NHL Playoff Blog

Making Enemies

May 12th, 2008 by Jason C

Mike Ribeiro is no stranger to embellishing hits. Mike Ribeiro is no stranger to making enemies. The one-time hometown boy of the Canadiens was traded for Janne Niinimaa two years ago, after it was decided that his poor work ethic and attitude, despite his talents, were not welcome in the locker room. Fortunately for him, playing in the Western Conference means he doesn’t show up at the Bell Centre much, otherwise the Montreal crowd would have plenty to say to him.

Whether or not Chris Osgood’s headbutt to the face was intentional or not (I don’t think it was - many goalies give opponents a little shove when they go around the net), I thought Ribeiro’s slash across the chest was worse (although I’m sure Osgood embellished a lot of it). As a result, Ribeiro, Osgood, and Steve Ott were fined undisclosed amounts by the NHL discipline office (which everyone knows is a joke).

Personally, I think the NHL did not suspend anybody (I think any intentional, two-handed slash should deserve a suspension, regardless of the severity of the injury) because by taking away Osgood and Ribeiro they are taking away two key players from each team. I don’t think the NHL wants to shoulder any blame about the possibility of “changing” or “altering” the potential outcome of the series.

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