[tigerthelion]

Even the Buffalo Sabres' owner is a whiny baby? It was a clean hit. Get over it. The comments made in the letter regarding "intent to injure", and the whole time-and-place requirement for a body check are ridiculous. I don't have any official statistics, but from what I have gathered watching hockey, I'd reason a good 80% of body checks are delivered after the player has ceased to retain possession of the puck. I suspect that we will receive notice of another letter from the owner following tonights game that strongly urges the League to consider the implentation of a foam puck, after Briere took a shot from a team-mate in the face.

And its good to see Peters leave the tampons at home, and fight a formidable opponent. Try as he might, he couldn't keep the helmet on this time.

Cferneyh and I have had several disagreements in the past, but I certainly have to agree with his response to that letter that just bleeds hypocrisy (while I have no evidence, I strongly suspect that that letter made the rounds at the League Head Office as the joke of the day).

How can the way I feel about a team be completely unfounded? Does this mean that a fan of hockey has to be a fan of all the teams? I didn't state a fact about the Senators. All I was referring to was that the Sens and Sabres would be the last two teams in the NHL I would cheer for if I had a choice.

If you actually had read what I had written, you would have come to understand that I wasn't expecting you to be a Senators fan, or a Sabres fan, or even a Blue Jackets fan. All that I was implying was that the Senators and Sabres play exciting hockey, and your dislike for the Senators (which is, according to you, based on a Bryan Murray's speech impediment, and the tragedy Dany Heatley was involved in several years ago... I did use the term 'unfounded' when I described your rationale for disliking the Senators; perhaps I should have used the term 'ridiculous') shouldn't impede on your enjoyment of a good hockey game. Living where I do, I understandably possess a preconceived sense of dislike for both the Leafs and the Habs (mostly the Leafs, but time does heal wounds), but if the two teams play an exciting game, I'll watch. Thats the entire 'fan' aspect of the the game, not the team. Enjoying two rival teams play an exciting game of hockey doesn't make me less of a fan of my team, it makes me more of a fan of the game in general.

So you're a bigger fan of the "NHL" than I am. Big deal. I couldn't care less. I'm a fan of the Canucks. I'll watch a Canucks game against the Blue Jackets before I'll watch a Sens/Sabres game. Shoot me. My goal in life isn't to live up to the standards that "real hockey fans" have set. I do enjoy hockey other than the Canucks. I've even enjoyed watching the Leafs in the playoffs (especially that series against the Isles a few years back-that was tremendous action). If you want the truth, I'm not a huge fan of the NHL or any pro sporting league. I am a sports fan and watch the NBA, CFL, NFL, NHL, MLB but I'm certainly not hardcore. I don't have respect for the athletes so I'm only a moderate fan I guess. Oh well, I root for teams and see what happens and that's about it. Being happy for players who finally win a Cup or stuff like that- well, that's just not me.