What Really Grinds My Gears II

It is time for a new installment of my favorite segment here at Sunshine State Hockey, What Really Grinds My Gears.


You know what really grinds my gears? The fact that the Philadelphia Flyers continue to get away with cheap shots. For those who did not see it, Jeff Carter of the Philadelphia Flyers nailed Anssi Salmela of the New Jersey Devils after he scored a short handed goal, leaving him out cold on the ice for several minutes before being taken off on a stretcher. I have watched the hit multiple times, and I will say the hit itself is clean to an extent. It was a shoulder to shoulder hit, but it was the timing and the angle that I have a major issue with. Carter hit Salmela AFTER he scored a goal, in his blind side. People can continue to defend these hits, but I see nothing clean about a player targeting another player and hitting him at an angle where he cannot see it coming. There is a major difference between hitting a player when his head is down and hitting a player when he cannot see. Ask Mike Richards, he knows what i'm talking about.

You know what really grinds my gears? The fact that Kamil Kreps still has a roster spot on the Florida Panthers. Kreps has been down right terrible all season long, but continues to get ice time. The coaches say hes a good PK guy who can win faceoffs. I say so what, the Panthers are a team full of guys who are good grinders for the PK.

You know what really grinds my gears? The fact that the "savior", Peter DeBoer, is so against fighting. We have an AHL team loaded with scrappers who can make an impact on the Cats roster, but yet they are very rarely called up. This years Panthers team is soft, and that falls on coach DeBoer.

You know what really grinds my gears? The fact that the Florida Panthers seem to be scared to shoot the puck. The Cats recorded a season low thirteen shots against the Calgary Flames last Friday while allowing forty shots on net. The Panthers are no offensive power house, but you might be surprised with what could happen if they would just shoot.

And to wrap things up...

You know what really grinds my gears? All of the broken sticks for the Panthers this season. Heck, all of the broken sticks over the past month and a half! Where in the world is the organization buying these sticks from? The guys should switch to the plastic Franklin sticks little kids play with, they might just hold up better then the batch of garbage the team is using this year.

That is all for tonight. If anyone has any comments or questions feel free to post them on SSH's facebook page or contact me at SunStateHockey@hotmail.com.