Playing with Class

As Denis Leary said, there's unspoken honor in the game of hockey.

Players give stock answers to questions about opponents, even if they'd rather eat a barbed wire bat than ever play against one of them. It's the reason that players are payed to keep order on the ice. It's why Sean Avery couldn't find an employer after his poor choice of words found him relieved of his duties in Dallas.

More recently, however, two players have come under fire for their actions. One, Linus Omark, is being criticized for hot-dogging it during a shootout. The other, P.K. Subban, is coming under fire for his mouth, which may get shut forcibly if he's not careful.



Omark, for his part, is the main culprit in an almost video game like move that resulted in the winning goal. On the play, he took the puck while skating backwards before moving forwards, lifting his stick in an exaggerated motion and slotting the puck in between Dan Ellis' pads. His teammates clearly mob him, as the struggling Oilers could use any victory they could get.

The Lightning? Not so much, as reporters in the locker room found later.

"You come into a league, a respectful league like this, and you try a little move like that, " said Ellis, the goalie who was beat on the play. "It's not a very classy thing. That's just the kind of person he is."

"A...joke," said Ryan Malone, another player on the Lighting.

Steven Stamkos told the Edmonton Sun that the move was useless, adding, "I didn't think it showed a lot of respect in this game."

Though Stamkos should keep in mind that not everyone has the same sort of sling-shot that allows him to succeed, it's not as if his own teammates haven't tried the same thing. Witness this attempt from Martin St. Louis and see if there's any difference in the two.


Right now, Omark is a player getting his first real chance to play in the NHL. At 23, he won't have many chances left. Plus, he's known for being a creative player, with one shootout goal becoming a Youtube phenomenon.

So when he came down, everyone expected something out of the ordinary. And Omark delivered, giving the club what they wanted, a win.

If anyone has a problem with that, they can just stop him the next time.
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The Subban issue is a bit more tricky, as it extends more to his actions after the whistle rather than play during it.



Since he came into the league, Subban has been known for not only his flashy play, but his willingness to antagonize opponents. Lately, he's drawn the ire of Mike Richards, the captain of the Philadelphia Flyers.

The Fan 990 has Richards saying, "He(Subban), is a guy who's come into the league and hasn't earned any respect...You can't just come in here and play like that, it's not the way to get respect from other players around the league."

Richards also stated that it could cause problems for the Habs in the future, stating, "I hope someone on his team addresses it...I'm not saying I'm going to do it, but something might happen to him if he continues to be that cocky."

The incident between the two occurred when Subban attempted to step in for teammate Andrei Kostitsyn after Richards punched him in the face. Subban, during that time, proceeded to attempt to break up the fight, before throwing a punch after the two were separated by the referees. The two continues to jaw at each other as they sat in the penalty box.

Here's the issue for Subban. First, he should have never tried to break up the fight in the first place. If two guys want to fight, let them fight. Unless you're willing to step in for a teammate,(and he has only once, against Zach Bogosian, where he acted like he didn't want to fight)don't get involved.

Issue #2 is the fact that he threw the punch While the linesman was holding him. This cannot be overstated, as it is a huge breach of conduct for fighters. Once the refs get in, it's time to shut things down. Disregard this, and you're putting the opponent at risk..

That's what the culture of respect is all about. Truthfully, Subban can be as talkative as he wants. Heck, there are plenty of players who do the same. Look at last years two Stanley Cup Finalists, as both had rosters full of guys who can get in opponent's heads.

But each and every one of them can answer the bell if need be.

It remains to be seen if Subban is willing to stand for the bell.