Honestly, I don't care that Jesse Martin says it was a clean hit.  The 
WCHA disagreed, and watching it, I side with the WCHA.  Malone (and, 
yes, I know it was him; my point was that the announcers seemed to avoid 
discussing these sorts of things) was, at best, grossly reckless in 
hitting him when it was apparent that Martin's head was down.

As for who would watch it, the answer is those of us who do not derive 
enjoyment from watching athletes give each other brain damage.  In this 
particular case, though, the problem is that one team in the league 
consistently crosses the line.  As far as I can tell, that team's fans 
live in complete denial about the problem, but those of every other team 
in the league have noticed and view them appropriately.

On 3/28/2011 8:08 AM, Gregg Jensen wrote:
> Just so you know, Jesse Martin was checked by Malone, not Frattin and Jesse Martin called it a clean hit. I suppose we could go the way of women's hockey and outlaw checking but then who's going to watch it?
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: - Hockey-L - The College Hockey Discussion List [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of J. Michael Neal
>
>
> What bothered me a lot more happened tonight during the North
> Dakota/Denver game, though off the ice.  It disturbs me that the
> announcers managed to have an extended discussion about Matt Frattin's
> character without once mentioning the name Kevin Wehrs.  They also
> talked about what an inspiration Jesse Martin has been to Denver since
> suffering multiple fractures in his neck in October without ever even
> hinting at how those fractures happened.  As some folks know, I've
> switched my primary rooting interest to the Minnesota women's team, and
> followed women's hockey much more intently this year than I did the
> men's.  There were a lot of factors that led to this, most of them
> involving off-ice aspects of the game.  However, the WCHA's complete
> refusal to step in and do anything to rein in North Dakota before they
> seriously hurt someone was a part of the decision process.  The Sioux
> are out of control, and before any of there fans accuse me of Gopher
> bias, it isn't just us.  Your team has sufficiently disgusted a number
> of Minnesota-Duluth fans that I know that they actually celebrate when
> the Gophers beat you.  That takes a lot of doing, but you have
> accomplished it.
>