Yeah, Nashville was already all-in and basically let their cards hit the muck before the board ran out. Radulov is the enigma because he is out drinking all night yet Patty Kane is just hilarious.

Has Kane done this during the playoffs?

we have no idea, but you can bet members of the media wouldn't rat him out like they did radulov and kostitsyn. and i can guarantee something like this happened since the lockout.

i mean radulov is classically an idiot, i remember a story that was told on here years ago about his off-ice antics. but nashville scapegoated him for sure.

Trying to find the origin of those pictures, I stumbled across this:



That girl looks like she is so wholesome and nice! How did she get mixed up in this.

Anyway, they hit the interwebz in late January 2010, a month when the Hawks did fairly well on the ice.

I'm fairly sure they were in Vancouver. Steeg and Kane aren't Russian so they were just out having a good time.

The pictures did show up on a Canucks blog first afaik. They were posted Jan 27 and they played in Vancouver Jan 23, makes sense.

you realize that the Preds' messed it up right? Radulov performed like they expected him to perform. He had some good games, some bad games, and most ok games. you really can't say he overall underperformed by any stretch of imagination.

he has a huge history of being temperamental, and some people think he is a headcase. he is not a calm individual, but he is not known for cheap shots, or no discipline. tried to injure? please provide evidence.

yeah. all of these risks were something Nashville knew about and was apparently willing to take on. no one stabbed the management in the back by not playing like he was supposed to. they got a top offensive player for next to nothing right when they needed an offensive player. he alone is hardly the reason nashville is out.

Evidence? Pretty much every much he played during Euro Hockey Tour featured some kind of cheap shot

First link on quick google search:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wXQ56Dp0iB0

Yep, clearly analogous situations.

I said nothing disparaging about his performance. In fact, I said he was the best Predator in the Detroit series. I said he's an idiot for once again finding a way to become the focal point of attention for all the wrong reasons. Happened during his first stay, happened in the KHL, happened here again. Dude. Is. ****ed.

And I feel like I need to make this disclaimer again - I want to remind everyone of my opinions during the Richards/Carter drama that unfolded in the offseason. I never wavered in my position; when it becomes a distraction, it becomes a problem. This has nothing to do with nationality and everything to do with stupidity, which knows no racial or ethnic parameters.

Geddy,

If you insert Andrei Kostitsyn and Alex Radulov for Patrick Kand and Kirs Versteeg in those pictures, do you think the media would have reacted in the same manner? If so, why?

you realize that the coach and radulov himself diffused the incident right after the game, right? yes, he is the kind of player who would come to the bench and slam his stick, but hitting the coach was completely accidental. the two didn't even have an argument about anything in that game.

radulov is also the kind of guy who lost three teeth on a play and didn't miss a start for Salavat. you think a troublemaker does that?

i see. so you believe he is just culturally not a good fit in north america? the nhl doesn't tolerate guys who might act a little stupid sometimes?

look, my only point is, i've talked plenty about roman cervenka lately, and the same people who talk about the russian factor about every single russian khl prospect, seem to love cervenka, when he is basically a lesser, more risky version of radulov.

like i said, he is an emotional dude, who clearly loses it sometimes. if he is born in north america 20 years ago, people would be talking about him as a quirky borderline super-star who never quite grew up, but might make a good tv head someday. but he is russian, so they make him into a stereotype.

Why don't we replace them with GOCBs Carter and Richards? Oh wait, that already happened and both the mainstream and non-traditional sports media had an absolute field day during the trade fallout.

Can we also stop pretending like context isn't important here? I mean, call me crazy, but when you're out until 5 am the night before game 3 of the 2nd round of the playoffs and you're playing for a team that's a legit title contender, I think that's just slightly worse than a post-game night out on the west coast road trip. I mean, come on.

lol sylar!

yeah in the NHL you're required to be prepared for games, backcheck a little (unless maybe you're scoring 50+ goals/year), and not slash your coach in the face. if you don't like those terms, then by all means stay in the KHL and rack up WC MEDALZZZ.

Radulov isn't the first egocentric selfish star who'll fall out of relevance because he can't behave, nor will he be the last.

Derek Sanderson did it 40 years ago. Dan Quinn did it 30 years ago. Kevin Stevens did it 20 years ago. This isn't something new, and those guys didn't have culture to blame.

Meh, the Cervenka contract has been met with a huge amount of skepticism up here, and rightly so - if he was that good, he'd already be over here. I'm very nervous he'll turn into Fabian Brunstromm v.2.0.

I'm digging the thinly-veiled Roenick comparison!

What stereotype does Pavel Datsyuk belong to? If you're good enough and you're not a moron, you transcend stereotypes.

I'm not going to feel sympathetic for these guys. They make too much ****ing money for me to cry about their portrayal by the press. And I understand this is a sensitive topic for you, but I cannot stress this enough: I couldn't care less where he's from.

Oh, and add Pat Kane to the list of guys who are going to run themselves out of their prime. He's a certified scumbag who's going to drink himself out of superstardom.

idk, dude still seems to get it done on the ice. as much as i try to hate him, he's kind of a beast holding on to the puck, circling the perimeter, and then making a great pass to someone wide open. if he ever decides to take the game as seriously as someone like Toews then lookout. dude might be a drunk, a goof, and a scumbag, but he can sure puck.

but either way this story is hilarious:

That's because the media had it out to get those two to begin with. They were young, private, and didn't want to give quotes so the media hated them. Perhaps Grind can speak to this more but I don't think the Chicago media shared the same dislike for Kane and Steeg as Philly's did with Richards and Carter. Also, narratives sell columns and 'hey, they partied too much and now are gone' is a pretty easy write.

Context isn't the point. If Radulov and Kostitsyn are in that limo, the same pictures surface on the same blogs, etc., there's no way they get a virtual pass like Versteeg and Kane did. Sure, going out in Vancouver in January isn't as bad as the night before a playoff game, but I think you're fooling yourself if you think the media doesn't blow it out of proportion if it's Radulov and Kostitsyn.

72o, just watch. That honeymoon is nearing its end.

Yup, it'll be the drinking that takes down Kane as he naturally ages.

lol cwice!

the media was out to get Wet Island?
the media was out to get 2 guys nobody really cares about in Nashville?
the media made Trotz suspend them for the 2nd game?

this is pathetic...

there are a few columnists who have pushed the trade kane agenda, but none of those guys actually cover the team and nobody really takes them seriously

Yup, the "Richards and Carter too drunk" and "bad leaders" which was what "got them traded" stuff came directly from the team.

Carter's too dumb to give any worthwhile quotes anyways. I guess the way he handled the CBJ trade was also an unfair portrayal? Because nothing says "I'm a stand-up guy" like refusing to report to your new team until you're coerced by your agent to address the situation publicly. Having said that, with that in mind I'll give Richards credit, because he faced the music about as well as anyone could've expected, given that fallout.

But sometimes idiots are actually idiots, douchebags are actually douchebags, and a spade is a actually spade. I don't think I'm being unreasonable here.

This is a mighty large assumption that avoids the real issue at play: supplementary discipline makes it a story. Kane didn't get a virtual pass after the cab incident. Why? Because there were repercussions.