for someone to nail, probably illegally? You could see the Flyers D were aware and were passing the puck to make sure no player got hung out to dry and lined up by that psycho.— chrisc4499
- Bravo NYPHILLYPHAN, you're the only one to notice the reason Simmonds fought Brewer. Bobby Taylor sure didn't.— swany65
- Simmonds was sticking up for a teammate that took a nasty cross check to the back for going near the goalie.— NYPHILLYPHAN
- With Canadien fans insisting on a French speaking coach, should
Tampa Bay insist on a coach who can speak intelligble
English.
Bobby Taylor gets his pay as an announcer with Plaid stamps.— Claudio Vernight - Hartnell got 10 min for wearing orange and black.— uscg60
- I was at the game and was happy to have anything to cheer for. I can't tell you how much I hate Tampa fans! Most of them have no clue what theyre even watching. The video doesn't show Brewer drop for the second time and the ref calling out the medical staff. Just one time I would like to leave that building with a Flyers win!— dj.curly
- "He can carve a man's eye out with a flick of the wrist."— brio
- Bobby T's strategy of knocking d's out of game was almost as bad as the no call on Max skating past bolt and getting two for boarding and two for telling ref no contact was made. That wound up as another goal as well. Why did bolts get away with assault on Harts?— LaCroix,Nolet,Gendron
- I was at the game cc— dj.curly
- We need to play even more physical against Tampa. Aside from Malone and Downie they have no toughness. If team's don't want to dress enforcers I say we make them regret it.— Ferrell31
The way the league is being run today it is now the Nanny Hockey League (NHL). So you take the red line away eliminating 2 line passes (just one example) to speed up the game. Then you call anything close to an infraction to reduce injuries from the faster game.- For 185#, Simmons can handle himself. Best fight of the season.— dogman5
- Bobby Taylor is such a homer!!!! Wayne Simmonds "strategically" went after their #2 defenseman????Have another beer Bobby.— macthefed
- YES!!! the guy is such a tool. He just randomly makes s**t up that makes absolutely no sense. I told him he was a moron on his FB page this morning. Its already been removed. Idiot. How about Simmer though... That was a very nice beating.
- Are you joking? The replay clearly shows Downie, a "powerkeg" as described by the man who drafted him, Holmer, CLEARLY use his stick in an attempt to injure Hartnell. Too late, the proof is there and I expect Shanny to suspend Downie for 5 games. Minimum. and Malone is next for leaving the bench. Hartnell might get something, but Tampa is in trouble.— MichaelZoe
- did you seriously 'write' an article on that incident?? it was absolutely nothing. No where near a 'melee'..write about he awful goaltending we have or something. Or how JVR took yet another game off.— spittooncj
- It was certainly an event worthy of coverage. Don't worry, Sam wrote a terrible article about the goaltending that you can check out. — gpants
- You say it's a miracle Brewer didn't have a concussion, but really, how many concussions actually stem from fights? They usually come from illegal hits that have been going on all the time since the instigator penalty was introduced.— Phantoms9805
Comment removed.- Comment removed.
- Explain to me how Malone wasn't given a major and game misconduct, which is automatic when someone leaves the bench to become the 7th player on the ice. Explain to me how Downie wasn't penalised and given a misconduct, which is automatic when committing a penalty from the bench. Then explain to me how Talbot was given a double minor a few minutes later because a Lightning forward fell down near him.
Also, the way to stop teams from playing anti-hockey traps is easy, penalise them for all the interference at center ice. You can't trap without constantly interfering, it's just that it's the low grade borderline stuff that refs rarely call, so if they want to sit back, call them like a peewee team and see how long the keep trapping.— Pelti - They also actually claimed that Simmonds started the fight with Brewer, and did so under order to deplete the TB defense even further (Hedman left earlier with an injury). Whatever.
The answer to your question is not apparent, Pelti. The rulebook is clear that leaving the bench to start an altercation carries with it an automatic game misconduct, and they're supposed to be suspended for 10 games. Maybe they circumvented that by classifying Malone's hop on the ice as a line change (yeah, right). It's a mystery. As for Talbot's penalty, that was utter hogwash. The extra minor unsportsmanlike penalty was deserved. On the other hand, if I had made that bad of a call, I would have let some more go.— sklandog - You obviously were not listening to the call from the morons on Sun Sports in Florida. It was all because the officials were going out of their way to make the Flyers look good because of HBO... and yes, they actually said that.
- Its true! — phillyjoe2
- I heard them say that too.
If anyone gets suspended out of this it will be Hartnell. Trust me, the NHL hates the Flyers, despite the fact that games in every market sell out when the Flyers come to town.
You'd be amazed at the size of the Phillly diaspora.
— backhand - With the video they have of Downie slashing Hartnell unprovoked from the bench, he should get a game. Malone should have gotten a 5 minute major for leaving the bench. As they are not flyers, no harm no foul. Kudos to Garon for playing like our 51 million dollar guy is supposed to.......— flyerrod
- Malone says, “It reminded me of Slap Shot or Youngblood, or something, I didn’t know what was going on.”
Yet HE'S the one who jumped over the boards as the 6th man???????
— jamarder - Simmonds is just a monster, and showed class for not taking that one last shot with him down.— Sidewinder7
- Seriously, what a pleasant surprise. Schenn got all the pub but he has been more exciting in my eyes. — xlGmanlx
- TB player slashes him from the bench and another comes off the bench during a scrum... Interesting. Wonder what would have been done if it was reversed? FYI- you come off the bench like that, its a 5min major plus a game misc.— fman727
