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Penalty calls still puzzle Ducks

May 14th, 2009, 10:39 am · 6 Comments · posted by Dan Wood, Staff writer

DETROIT — By the time the puck drops Thursday night for Game 7 of a second-round Stanley Cup playoff series between the Ducks and Detroit Red Wings, chances are the extracurricular activity at the conclusion of Tuesday night’s sixth game in Anaheim will be forgotten.

More or less, anyway.

Still, it was interesting to note that the Ducks wound up with 36 penalty minutes in the fracas, while the Red Wings got just 10. Ducks center Todd Marchant received a game-misconduct penalty, apparently for being a third man in, though he and Ducks coach Randy Carlyle had trouble comprehending that ruling.

“There could have been three third-man-ins if you review the tape,” Carlyle said. “I didn’t see where Marchant got involved to a degree where he was doing anything other than being a peace-maker. I didn’t really see anything that warranted anything other than roughing. I didn’t know how the discrepancy came about, but it did. You live with it.”

Perhaps even more interesting was the fact that of the five Ducks skaters on the ice at the end of the game, the only one who did not receive a penalty was defenseman Chris Pronger. You might recall that a Sports Illustrated poll of NHL players recently determined that Pronger and Steve Ott of the Dallas Stars are the dirtiest players in the league.

And Pronger, of course, has been known to be emotional on the ice.

“Cooler heads prevailed,” Pronger said.

After eight career NHL-imposed suspensions, including two in the 2007 playoffs, Pronger has only 12 penalty minutes, while playing at a very high level, in 12 playoff games this season.

“You know what?” Pronger asked. “If the so-called dirtiest player in the league does anything, you know there’s going to be a review of something. You know the eyes are watching all the time.”

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 6 Comments

  • James says:
    May 14, 2009 at 12:57 pm

    I guess I don’t understand…is Carlyle just trying to game the refs here? Or does he actually believe that?

    I don’t understand why he has to whine so much while the other coach doesn’t do any of that. I’m sure he could whine if he wanted to. That’s just sports…things don’t always go your way no matter which team you’ve got.

    Doesn’t anyone else find this terribly annoying? I would prefer it if he just coached, and stopped acting like a politician.

    • Austin says:
      May 14, 2009 at 2:59 pm

      I don’t think he was whining. I think he was asked a question by a reporter and responded honestly. I am guessing that most people (including the game officials) that watch the tape of the end of the game would have a hard time pinpointing exactly what Marchant did to warrant his penalty. Fortunately it doesn’t really matter.

  • Ray says:
    May 14, 2009 at 3:11 pm

    The only thing I can come up with is that Niedermayer was still punching Datsyuk when Marchant was restraining him. That makes it look less like keeping the peace and more like double-teaming someone.

    I DON’T THINK THIS IS THE CASE. Just saying that’s the only interpretation I can come up with that makes sense.

  • Steve says:
    May 15, 2009 at 12:54 pm

    I too found Carlyle’s incessant griping a bit much. After game 7 it grew even worse. In a game where several very large calls went the Duck’s way (the most obvious being Pronger’s X-check which resulted in a Ducks PP, just after Detroit has killed off a 5 on 3 and seemed ready to take control of the game), all he seems to want to talk about is the grave injustice that was done when Hiller got pushed into the net on Cleary’s goal. Watch the replay–Hiller’s pad pushed it in without any help from Cleary. STFU and show some class.

  • KnowsHowe says:
    May 15, 2009 at 2:11 pm

    Ok. Sorry Duck fans. I see the problem. It’s your Sports writers who are the “Whine Pushers” who have you hooked. Curtis and Dan’s articles should come with the warning: BEWARE; READING THIS NONSENSE MAY CAUSE AN ADDICTION TO WHINING.
    It’s absolutely shameful just how ignorant these guys are of hockey. What are they, ex-volleyball writers?Tennis?….. golf?….donkeykong?
    Speechwriters for George Bush?