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View Full Version : Another Portland Article!!



Kristi
03-24-2005, 11:55 AM
Well here is yet another article.....not sure what the writers down there are smoking but it's pretty entertaining!!

http://www.oregonlive.com/hawks/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/sports/1111662176255730.xml

Tipped Off
03-24-2005, 04:51 PM
It's an interesting read, but I have to say I think the writer, for the most part, is exactly right. he states:
"Discipline is huge for us against them," Hawks left wing Brian Woolger said. "It's been our biggest problem against these guys. We get caught up. We get too emotional and take stupid penalties."

Everett is skilled at pushing the Hawks' buttons.

Silvertips defenseman Mitch Love excels at it, and physical left wing Mike Wuchterl enraged the Hawks late in the season when he ran down Portland goaltender Blake Grenier.

While not as blatant as McEwan's, I was at the game Wookie did this and I even commented to my wife that it was a cheap play by Wuchterl.

Woolger said the Everett line centered by Mark Kress also is maddening, "because they just dump the puck in, run around and bump into guys. They're agitators."

That's what they are supposed to do as the 3rd line....lol

Dubinsky might as well have a bull's-eye on the back of his jersey. The Silvertips know that getting him off the ice hampers the Hawks' goal-scoring chances.

"They have some guys who are going to be doing some stickwork and stuff when the ref isn't looking," Dubinsky said. "They're going to try and suck us in, try to throw us off our game. They've done it all season, and a few times it's worked. A few times, it hasn't. If we can just get through that I think we'll be fine."

Heh, it's nice that they notice, but, really....I think these comments are a little pre-game posturing for any officials who may be sitting in their hotel room reading a paper tongiht.

Williamson joked a few weeks ago that former Olympic diving champion Greg Louganis should sing the national anthem before Game 1 and the first 1,000 fans through the doors should get diving goggles, or Speedos.

Everett's perceived diving -- players sprawling on the ice at the slightest contact in an attempt to draw penalties -- has been an issue in the WHL since last season when the Kelowna Rockets screamed about it during a Western Conference finals series won in shocking fashion by the expansion Silvertips.

"We can't worry about it," Williamson said. "I get frustrated. Our players get frustrated. But it's going to happen."

Said Dubinsky, "They embellish stuff so much it's embarrassing."

Woolger got a 10-minute misconduct penalty March 12 in Everett for mimicking a dive.

This is a good sign. It means Portland is worrying too much about the Tips game plan and not enough about their own.

Constantine last week denied that his team takes dives, saying it just plays hard. Kevin Muench, the WHL's director of officiating, said Wednesday he had little sympathy for the Hawks' complaints.

"Teams are looking to get any kind of edge they can get," Muench said. "They should not be looking at the officials to gain that edge. The games won't be called any differently than they were in the regular season."

Diving is nothing new in hockey, and the Hawks -- the second-most penalized team in the WHL -- aren't totally innocent.

"We've had games where they're diving all over the place, then we start diving because they're diving," Woolger said. "Then both teams are looking at the ref for a power play. What we need to do is just forget about that and play our game."

Hehehe..see what I mean...they start playing our game instead of us playing theirs. If it works.....lol.