Stuart-Crombeen/By S. Bradley
NHL players and coaches constantly watch video to learn the tendencies, strengths and weaknesses of their opponents.
So why does it seem that no one knows Mark Stuart is a clean, honest hitter?
For the third time this season Saturday night, Stuart had to answer the fight bell after he cleanly rocked an opponent’s world and that player’s teammate decided the only thing to do was make Stuart drop the gloves.
Against the Blues, it was Jay McClement who Stuart pulverized in the neutral zone before B.J. Crombeen raced in to brawl with the Boston defenseman. Previously, Stuart’s hits on Buffalo’s Patrick Kaleta and the New York Rangers’ Ruslan Fedotenko caused similar reactions by Cody McCormick and Sean Avery, respectively, against Stuart.
In four-plus NHL seasons, Stuart has never been less than a stand-up guy and hasn’t ever been embroiled in any controversy involving the legality of one of his hits.
Stuart was unavailable for comment after the game Saturday, and the Bruins were off today. Instead, I asked some of his teammates, what gives with everyone challenging Stuart every time he punishes a puck-carrier? None of them could figure out an answer. They just know that Stuart’s as honest as they come, and he’s not going to back down just because he seemingly has a target on his chest.
“It’s his game. He’s going to keep stepping up and making those hits,” said winger Milan Lucic. “If the guy’s got his head down in the middle of the ice, he’s not going to hesitate to step into him. Stew’s done a great job of that so far and he’s not scared to stick up for himself, that’s for sure.”
Really, this nonsense has to stop. Unfortunately, the Bruins aren’t a model outfit when it comes to overreacting to a big hit. Andrew Ference admitted after the St. Louis game that he had no idea who had been hit, or whether it was clean or dirty, when he decided to go after Blues forward David Backes. So, disappointingly, the Bruins are as guilty as the next team.
Not to go all “back in my day” on you, but whatever happened to withstanding a big hit, getting up and playing on? The best response to a hit that lands you on your keester, should be an equally firm check on that player by you or your teammate later in the game. Or maybe you get up and score a big goal that shows the big hit might’ve slowed you, but didn’t stop you.
Jumping a player that steamrolls your teammate, unless you’re pretty certain the hit was dirty, is such a self-defeating decision. The five minutes in the box you receive might be more valuable than the other guy’s five minutes, depending on that player’s position in his team’s hierarchy. The Crombeen-Stuart trade-off probably works in the Blues’ favor, but what if it had been a lesser Bruins player? Suddenly you’re hurting your team’s chances all for some bizarre display of macho-ness.
In Stuart’s case, specifically, the Bruins have to hope this trend ends soon. At his current rate, Stuart will throw somewhere between 16 to 20 bone-rattling hits and have to fight an equal amount of times. The more a guy fights, the more risk there is for injury and the more time the Bruins have to play with just five available defensemen. Head coach Claude Julien isn’t going to ask Stuart to stop defending himself, even if he sees how absurd these scenarios are.
“What you want to see from your team is to do the right thing. And there’s going to be a risk every time you do those kind of things, and you’ve got to accept those risks,” said the coach. “He’s standing up for himself, and I have no issues with that. It’s a trend. I mentioned that last week. As soon as there’s a clean hit, there’s somebody coming after somebody. He’s sticking up for himself. At least he’s fighting his own battles, not like other players we’ve seen in the past that have other people do their dirty work.”
Stuart suffered what amounted to a season-ending finger injury last season when he had to defend himself against Los Angeles’ Wayne Simmonds after a clean hit across the blue line on Anze Kopitar. If injury is ultimately these players’ goal, then it might be time for Stuart to re-think how he reacts when someone jumps him. Because it doesn’t appear the league or the players themselves intend on doing anything to revert to the days when a clean hit was met with returned blow rather than an invitation to brawl.
Char… Are you serious?! So, if instead, Crombeen had of made a clean check on Stuart, at some point later in the game, is that not still retribution?! Nowhere did I insinuate that I expect this to happen after every check and it clearly doesn’t. So many factors lead to that situation occurring during a game. Hockey is an ultra-physical game, with wildly passionate and competitive players going at each other. If you’re a 3rd or 4th line guy, like Crombeen is, and one of your players gets cleaned out, you’ve essentially not done your #1 job, which is to establish a physical presence. Those guys never know how many shifts they’re gonna get, so waiting isn’t really an option. Next, keep in mind who the two players were here. Crombeen and Stuart, both of whom will drop their gloves if need be. Crombeen knows this so he steps up for his teammate. As well, notice when this happened during the game. 2nd period, 1-0 St. Louis. As mentioned before, the third line wouldn’t be doing it’s job if it allowed Boston to take back any momentum, physical or otherwise.
When Ryder threw the big hit in the third, the same thing didn’t happen. Why? Cause the game was on the line and whoever came to challenge Ryder knows A) Ryder may not fight and therefore B)they may cost their team a penalty at a crucial moment in the game.
If you guys don’t like this kind of hockey-play, blame Stuart equally. He could have backed off instead of finishing his check in the neutral zone. One that may have taken him out of position. Plus, had he just let Crombeen jump him, he could have drawn a penalty. If more players did that as a response, this kind of thing may stop occurring. But they won’t cause they’re men with pride.
And if you still don’t want to agree with me, read what Stuart says himself concerning the whole incident…
It hasn’t always been that way?! What hockey have you been watching? It’s far tamer now.
[…] Mass. — Over the weekend, I wrote a column calling for opposing players to stop jumping Bruins defenseman Mark Stuart every time he knocks someone […]
showed this article to a friend.
“I think I missed this fight on Saturday. I see both sides I guess (like pitchers hitting players in retribution for bad calls or other pitchers’ bullshit in baseball), but I guess I think along the lines of losing the players for the penalty time being more detrimental to the team as a whole during the game in the long run. Advocating succumbing to testosterone-driven nonsense as being a legitimate response to bruised egos (I’m exaggerating) takes away from the GAME and turns it into something that resembles WWF: The Ice Capades Edition. Heh. It seems that the fights REALLY occur as a product of showmanship and drama – the ratings and seat sales would decrease exponentially if that portion of the drama wasn’t there. Human bloodlust. Or… I dont know what the fuck I’m talking about because I have essentially watched as much hockey with you as I have in the rest of my life combined. But it was fun to take a side on an issue for no apparent reason!!!”
It’s not “always been this way.” Fighting somebody for throwing a clean, solid hit is the very definition of ridiculous. If you expect retribution every time someone throws a check, you’re playing the wrong sport. Try women’s hockey – no checking allowed.
As someone who has played hockey and played on the edge, you have to realize what it means to your bench to see things like this happen. If you rock my linemate and I come to his defense, it shows my team that I’m not going to let anyone get a physical advantage on us and, more importantly, it shows the opposition that if you want to try and erase our team physically, there is going to be a push-back. It’s simple sports-psychology. Stuart or Backes may not care if they have to fight after a big hit, but I bet you there are a few other guys who may think twice before lining a guy up. Obviously you don’t want to jump a guy and take the extra 2 and possibly a 10, but if you cranked anyone on my line, clean or not, I was going to challenge you, especially if I could take a D-Man off for 5 minutes (a top-4 defenseman was even better). Regardless of what the media and fans think, players on both teams have the utmost respect for a guy who stands up for his teammates.
I don’t know what “back in the day” hockey you were referring to but it has always been this way. Usually it was more to protect star players but in today’s game everyone plays a vital role and physical edge is huge when it comes to turning a games momentum or establishing it…
Stuart gets a bad rep because he plays a very borderline game. He is rackless with the stick and body. I can see why he gets under other people’s skin even if the checks are clean. McQuaid and Stuart are the perfect near goon couples.
Good on you for pointing/calling out Ference. Even though I understand it (especially after the lack of response to the Savvy hit), I still can’t get behind it, specifically when it drops you to 5 defencemen for 17 minutes.
Still don’t understand why Crombeen didn’t at least get an extra 2 though. I mean, he didn’t “jump” Stuart the way Ference did Backes, but he definitely was the instigator.
keep fighting, caveman.