The playoffs are supposed to bring out the best in hockey. When does that start, again?

Most fans, and even more casual fans agree, that the playoffs are different from the regular season. The intensity turns up, experience can trump youth more easily, the feuds and anger sit on the same edge as speed and checking, and which side will be tipped towards means everything.

But there are too many childish accusation, not enough accountability, and nowhere near the positive qualities we have come to expect from our hockey players at this early stage of the playoffs.

My feed reader is being filled with the inane and immature. Somewhere along the way, the men have to get back to being men. For example:

From the Toronto Sun, Mike Komisarek is accused of eye gouging:

The gritty Montreal Canadiens defenceman wants to make that clear to anyone who claims he gouged the eye of Boston Bruins’ Matt Hunwick after the final horn on Thursday night.

Informed that Bruins general manager Peter Chiarelli had made that allegation and requested that the league review the incident, Komisarek broke into a sarcastic grin, the type that implied the message: “You’ve got to be (expletive) kidding me.”

You’ve got to be kidding us. There aren’t many players who are well loved outside their own team, and called “gritty,” so I’m sure some this has some fans riled up, but aside from that, it’s stupid. If it isn’t designed to get the refs to watch Komisarek closer, or to get him of his game, what is the point? Eye gouging is something for a schoolyard dustup, not on the ice. If it didn’t happen, then accusations are better left on the cutting room floor. Don’t embarrass the fans with this.

From the NHL (and why they are reprinting players speculation on refs missing calls is beyond me), Mikka Kiprusoff has an excuse for a loss, and it wasn’t his own team:

Goalie Miikka Kiprusoff maintained after the Chicago Blackhawks’ 3-2 overtime win Thursday night that he was interfered with on Martin Havlat’s game-winning goal. Calgary coach Mike Keenan said there was no doubt that Hawks forward Andrew Ladd impeded his netminder.

“I believe it was Ladd who did not try to stop his movement toward the net, and that’s goaltender interference,” Keenan said. “However, the officials saw it different or didn’t make the call because of the excitement of overtime.”

Or you could go to Kukla’s Korner and watch the video, Mikka, and you would see the truth, that your own player used a Blackhawk to interfere with you. Every NHL player should have to watch youtube footage of every supposed “missed call” before they are allowed to talk to the media. You know, so they don’t wind up looking completely stupid.

Next up, from the aptly titled post, “The Pansification of Hokcey,” Mark Spector of Sportsnet:

After Game 1 Canucks coach Alain Vigneault complained that the St. Louis Blues weren’t just skating through Roberto Luongo’s crease and bumping into him a couple of times, they were spraying him with (gasp!) snow.

“I’m embarrassed to talk about that. It’s ridiculous. Nonsense,” said St. Louis winger Keith Tkachuk. “There is no way our game plan is to go out and try to spray their goalie. You have to stop on the puck – just in case he tries to play it.

“You can tell the game has changed over my 17-year career, when you complain about something like that. As opposed to runnin’ someone from behind or starting a brawl.”

Vigneault did not want to address the situation again on Thursday. He said on Wednesday that he would talk to the league about his concerns.

Maybe Vigneault was a little more quiet since he was embarrassed my his own words. Sprayed with ice? Give me a break. I know an ice chip can get in a goalies eye (hey, it’s gouging with snow), but that goes with the territory. This isn’t a pickup game at the local rink, then everyone goes to their real job. If a goalie doesn’t want to get sprayed with ice, he should take up soccer. Or lacrosse. And if a coach has to resort to this sort of antics, he should go to the low minors where they appreciate this sort of thing.

Ah, to be a hockey fan. To not only have to explain the rules of the game, the on ice incidents that are more than made up for by other sports off ice incidents, but to then have to endure these sorts of low rent, verbal cheep shots, it makes you wonder where the stereotype of the quiet, nice, well behaved hockey player went. He probably gouged someone’s eyes on the way out the door.

(thanks to Paul Kukla for keeping me informed)

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