Calgary and Nashville have a history. It dates back to last year when Tomas Vokoun left his crease to deliver a strong elbow to Jarome Iginla. It continued when Iginla fought back againt Vokoun in a later game. And again this year when Jordon Tootoo threw a late punch at Iginla after knocking Iginla down in a fight.

Sense a trend here?

Saturday nights game was more of the same from Nashville. The Predators spent most of the game tackling Flame players, crosschecking them, interfering (my GOD the interfering) with nary a call. After a time, Calgary picked up on the lack of calls and returned the favour. Ville Niemenen crosschecked an opponent in the back, only to be crosschecked in the face himself.

And finally, Chris Simon pinned down by Scott Hartnell in a holding match, deep in Nashville’s end, in the final minute, forcing the flames offside for 30 seconds, costing a chance to tie. Ultimately, this led to a scuffle which involved Iginla being targeted once again, and the Flames somehow shorthanded.

Barry Trotz took a frustrating situation and made it worse by sending Jordon Tootoo - who was a lightning rod for trouble all night long - out with three seconds left. Calgary, down to four skaters, countered with Oliwa, and its three biggest defensemen in Regehr, Warrener and Commodore. This move promptly caused Trotz to haul Tootoo back on the ice for his own safety. The hockey hero of Nunivut responded by taunting Oliwa and the Flames from the safety of his bench - typical of his cowardly style.

And thus, the scene was set for the Flames to send the message that needed to be sent. Everyone knew it. 40 players and two coaching staff’s knew it. CBC knew it. The officials knew it. 18,439 fans chanting “O-LI-WA! O-LI-WA! O-LI-WA!” knew it.

Down went the puck, and off came the gloves. Krysztof Oliwa, unable to find anyone willing to dance prior to the faceoff, was actually skating away to the Flames bench when the fights started. The remaining Flame players werent going to take it anymore. After two years of constant dirty play by the Predators, payback was in order. That brawl was a message to “Smashville” that their dirty play will no longer be tolerated.

More importantly, that brawl was a message to the NHL itself. A message that the NHL has typically overlooked. By failing to call the Predators (and to a lesser extent, the Flames) transgressions, NHL referees, and by extension, the NHL itself, are guilty of condoning the sort of cheap, chippy violence that plagues the game. The end of this game is what one should expect when the referees lose control of the game through their own incompetence.

In the post Bertuzzi era, the focus on violence is intense. Unfortunately, the focus is only on the result, not the cause. Until the NHL starts looking at why brawls happen, this league can never become proactive in preventing violent outbreaks.

In the case of the Flames-Predators game, all it would have taken was for the officials to call both teams for the blatant tackles and interference that would have made an NFL lineman proud.

Saturday’s brawl was all on the officials, and the league itself.

Since the Todd Bertuzzi incident, many American “journalists” - the vast majority of which probably havent seen a game in their lives - have been chiming in on the game of hockey, its violence, and trashing the sport we all love for supposedly condoning Bertuzzi’s actions.

Most dont realize that Bertuzzi’s hit on Steve Moore was so far beyond the boundaries of the game of hockey that he has been almost universally villified within hockey circles as well.

But why consider that when there is sensationalist dogma to be had? The most revolting in a long list of bad articles on this incident was written by ESPN’s Jim Kelly, who felt that it was easier to blame Canada for Bertuzzi’s sucker punch rather than Todd Bertuzzi himself. This is my open letter response to Kelly:

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Mr. Kelly,

I, like many other Canadians, am writing in response to your outrageous column blaming Bertuzzi’s actions on Canadian hockey culture.

Normally, I find you to be a decent writer, but your logic in this piece is so poor it almost qualifies as slander.

While you are correct in stating that we embrace the physical style of play, you do Canadians, hockey, and the ignorant people who believe what you say - no matter how fabricated - a great disservice by trying to link Bertuzzi’s actions with “pysical play.”

Bertuzzi’s act is not sanctioned, condoned, or accepted by ANY code - written or unwritten - in hockey, or in life in general. To suggest otherwise is is assinine.

In your last paragraph, you wrote: “If Bertuzzi’s actions hadn’t fractured vertebrae in Moore’s neck, he’d have been an honored man in his locker room, the city of Vancouver and across all of Canada. Even now his apologists talk more about “poor Todd” than they do of the injured Moore.”

The flaws in this statement alone are staggering.

First, I doubt any Canadian who exists outside of your delusional fantasies have ever considered Matt Johnson, Marty McSorely or Jeff Kugel as heroes for acting like ridiculous cowards.

If you talk to real Canadians (do you know any real Canadians?), most consider those three players (as examples) to be the lowest order of scum for their actions. As far as most Canadians are concerned, we believe that Bertuzzi has joined them in this innermost ring of hockey hell.

And yes, there are apologists for Bertuzzi. Some of them happen to be Canadian. To use that as a means of painting all Canadians with the same brush is insulting. Some Americans defend Ty Cobb’s actions during his life and carreer to this day. Can I use this to paint all Americans as violent racists? Somehow, I think you would object to that characterization.

Speaking of Ty Cobb, where to beanballs, bench clearing brawls, and guys going into bases with their spikes up fit into your “this kind of activity isnt tolerated in the other major sports” argument?

The ironic thing about your article is that you yourself have become an apologist for Bertuzzi. You are trying to place the blame everywhere but where it belongs. You want to blame the league, Canada, and hockey culture.

Perhaps you should blame the one who deserves it? Todd Bertuzzi himself.

Afterall, thousands upon thousands of people have grown up in Canada, within our hockey culture, yet managed to not seriously injure an opponent through such a heinous act. I think you owe them, and us, an apology.

Sincerely,
Keith Short

“It’s a mixed up, mumbled up, shook up world…” Ok, enough about a song about a transvestite…

The Oilers grabbed Nedved from the Rangers. Edmonton can thank Sather for that favour. The Flames aquired Chris Simon today. The Canadiens added Kovalev. The Leafs added Leetch. Bondra went to Ottawa.

What are the small market, Canadian teams doing adding players when they are supposed to be poor, and unable to compete in this market? The coming labour war makes for strange bedfellows. Who would have figured the Rangers would dump $15 million in payroll in a week? Teams with bloated payrolls are cutting, and teams with room under the expected cap are adding.

Could this be a common trend in the new CBA world? Lets hope so. Allowing markets like Calgary, Edmonton and Nashville to improve themselves is only good for the NHL. When all teams can compete for players, the league as a whole benifits.

One only has to look at the NHL’s average attendance charts to see why those of us in traditional markets remain skeptical about hockey’s future in the south.

Carolina dead last at 11,743. Nashville - challenging for the playoffs - at 12,506. Atlanta at 14,757, Florida at 15,543. All in the bottom half of the league officially.

And then you get into the fact that these teams - especially the Panthers - are notorious for inflating attendance figures.

As a comparison, the Calgary Hitmen of the WHL are averaging 7,330 for major junior hockey. This for players high school aged. It is concievable that Calgary, Ottawa (the OHL’s 67s) and London (the OHL’s Knights) all average more fans than a couple NHL team’s legitimately average. Especially the Hurricanes.

With this in mind, it is becomming more and more clear to observers that the non traditional expansion movement has failed. People are remembering that the size of the city doesnt create the market size. It’s the number of people willing to pay for the product. And this article suggests the pendulum is swinging back towards Canada:

So, dont be surprised if us Northerners are start acting more smug post-CBA if teams like Carolina and Florida pack up and leave markets where they were doomed to failure from the outset.

The Calgary Flames. Nobody in Florida likely cares about them, and beyond Jarome Iginla, It is unlikely they could name many players. (You are welcome for St. Louis, btw. @#$%@) And I may be a little biassed, but I have always considered the Flames the barometer of the league’s economic state.