Sauer Play

Hey, everyone.

I was so riled up after yesterday's 4-1 win for the Habs over the Coyotes that I had to get something off my chest.

Over 20 years ago when Wayne Gretzky was starting to lead an Oilers dynasty, one of the reasons he got so many scoring opportunities is because opposing players would be reluctant to touch him. He got slammed into the boards too aggressively, Glen Sather would send out his fourth liners to make the perpetrator pay.

Fast-forward to last night where, down 2-0, Phoenix d-man Kurt Sauer smashes speedster Andrei Kostitsyn into the boards and gives him (likely) a concussion. An instant after it happened, the crowd knew that Sauer would have to pay the price courtesy of new Canadiens acquisition Georges Laraque. What ended up happening had me seething at The Great One, or as some may call him today, The Punk Coach.

Of course, the next time Sauer gets sent out onto the ice Charbonneau (who, I might add, completely bottled up Gretzky in the '93 cup final) sends out Laraque, and Gretzky should have seen, known and respected what was coming given how many times a player like Laraque would seek Vengeance on his behalf. So what happens when Laraque and Sauer get close? Every other player on ice for the Coyotes grabs Georges and holds him back. You don't have mass organization like that without some input from the coach. Then, with Laraque in the box for a roughing penalty as a result, Sauer gets sent back out - and decides he'll take his lumps against the much smaller Tom Kostopoulos and takes care of him in short order. Yeah, that shows a lot of courage, Kurt. Finally, Todd Fedoruk actually makes a leadership choice to face up to what's coming, and gets pummelled by Laraque. Fedoruk should never have been in that position.

I cannot believe the player most famous for being protected by a fourth line wouldn't allow Montreal to do the same to the offending player responsible, and pretty much threw his assistant captain under the Number 17 Express Bus. 99 needs to be more respectful of the rougher side of hockey, especially considering how it bailed his ass out so many times.

Shame on you, Wayne.

-Chris