Hockey Is An Animalistic Sport...But That Can Be Entertaining

The reason why I chose to highlight the New York Rangers At Carolina Hurricanes game is because there were almost more penalty minutes for fighting in this game than a Jet Li movie.

The Carolina Hurricanes first went about settling old scores with the New York Rangers.

The Rangers and Canes wasted little time getting down to business Tuesday. The two teams racked up a total of 66 penalty minutes in the first period. Interestingly, the rest of the game saw just four minor penalties.

1st Period Penalties

• 8 minor penalties

• 6 fighting majors

• One 10-minute misconduct

• One game misconduct

Then they got down to concentrating on the scoreboard.

Rod Brind'Amour and Sergei Samsonov scored in the second period after Tim Gleason, Scott Walker and Wade Brookbank fought in the first to give Carolina a 3-1 win over New York on Tuesday night.

"That's exactly what we needed to do," Carolina coach Peter Laviolette said of the physical play. "We talked about everything before the game. Whatever game was going to be played tonight, we were going to be ready."

Trevor Letowski added an insurance goal in the third period for the Southeast Division-leading Hurricanes, who have won three of four. Goalie Cam Ward made 34 saves.

Brendan Shanahan scored for the Rangers. Goalie Henrik Lundqvist stopped 24 shots.

New York had won two in a row overall before the All-Star break but has lost six in a row on the road.

"Tough loss," Lundqvist said. "We were really looking forward to coming back and getting a good start."

The first period featured 66 minutes in penalties.

New York's Sean Avery and Walker received roughing minors before the puck dropped. The Rangers' Colton Orr and Brookbank fought shortly thereafter.

The physical play boiled over when Walker drove New York's Scott Gomez into the boards a little over four minutes into the game. Avery came after Walker, which started a melee that entangled all 10 players on the ice. Gleason was ejected because he was the third man in on the Avery-Walker scrum. Avery received a 10-minute misconduct.

Later in the period, Brookbank and Orr dropped the gloves for a second time.

"[The first-period fights] let guys know we were going to do whatever it takes to win," Walker said. "Then the gifted guys on our team could say, 'I'll have more freedom to do what I want.'"

The rough stuff between the teams wasn't a complete surprise. In a game in New York on Dec. 26, Orr leveled Carolina's Matt Cullen with a hit that left Cullen with a concussion. Avery also punched the Hurricanes' Andrew Ladd while Ladd was being restrained by an official, breaking a bone underneath Ladd's eye in the process.

Eric Lindros Calls It Quits After 13 Seasons

Former NHL MVP Eric Lindros announced his retirement Thursday (Nov. 8, 2007). His career was constantly interrupted by concussions and other injuries.

Here is the article from ESPN:

The 6-foot-4, 240-pound power forward had 372 goals, 865 points and 1,398 penalty minutes in 760 games for Philadelphia, Toronto, the New York Rangers and Dallas.

He won the Hart Trophy as league MVP in 1995 and was part of the Canadian Olympic team that won gold in 2002. He also won silver for Canada in 1992.

The 34-year-old center made it through 13 seasons despite the concussions and other injuries that eventually limited his playing time. The injuries restricted him to an average of only 58 games a season, but he was an impact player when healthy.

Lindros was a free agent and hadn't played this season. He's expected to join the staff of the NHL Players' Association.

I miss Lindros on the Rangers, but with the roster the Rangers have (Scott Gomez, Chris Drury, Brendan Shanahan, and Jaromir Jagr), I believe they have enough firepower to fill the gap. They just have to find a way to merge and start winning consistently. There is never an excuse for a healthy team of all-stars to go 7-7-1...and be last in the league in goals scored! They can't win on the road either (0-5-1).