Honestly I think part of the problem is just like you said
“It seem to me over the last year or two they don’t respond when they should, then on occasions, jump when maybe they shouldn’t.”

I think the players might be just as confused as you sometimes. “Do I jump in? Is it the right time? Will I get benched for taking a penalty? Will I get benched if I dont stick up for my team mate? Does the team mate being hit want me to jump in for him?

All those questions must go through the players head and then they have to make a split second decision on what to do. Then i think it depends on who you ask whether they responded appropriately or not.

Just read the article. Yes, indeed, a good read. I agree with Bob on this(and you).

I would like to hear how TM and DL handle these situations. I would be interested in knowing the guidelines they lay out for the boys. It seem to me over the last year or two they don’t respond when they should, then on occasions, jump when maybe they shouldn’t. The boys seem to be confused or unsure of when to respond. Do you get that impression sometimes?

But certainly don’t get the wrong impression of me. On the other hand, let me say, regarding the hit Malkin put on Simmonds last year is a complete different animal. Not only would I expect someone to respond, I would expect all players to go after Malkin, all five. I would also give Ivan the green light to leave the bench. If we finish the game with 5 players, so be it. In my mind there is no “honor code” after a hit like that. Honor has been thrown out the window and retribution is in order. I would also expect the response to be nasty and with intent.

I certainly believe standing up for your teammates is essential and mandatory in some instances, just not after a clean hit.

About the Kings being a Cup contender, it’s all relative. Rich is right that the playoff tournament is a crapshoot, as is any single-elimination tournament. If you read Moneyball, Billy Bean talks at one point about how it’s impossible to engineer a team that is certain to win the World Series because short-term variations in luck make too much of a difference in the post-season (unlike the regular season, where there’s always time for things to even out).

But I also agree with Paul from Oxnard that the Kings aren’t yet favorites to win the Cup. Doesn’t mean they won’t/can’t this year, but I think it would be an upset. But I also think that next year they’ll be where Chicago is this year (except without the salary cap problems), and they’ll clearly be one of the elite teams in the league, with a better chance of going all the way.

Bob MacKenzie from TSN did a piece this morning on The Mark Stuart-Wayne Simmonds fight from the Boston game. Apparantely Stuart broke his pinky finger in the tilt and is now out for a few weeks. Bob brings up an interesting question. I think this would make a great thread here.

Read the article: http://tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=308652

Here’s my response (Although probably not up yet, being moderated):

OK. Bob, I love ya and I get your point, but now this question you’ve posed is going to confuse the NHL mucky-mucks even MORE. First of all, if the NHL was allowed to police itself without fear of instigating penalties or any of the other shackles the NHL has tried to implement to cut down on fighting, your scenarios would play out just fine! Teams wouldn’t feel the need to exact an immediate response. They know the opportunity to even up will come in time, as long as they don’t have to worry about the extra penalty or doing it in the last 5 minutes of a game or getting fined, etc. Being a Kings fan, and this will sound biased, Simmonds exacted the proper response in TODAY’S NHL, because effectively, that’s all he’s got. If it was old school rules, Simmer is yapping, Ivanans hits the ice and then squares up with Boston’s tough guy and we move on. Now, players feel they need to respond immediately. Let’s not forget how many devastating hits we’ve had on good players this year. David Booth is a PERFECT Example. What kind of justice did Richards (I said Stevens originally and didn’t change it. DOH!) get for that elbow to the noggin? Not enough I’m sure for Booth’s teammates to think it was evened up. Thanks to Colin Campbell’s ‘On The Fly’ style of judgement for these types of instances, players simply believe justice NOW is better served immediately, rather than waiting for CC to screw it up, so they do what Simmonds did. As a Kings fan, I was happy to see Simmers reaction (We’ve needed those public displays of camraderie and protection of teammates, so from our team’s and fan’s standpoint, it was good for us). I’m sorry MArk Stuart broke his pinky and wish him a speedy recovery. Not sure why he can’t tape it up and play with it, especially at this time of the season, but I’m not him. The NHL has created this mess themselves. The BIGGEST and BEST thing they could do in the offseason is to lay down the law in a straightforward fashion so it’s plain and simple to follow OR go back to letting players police themselves with a fining system for incidences that go beyond the ‘Honour’ code. Mark Stuart, thank Colin Campbell for your broken pinky.

http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=515769