The Fight (and other game thoughts)

[calgARI '07]

There is no debate over who won the fight.  It was totally initiated by Varteressian and he beat the crap out of Nickerson.  Nickerson has been arrested three times for assault, so rest assured, if he wanted to beat the crap out of Varteressian, he easily could have.   He was smart and didn't do anything and thus did not get the DQ.  If he was stupid and got the DQ, you can pretty much kiss Clarkson's chances at winning tomorrow good bye.  Now, the Clarkson team is totally fired up and are gonna fight hard tomorrow night.  If Cornell is winning by two or three goals in the third period, Nickerson will try to kill someone.  He is an outstanding hockey player, but he is a huge psycho with a really bad temper.  I am very concerned for the safety of the players tomorrow, especially if Cornell wins.  Things could get very ugly.  Not surprisingly Murphy was a huge factor in the game getting out of hand.  He should have tossed the guy for charging Moulson as the guy took about 20 steps and Moulson was being pinned against the boards - clearly attempt to injury.  Instead, Murphy sends them both to the box and thus encourages the behavior to continue.  The play where McKee's mask was torn off also should have been a DQ.  That is where things really got fired up.   It was bush league of Varteressian to fight Nickerson.  I was happy he did it, but it was still embarrassing.  There was no question that Varteressian deserved the DQ and Nickerson did not.  The team dominated tonight and could have won by a lot more if they didn't back off in the third period.  The best part is that the team scored five goals, none of which coming from the top line.  The Bitz-Iggulden-Knoefpli line sure looks like a keeper.  Tomorrow could be a very different game.  Clarkson is really pissed considering one of Cornell's worst players went after their best player.  I was pretty impressed and surprised to see Nickerson keep his composure and not fight back.  Must have taken a lot of will power.  Just a few minutes before, right after Nickerson's doubleminor ended, I saw Roll lean over Nickerson's shoulder on the bench to tell him not to do anything stupid or that will hurt the team.  He listened.  Traylen didn't play well tonight and I expect him to play much better tomorrow.  This series is not over by any means.  I predicted since the end of the regular season a Harvard-Cornell final and stand by it.  Experience is HUGE in the playoffs.

[jtwcornell91]

While complaining about the ridiculous (and tedious) fight-filled third period of AHL "hockey" (sorry Daina) I saw a couple of weeks ago, I've been pointing out that the severe penalties for fighting in college mean that when there's a fight, it means something.  Put another way, there are no gratuitous fights in college, only those where someone gets mad enough to forget, or worked up enough not to care, about the suspension.  Tonight's fight definitely sounded like the latter sort, Varteressian judging it was worth missing a game to do something about Nickerson.  And Nickerson was stuck with the choice of getting pounded or getting suspended.  Unfortunately he chose the former.

[aznxjz]

I agree with jtwcornell91...beind at the game, Nickerson was definitely hitting our guys with cheap shots, as was the rest of the Clarkson team (behind my red and white glasses).  The one hit I depise the most was at a faceoff, when one of the Clarkson guys jabbed a Cornell guy in the private area with his stick before the cornell guy got settled.  I felt that it was cheap on account of Clarkson.  Varteressian (i could've swore it was someone else, but I guess I'm wrong) definitely beat the hell out of Nickerson, but he didn't do much to defend himself in order to not get suspended.  After being separated he looked roughed up and responded to the crowd's taunts, which will earn him some cheers at tomorrow's game (I'm sure).  I also did see him spit on the ice (or "at us", rather)

Jacob

[Bio '04]

Nickerson was pissed even before the game.  He was definitely responding to the jeers during warmups.

There were few times I saw that Varteressian was knocked in the head plus another time when a Clarkson player had Varteressian's foot in between his legs and was not letting go.  Varteressian seems to have been staying out of the penalty box lately but I guess sometimes it is too much.  Good for him. :-)

LGR!!!

[Greg Berge]

Chris Rock said it best.  "Can't say I condone it but... I understand."

[jtwcornell91]

To elaborate, I really hate fights which are staged for the entertainment of the crowd, which is what you get with the pro hockey slap on the wrist.  A guy like Varteressian (or Burt) who's not in the lineup every night does in a sense get a "free" fight in the college system, but only one per season, or else the progressive suspensions add up.  So you pick your battles, and every fight means something.

[Pete Godenschwager]

[Q]He was definitely responding to the jeers during warmups.[/Q]

Apparently he had pucks thrown at him durning warmups as well from the stands. As Greg said, Can't condone it but....wouldn't mind seeing him getting knocked in the head.

[Komorowski]

Needless to say...but I'll still say it. If that throwing puck thing is true then we're just as bad or worse than a guy trying to lay 2 handers that could break someone's arm or wrist.

In a variation of the line from Starsky and Hutch "Don't Do It!"

[Cornell Fan]

[Q]Pete Godenschwager Wrote:
Apparently he had pucks thrown at him durning warmups as well from the stands. As Greg said, Can't condone it but....wouldn't mind seeing him getting knocked in the head. [/Q]
I don't know if there was something else I missed, but there was only 1 puck that was thrown onto the ice. During warmups, a Clarkson shot got deflected up into the stands in section A.  Someone ran over and got the puck and threw it back on the ice, and it hit one of the Clarkson players in the left glove, who then started complaining to the ref. Obviously I can't say what the person's intentions were when he threw it, but it definitely was not someone sitting in the stands with a bucket of pucks throwing them at Nickerson as the original post made it sound (I'm assuming you heard that from vicb on the uscho forum, because I remember reading the same thing there almost word-for-word last night).

[Lando Griffin]

I think that Nickerson could'nt have fought back anyways Varteressian had him pinned

[Pete Godenschwager]

[Q]I don't know if there was something else I missed, but there was only 1 puck that was thrown onto the ice. During warmups, a Clarkson shot got deflected up into the stands in section A. Someone ran over and got the puck and threw it back on the ice, and it hit one of the Clarkson players in the left glove, who then started complaining to the ref. Obviously I can't say what the person's intentions were when he threw it, but it definitely was not someone sitting in the stands with a bucket of pucks throwing them at Nickerson as the original post made it sound (I'm assuming you heard that from vicb on the uscho forum, because I remember reading the same thing there almost word-for-word last night).[/Q]

Ok, good, that makes more sense.  Glad to hear we're not that dumb.  From USCHO it did indeed sound as if somebody had a big bucket.  

[ben03]

leave it to vicb ::nut::  to make it sound that way ...

[CowbellGuy]

It's not like Nickerson was an innocent bystander doing his best impression of a punching bag. He did enough for Murphy to give him a double-minor for roughing. When there's a fight, there's a pretty fine line between a double roughing and fighting. His gloves were off and he probably would have thrown more if Varts didn't completely dominate. If this were regular season, it wouldn't matter as much, but letting him out there again tonight against the same team is probably a bad choice by Murphy. Hopefully not a regrettable choice, but we'll find out soon enough.

[calgARI '07]

Age, I disagree.  Nickerson was showing as much restraint as he possibly could.  This guy could have fought back and really beaten the crap out of Varteressian.  His gloves were off and two were in an altercation so Murphy had to give him some penalties.  I saw Roll talking to Nickerson right before that shift, and judging by Roll's hand motions and facial expressions, he was telling Nickerson not to do anything stupid.  Nickerson did not fight because he knew he wouldn't be able to play tonight.  I am almost totally sure of it.  The guy is a total psychopath and there is would be no reason for him not to go crazy if he were receiving punches other than it costing him the last game of his season (hopefully).

[Tub(a)]

[Q]calgARI '07 Wrote:

 Age, I disagree.  Nickerson was showing as much restraint as he possibly could.  This guy could have fought back and really beaten the crap out of Varteressian.  His gloves were off and two were in an altercation so Murphy had to give him some penalties.  I saw Roll talking to Nickerson right before that shift, and judging by Roll's hand motions and facial expressions, he was telling Nickerson not to do anything stupid.  Nickerson did not fight because he knew he wouldn't be able to play tonight.  I am almost totally sure of it.  The guy is a total psychopath and there is would be no reason for him not to go crazy if he were receiving punches other than it costing him the last game of his season (hopefully). [/Q]

If he was as innocent as you claim, he would have crossed his arms in front of his face and went down to the ice. He looked like he would have taken a swing if V didn't knock him down so quickly.