On Sat, 28 Jan 1995, Mike Machnik wrote:
 
> George Politis writes:
> >Over the past several years, I've been noticing a trend in players taking
> >dives to draw penalties.  A player will either lay down as if he was
> >unconscious or writhe around wildly to draw as much of a penalty as he can.
> >Then the team trainer will be brought to the ice, delaying the flow of the
> >game, the player will get up-get the obligatory applause- then be out
> >on the ice next shift skating his butt off.
> ...
> >Following one of the
> >Vermont goals, Askew of RPI crosschecked #10 Perrin (sp?) of Vermont, if
> >you could call it a crosscheck.  From where I was sitting it didn't look
> >bad at all.  Askew got a 5 minute major, and after around a 3 minute delay,
> >play began.  Roughly 2 minutes later, Perrin was back out, with his
> >dynamic-duo twin #8 St. Louis (sp?), playing up a storm.
>
> OK, I think we've got a couple of different things here.  First, dives
> do happen, and sometimes the referee doesn't realize it and makes the
> call.  He shouldn't, but hey, some players should also be up for an
> Academy Award.
>
> However, I have also noticed that some folks seem to think that if a
> major is going to be called, the player who drew the penalty had
> better be seriously hurt - at least enough not to return to the ice
> before the penalty is up (eye for an eye thinking, I suppose).  This is
> not the case.  A major can be called for many different infractions
> where the referee thinks the action was serious enough to warrant a
> major rather than a minor.  Injury to the recipient of the hit doesn't
> have to be part of the equation.
>
> As for players being down and even attended to by a trainer, and then
> returning almost immediately to play - and play well...I have seen up
> close enough situations where the player *was* somehow injured but was
> able to carry himself on his own drive and adrenalin to just get the
> job done.  Then he really feels it later, in the hotel room after the
> game.  Think of how many guys you see coming out of the locker room
> carrying ice and you never even realized they were hurt.  During the
> game, it is your job to put it all aside, if you are able, and do
> what it takes to get the team a win...especially when you are a player
> who is as key to his team's success as Perrin is to UVM.  (With the
> way Vermont has struggled, maybe he should try to get hit more often.)
>
> Sure, it's possible Perrin was playing it up a bit.  I don't know, I
> didn't see the game...I do realize that occasionally it happens.  But
> in general, I sure wouldn't say that if a player is down and attended
> to by the trainer, then skates off and returns to play well, then he
> must have been acting.  There are a lot of things we can't know about
> what effect it really did have on him, because we aren't in his skates.
>
> Something that really annoys me - and I am not referring to George
> here - is when a player is down and REALLY hurt, and the fans boo and
> yell for him to quit acting and get up.  If you are a member of a home
> crowd, and want the other team to come out fired up and take it out on
> your team, this is one of the quickest ways to do it...the opponents
> will thank you later when they've won the game. :-)
> ---                                                                   ---
> Mike Machnik                                            [log in to unmask]
> Cabletron Systems, Inc.                                    *HMM* 11/13/93
>
 
 
I would like to comment on this little ditty here, and especially the
Eric Perrin comment.  Naturally, I have a high interest in Catamount
hockey, and this one caught my eye. I do have to say that I've seen Perrin play, and in no way has he ever led me to
believe that he would pull something like that. He is as tough as they
come in hockey, and he, like a great deal many others, play hard and will
put the team before themselves.
 
Yes, I do believe that there are some players out there who will take
dives just to draw penalties, but I have to believe that the orders come
from the coach, not their own minds. Nowadays, if a coach sees that his
team is playing with either a lack of emotion or execution or just is out
of the game entirely, occasionally a dive will be ordered, to give his
team an advantage and help them wake up. But I know for a fact that Vermont
was well in control of the game. Another thing, there was some question
as to whether or not Askew even deserved a penalty at all. Well, folks,
when a player whacks an opponent in the back with his stick
intentionally, and does so immediately after said opponent scored a goal,
that deserves a major. Even if Perrin was fine moments after, his health
isn't the question. The point I'm making here is that it happened after
the whistle, much like a late hit in football. It was a childish,
unprovoked attack made simply because the criminal was upset his team was
losing. Poor sportsmanship, if you ask me. And we have to believe, after
examining the incident, that yes, at that moment of impact, Askew was
trying to seriously injure Perrin because he was upset, plain and simple.
 
I do think that dives are indeed part of the game, and they're here to
stay, whether we like it or not. They do take something from the game,
some of the purity of sport, but at the same time, from the fans' point
of view, going to a game is entertainment, and dives are an added effect.
I think that officials should start recognizing dives more as blatant
attempts to draw an unwarranted infraction. If an official sees what he
or she believes to be a dive, with no wrongdoing, the official should let
play continue as before.  Dives are an unwanted part of the game by some
of us purists out there, and I have to believe that some of us are hockey
officials. So, brothers and sisters, let's get it together. Don't reward
a player for taking a dive, especially if you know it was a dive, or if
you perceive it as a dive...if it was, or you think it was, let play
continue, and don't worry about what the coaches have to say. You do your
job, officials, and let the players play and let the coaches coach, and
don't be pushed around by 'em.
 
Again, I know Perrin would not take a dive just for the sake of a
penalty, but I know there are a great many out there that would, of their
own accord or acting on coaches orders.  Of course, if the second
instance is the case, you cannot fault the players. If they want to
continue playing, they will abide by the coaches rules. If you are given
an order, you follow it. So, the fault here lies not with the players at
all, but with the coaches, and because they are good and they win, even
if a coach calls for dives a lot, and is suspect in his game plan, he
will stick around, and there's nothing we can do about it, except call
the NCAA and the NHL and every other league out there en masse and get
the word out that their fans are sick of seeing dives in the games that
they pay good money to go see.
 
 
________________________________________________________________________________
Kenny St. Louis    |Dynamic Duo  | "Thomas has it, up to Larkin, across to
GO CATS!!!!!!!     |Strikes Again| Perrin, over to St. Louis waiting at the
[log in to unmask] |"Cats Romp"  | blue line, St. Louis fires, HE SCORES!!"
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