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TORONTO -- Brendan Shanahan has no plans to preside over a league where goalies have to worry about getting hit. wholesale nfl jerseys . And he thinks its "irresponsible" for the Buffalo Sabres to suggest otherwise. The NHLs new sheriff reacted strongly to complaints from the Sabres on Monday after he elected not to suspend Bruins forward Milan Lucic for his collision with Buffalos Ryan Miller. "I think Buffalos comments are irresponsible to suggest that its open season," Shanahan said at the Hockey Hall of Fame induction ceremony. "I will have this warning for players: `Its not. If you run a goalie youre going to find yourself in the same situation that Lucic was today, youre going to have to explain yourself and you dont explain it sufficiently, and if I dont buy it, youre going to be suspended." On Saturday, Miller was knocked to the ice by Lucic when the goalie strayed from his net to play the puck in the first period of Buffalos 6-2 loss. Shanahan held a hearing with Lucic on Monday and was satisfied with his assertion that he didnt have time to avoid the collision. "I judged this case for what this case was," said Shanahan. Miller suffered a concussion on the play and called Lucic "gutless" afterwards. The Sabres were perplexed that the rugged Bruins forward wasnt suspended and suggested it sent a message across the NHL that goalies wont be protected. "It just means that teams will be to able do exactly what Lucic did," Sabres coach Lindy Ruff told reporters in Montreal. "Your goaltender can play the puck, we can run him over, we can hurt him and all you get is a two-minute minor penalty. "That is essentially what that means -- You can concuss the other teams goalkeeper ... it means its fair game on goaltenders again." The controversial remarks come at an interesting time. Shanahan is scheduled to make a presentation to the leagues 30 GMs during a meeting on Tuesday and expects a frank discussion about his first couple months on the job. Ultimately, he thinks a rule change will need to be made before he can suspend every player that collides with a goaltender. "If they feel, as (Sabres GM Darcy Regier) suggests, that goalies are like quarterbacks and that their needs to be a higher standard in supplemental discipline (Im open to that)," said Shanahan. "Im not a policy-maker, but Im a policy enforcer. If these guys want that Im happy to enforce that policy. "But I dont think that I can just go and do this because this happened to a great goaltender like Ryan Miller." Shanahan has been a busy man since replacing Colin Campbell over the summer. Hes already handed out 14 suspensions this season and drawn some criticism for fulfilling a mandate to make them harsher than in the past. And hes come to understand that criticism is never far away. "I think the job is always going to be grey," said Shanahan. "Its not black and white because people have their own perspective. You could line up 100 Hall of Famers in this room and watch that (Lucic) hit and they could be 60-40 or 50-50 on what the decision should be. Fans will do that too. ... I feel that in the bigger picture we are changing player culture. Each and every specific decision will be dissected, good or bad. "If I suspended Lucic Im sure there would be a lot of people that thought it was the wrong decision, but I think the greater point in all of this is I see that players are reacting and responding." wholesale jerseys . -- Philippe Cadorette made 22 saves as the Baie-Comeau Drakkar shut out the Victoriaville Tigres 3-0 in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League playoff action Monday. cheap nfl jerseys . All that matters to the son of a high school coaching legend is that hes the one they selected. "Its been my life-long dream to be an NFL head coach," Pettine said Thursday, "and however that opportunity presents itself, its fine with me.(SportsNetwork.com) - The Buffalo Sabres headed into the Christmas break playing their best hockey of the season. It was pretty much the opposite for the Toronto Maple Leafs. Catch all the action on TSN and TSN Radio 1050 at 7:30pm et /4:30pm pt. The Sabres will shoot for a fourth win in five games when they visit the struggling Toronto Maple Leafs in Fridays Atlantic Division battle at Air Canada Centre. Toronto lost seven out of nine heading into the Christmas break, but the club at least has managed to earn points in three straight outings. The Maple Leafs have gone to the shootout phase in each of their last three games, beating Phoenix on Dec. 19 before losing consecutive tilts against Detroit and the New York Rangers. The Maple Leafs seemed on the verge of a regulation defeat Monday in New York City, but they came up with a controversial goal after Rangers forward Chris Kreider was sent off for shooting the puck over the glass with 3:34 remaining in the third period. New York goaltender Cam Talbot appeared to cover up David Clarksons chance in-close on the man advantage, but the whistle never blew and Nazem Kadri alertly pushed the puck over the line to make it a 1-1 game with only 84 seconds to go in regulation. However, Derek Stepan and Mats Zuccarello each scored for the Rangers during the shootout, while Joffrey Lupul scored Torontos lone goal in the decisive segment. Kadri had a chance to extend the shootout for Toronto, but was denied by Talbot. Toronto fell for the ninth time in its last 10 road games despite a terrific 42-save performance from Jonathan Bernier. "Our goaltender stood on his head," Maple Leafs head coach Randy Carlyle remarked. "Thats all you can ask in a game like this one.&quoot; The Leafs are 12-8-1 as the home team this season compared to a 6-8-4 record on the road. cheap jerseys. Although Buffalo is still last in the NHL with 23 points, the club has recorded four of its 10 wins this season over the last seven games. The Sabres latest victory, Mondays 2-1 overtime win against visiting Phoenix, came with a little bit of luck, as Buffalo was the beneficiary of a bizarre play in the extra session. Mark Pysyk fired a shot from near the right circle 3:47 into the extra session which was initially stopped by Coyotes goalie Mike Smith, but the puck bounced straight up into the air and was batted down by a Phoenix defender and landed in the back of Smiths pants. Smith, unaware of the disc wedged in his pants, turned and slid backwards into the net carrying the puck across the goal line for the game-winner. "I saw it come down and figured it landed. I didnt know where it went from there, but I saw he was in the net and figured it was in," said Pysyk. Tyler Ennis scored the game-tying goal 14:01 into the final session for the Sabres. Ryan Miller made 36 saves in the win. Although Buffalo has picked up the pace recently, the club still enters Friday on an eight-game road losing streak. The Sabres, who last won as the guest on Nov. 5 in San Jose, are just 3-12-1 on the road this season. The Sabres have not fared well in Toronto recently either, losing two straight and seven of the last eight encounters at Air Canada Centre. Buffalo, however, has won three of the past four meetings overall. Buffalo hopes to have leading scorer Cody Hodgson back tonight after the centerman missed the last two games due to an upper-body injury. Hodgson has eight goals and 11 assists to pace the Sabres with 19 points. cheap jerseys cheap jerseys from china ' ' ' |
