As there's not a lot of hockey news to look forward to at the moment — well, other than beard growth — let's go ahead and look back a bit.
At diving.
I know, I know. It's all bad news right now. But wait...
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Amidst its inability to hash out a new labor deal so as to start its season on time, the NHL this summer did come to a conclusion about its game: on-ice embellishment has to stop.
According TSN's Darren Dreger:
Everything from posting pictures of each culprit in every NHL dressing room to re-instituting a fine system, or simply tacking on an additional two-minute penalty to offset the original call is being discussed by hockey operations and will at some point be presented to all NHL general managers for further discussion.
Why do we bring this your attention? Because two of three names/incidents mentioned in the report have very specific ties to the Flyers.
News
Mr. Dreger, you were saying?
Chicago's Dan Carcillo has been caught on video on more than one occasion during his career trying to sell a penalty. Among his more noteworthy attempts was in a 2010 playoff game with the Philadelphia Flyers against the New Jersey Devils, where Carcillo pretended to have been struck in the face with a stick.
Superstars such as Pittsburgh's Evgeni Malkin have also drawn criticism for attempting to mislead referees, as he did in the playoffs last spring resulting in a penalty against Philadelphia's Matt Carle.
With regard to Carcillo, he's talking about this:
That was the same game, by the way, in which Carcillo scored the OT winner to put the Flyers ahead 2-1 in their first round series. And it was only three weeks after Carcillo was suspended two games for cross-checking David Clarkson, who probably deserved it, in the face. No one feels bad for Devils fans, but man that must've ate at them.
Kind of like how any sort of Penguins success or praise eats at Flyers fans. Considering all the video we posted of the absolutely ridiculous things that went down in last year's first round series, I was both surprised and disappointed not to find this specific Carle-Malkin get together. (I did find plenty of flying elbows and shoulders though if you were wondering.)
Is there a point to this little stroll down memory lane? Sort of — I don't like the Penguins and I never liked Dan Carcillo.
Alright, let's go digging. Have a favorite hockey dive? Mention it in the comments and leave a link if you can.
I'm pretty partial to this:
Pierre McGuire everybody!
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