As a pro-fighting person in the NHL, I detest when things happen such as coach Ron Rolston and no-talent enforcer John Scott‘s continued cheap-shot hunting in Buffalo.  Both me and Derek are down on the Sabres after their antics in the preseason against the Leafs, and Scott’s recent blindside hit of Loui Eriksson that got him suspended for several games and gave Eriksson a concussion.  Unfortunately, the Slapshot-like goonery only seems to be increasing around the league as we saw another disgraceful display in Philly last night.  While the Sabres’ goonery is something new and originates from the head coach almost solely, the Flyers annoy me even more because it’s a systematic organizationial decision.  Owner Ed Snider and others in the organization as well as older Flyer fans thump their chest at the glory days when the Broad Street Bullies won Stanley Cups in 1974 and 75 and want all of their teams to be like that.

Unfortunately for the true non-animalistic Flyer fans out there, their organ-eye-zation hasn’t won a Cup in the nearly forty years since.  In recent years, the Flyers have become known for two things…a rotating door of goalies, and a never-ending cycle of gratuitous violence when games are out of hand.  With cheap-shot artists like Wayne Simmonds, Scott Hartnell, the no-talent Zac Rinaldo and now even Steve Downie back in the fold, the Flyers have plenty of people capable of going off at any moment, and I don’t mean scoringwise (though most of the above can at least play hockey when they want to).  Yes, you need grit and guys who can fight on a team – at least until clown teams like the Sabres and Flyers unwittingly do their best to get fighting banned once and for all – but at some point you would think reality has to set in that you can’t just win a Cup by bullying…or really accomplish much of anything.  This isn’t the wild west anymore, the way it was in the ’70’s when you had the big, bad Bruins who begat the Flyers and Mike Milbury going into stands chasing fans with a shoe.

Snider and company live in complete denial though.  When he allowed GM Paul Holmgren to fire then-coach Peter Laviolette just three games into the season, both he and Holmgren were peppered with questions about why would they hire within (former enforcer Craig Berube) to be their head coach, and didn’t they think they needed a culture change after forty years?  Snider angrily responded no, and went on about a thirty-second rant over why they didn’t need a culture change despite going backwards over the last few seasons on the ice.  It’s good for the rest of the division that the Flyers are still in denial because that means Holmgren will continue to sign for and trade everyone away at the drop of a hat, while Snider still caters to the section of the Flyer fanbase – perhaps even the majority of the fanbase – that wants violence first and skill second.

Last night Philly reached a new low both on and off the ice, as they got whipped by an Alex Ovechkin-less Capitals team 7-0 on their own ice, and then started all of the nonsense highlighted in the NHL Network clip above.  Not only did Simmonds start it all with an unneccesary cheap shot on Caps defenseman Tom Wilson along the boards (prompting a fight between the two), but goalie Ray Emery – a noted boxing afficianado – challenged Braden Holtby to a fight.  Wisely Holtby wanted no part of it but Emery wailed away at the goaltender anyway, even when Holtby was down and still not attempting to fight.  While you can sort of understand why his teammates didn’t want to jump in and risk a ten-game suspension, there was no excuse for the refs not to step in.  I’m sorry, that ‘fight’ needs to be stopped.  One of the linesmen made a half-hearted attempt to stop it and then backed off when Emery started wailing away.  The entire officiating crew needs to be suspended for letting that happen, as well as many in the Flyer organ-eye-zation.

Perhaps the most laughable part of this whole thing is whoever in the news media decided to give Emery a third star for that last night.  Bear in mind Emery allowed four goals and had a save percentage of <.800, so it’s not like he merited it for anything he did on the ice.  Why shouldn’t the media feed into what seemingly the organization and a good chunk of the fanbase wants though?  Emery’s comments after the game were laughable too, when he protested he gave Holtby a chance to defend himself.  Really?  I’d hate to see what kind of beatdown he would have given to him if he didn’t.  And there’s literally no excuse for hitting a guy while he’s prone on the ice.

I really have never gotten what the Flyers or any of these other teams who start brawls when they’re way behind in a game think that kind of ‘toughness’ is going to prove?  You lost the game…being punks is going to somehow restore your pride?  All it does is give fighting a bad name and prove you’re sore losers, and as a pro-fighting guy I hate that games like last night or the Sabres-Leafs preseason disaster are just more ammunition for the anti-fighting crowd.  You just can’t go head-hunting in this climate where any kind of headshot is going to be scrutinzed to the hills.  While I never wish injuries on a team or player, it was…shall we say ironic that Downie (who also has a history of Flyer-like behavior even when not on their team) got a concussion and big FA acquisition Vincent Lecavalier was also injured last night.  Perhaps the hockey gods are finally doing something the NHL should have done long ago and made the Flyers pay up for their gratuitious cheap shots.