Johnson dropping DiPietro? Yeah, I laughed, although I felt a bit bad about it when I found out that DiPietro literally got his face broken.

Bruins-Habs? Oookay, sure. Turned into a shitshow at the end of the third, but the world has bigger problems.

This game? I think I’m laughed out. I don’t have a problem with fighting being in the game, per se, but sucker punches, going after guys when they’re down, fights for no apparent fucking reason when you’re several goals up… it’s bullshit, and it’s not only this game in particular that I’m talking about. It’s one thing for guys to go once in awhile, but I didn’t sign up to watch bum fights. There’s a point where it just starts to look ugly and stupid.

As to this game specifically, I guess the Isles succeeded in reminding people that they exist. So, uh, congratulations on that.

I watched this game and it wasn’t a hockey game. It was a slugfest. I can understand the Islanders being upset about the Max Talbot hit during the prior game, but it is a legal hit. Max should have taken his lumps, BUT I think that after the second time the Islanders got their point across. The third time was overkill.

The Tangradi hit was completely uncalled for. On top of that, the taunting by Gilles while the kid was on the ground was completely unsportsmanlike. It made Gilles look like a thug. I’m surprised Gilles didn’t spit on him for good measure.

This all said, I don’t think the Penguins are all sunshine and daisies. I think Matt Cooke is one of the dirtiest players out there. His current suspension should be longer too. You want unity on a team, but dirty hits don’t help your team. Matt Cooke’s suspension is a prime example of that. The Pens are dropping like flies so you think that Cooke could use his head and not do those kinds of hits. They need him on this team at this time. He may be a decent player; he’s just not that smart.

I’ve watched the last several Penguin games and watched this kid (Tangradi) make several questionable hits that weren’t called which is why he wouldn’t have any penalties ON RECORD. Doesn’t mean he didn’t do it. He just didn’t get called. I stand by my opinion.

This is no different than the Penguins going after Steckle for the hit on Crosby. Nobody cried about that. Why? Nobody cries when the Penguins point blank say they are going after Ovechkin. Why? Why is this OK.

Besides, how can we in one post call Boston Gardens THE HOUSE OF PAIN praising fighting and then reprimand it because The Penguins got served?

Matt Cooke IS a repeat offender; not “could be argued as one”, which is why he got what he got from the NHL.

Should it have dissolved to what it did? No, but if MAX TALBOT had fought his fight in the first place, I think alot could have been avoided but we’ll never know because he turtled up – 3 times.

All I am saying is I thought the game was fine on both ends. Everyone got what they deserved. Fighting is fighting is fighting is fighthing. You got upset because it was your team but it doesn’t make The Islanders or anyone on that team wrong. I simply don’t think that’s fair. Just as you said Haley is a big boy, so is Tangradi. They are both big enough to fight, both big enough to accept the consequences.

Dawn, are you confusing Tangradi with someone else? Tangradi has played in 15 NHL games including last night. He was recalled from the AHL yesterday morning for the second time in two weeks. He has a total of 8 career penalty minutes – two hooking and one high-sticking double major. I’m not sure how you can do “plenty” of anything in 15 games over two seasons.

Tangradi’s only cheap shot I could find was in the ’08 WJC. And he was repentant: “”It wasn’t my proudest hockey moment.”

If he got “exactly what he deserved” for some imagined history of NHL transgressions, then I had better stay away from the rink myself. Seems like I might be in for it too, despite having not really done anything to anyone, ever.

I hate to say it but Cookie’s hit was the same kind of hit that Bergy took in 07 – the one that broke his nose and had him out for an entire season with concussion. But he’s still on my hit list after the Savvy hit, cute kids or mo, even after a year.

People that are not fans of the game will see this and remind their friends that this is all hockey is about – a bunch of goons fighting. Fans that truly follow the game know differently, but this puts the sport of hockey in a very bad light, not exactly what the league is going for.