Ben Eager of Oilers charged with assault after Toronto pub fight

21 Oct
2012

The most disturbing thing about Edmonton Oilers winger Ben Eager getting charged with assault early Saturday morning in Toronto? The repeated use of "doorman" in the media coverage.

While technically correct, the preferred nomenclature is likely "bouncer" or "entrance manager." In fact, Leslie Mann used "doorman" as a pejorative in "Knocked Up" after Craig Robinson refused her entry into a club. ("I can't let you in cause you're old … for this club, not, you know, for the Earth.")

OK, perhaps the above is the second most-disturbing thing, ranking right behind a professional athlete getting himself (and his brother) charged in a bar-related altercation.

From the Edmonton Journal:

According to CityTV in Toronto, a fight broke out inside The Quail Pub in the Rosedale area and carried on outside, where Eager and his brother were charged with assault, assault causing bodily harm, and assault with a weapon against a doorman at the bar.

The doorman suffered cuts to his face and was taken to hospital in an ambulance.

"Assault with a weapon"? Oh dear, please tell us Eager didn't mistake the bouncer for an HD camera:

Details on the incident are rolling in ...

More details from City News:

Jennine Lombardo, general manager at The Quail and Firkin Pub, told CityNews the fight began inside the bar and then moved outdoors. The doorman allegedly had to hold up a patio chair to shield himself from the attack.

"We are used to dealing with young professionals. Last night stopped staff dead in their tracks and is not typical of what happens at our establishment. Once the fight started, service ended immediately. Our staff was in shock. And we are concerned for our door man who was brutally attacked and hurt," said Lombardo.

Eager signed a 3-year deal with the Oilers last summer, playing 63 games of truculent hockey with them last season. He joins such luminaries as Joe Thornton in the 'NHLers involved in bar fights' club. (Although not Eric Lindros; thanks, Snopes!)

No word on any possible jail time for Eager; although we might know someone that wouldn't mind being face-to-face with only a pane of glass separating them on visitation day ...

Tags: assault causing bodily harm, Ben Eager, bouncer, Craig Robinson, , , Leslie Mann, , , , , pub, ,
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Robin Lehner gets ejected for goalie fight, Binghamton Senators blow 5-0 lead, lose in OT (VIDEO)

20 Oct
2012

Binghamton Senators goaltender Robin Lehner is no stranger to dropping the blocker and the glove and scrapping with an opponent. His fiery temper has given us some memorable moments over the past few years.

On Saturday night, Lehner added another fight to his belt taking on Riku Helenius of the Syracuse Crunch while the Senators enjoyed a comfortable 5-0 second period lead. Here's the entire brouhaha, thanks to HockeyFights.com:

For his trouble, Lehner ended up with a game misconduct and was ejected with 10:30 left in the second period. In came Nathan Lawson, and that's when things fell apart. Syracuse would score twice in the second period, three times in the third and then Richard Panik potted home the overtime winner to complete the stunning comeback.

After the game, Senators head coach Luke Richardson hoped his netminder could keep his temper under control in the future, something that was provoked by some crease crashing by the Crunch. From the Binghamton Press & Sun Bulletin:

"I think there's always excitement when goalies fight but he's here to stop the puck and that's what he did well in the first half of the game. He's a fiery guy but he has to manage that and we have to help him manage that. We have to keep guys away from slamming into him."

The gamesheet, as you would imagine, is quite long (hey, a Hugh Jessiman sighting!) and as you'll see, the entire game was chippy with 152 penalty minutes handed out in total.

Stick-tap Raw Charge

Follow Sean Leahy on Twitter at @Sean_Leahy

Tags: Binghamton Senators, fiery temper, , , goalie, , , , Richard Panik, Riku Helenius, Robin Lehner, Senators, Syracuse Crunch,
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Agent not confirming injury to Browns’ Fujita (Yahoo! Sports)

15 Oct
2012
CLEVELAND (AP) -- Scott Fujita may have another fight to win.
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Line brawl starts with goalie getting Lucic’d, nearly ends with penalty box fight (VIDEO)

11 Oct
2012

The Sheffield Spartans and the Trafford Metros play in the NIHL North 1 Ice Hockey League over in the UK. In a Sept. 30 game, they engaged in a line brawl to end the second period of an eventual 8-1 win for the Spartans.

What it lacked in punches, it made up for in sheer weirdness.

To wit:

• The fight is sparked by a solid Lucic'ing of the Trafford goalie, which leads to a scrum that features a lot of jersey tugging. Then a Trafford player seems to realize, "Hey, maybe there should be some fighting in this fight," and tosses a few punches.

• The opposing goalie sprints across the ice for some more jersey tugging and dancing, leading the Trafford goalie to give the "why are you picking on me?" hands of frustration to the linesman as they break it up.

• About 1:31 in, this line brawl pretty much sucks. And then we cut to center ice, where two players have broken off from the pack and are going at it. The Trafford player rabbit-punches the Sheffield player's sides, and then delivers a DDT on the ice. A DDT!

• Then things get awkward: The Sheffield player gets up and bull rushes his foe into the open penalty box, as the on-ice officials call for the door to be closed. We have to say, this is a rather novel way to end a fight: Delivering your opponent into his own sin bin. It's like a casket match in the WWE.

• The remaining 29 seconds of the period were tacked onto the third. Despite sparking the line brawl by running the opposing goalie, the Spartans were given a 5-minute power play because the Trafford coach and a player both left their bench.

Tags: brawl, , goalie, Ice, Ice Hockey League, jersey, , penalty box, , Sheffield Spartans, Trafford, Trafford Metros
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Four LIU Brooklyn players involved in brawl will serve only two-game suspensions

08 Oct
2012

The fight that appeared to threaten LIU Brooklyn's bid to repeat as Northeast Conference champs may turn out to be less devastating than first expected.

NEC player of the year Julian Boyd and teammates Jamal Olaswere, Troy Joseph and C.J. Garner were each reinstated Monday after being suspended from school last month as a result of their role in a Sept. 15 brawl at an on-campus party.

All four players will be suspended for the first two conference games of the NEC season against Sacred Heart on Jan. 3 and Quinnipiac on Jan. 5. The university has also placed the four players on probation, which requires they participate in an anger management program, undergo counseling and perform community service.

That the two-game suspension occurs at the start of the league season rather than during non-conference play appears to be an attempt by the LIU administration to make the penalty at least somewhat meaningful. Boyd is the the team's best player and Olasewere and Garner were the Blackbirds' second and third leading scorers last season, so will be difficult for LIU Brooklyn to win either road game in their absence.

At the same time, a two-game suspension, however ill-timed, doesn't torpedo the Blackbirds' season the way a longer one could have. Even if they start 0-2 in NEC play, they'll still have a chance to contend with Wagner and Robert Morris for the league title and they'll still be at full strength during the conference tournament.

The incident that led to the suspension took place at a welcome-back party for students on the LIU Brooklyn campus. Nobody sustained serious injuries in the fight, but the four players were arraigned on assault charges and suspended from school prior to Monday's announcement.

Predictably, the four players were relieved by the school's decision.

Tweeted Olasewere, "God is good! Thank you!"

Tags: brawl, C.J. Garner, , Jamal Olaswere, Julian Boyd, LIU Brooklyn, LIU Brooklyn players, , Olasewere, , , , Troy Joseph
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Henrik Zetterberg takes flight for Switzerland as NHLPA fights on

08 Oct
2012

Henrik Zetterberg of the Detroit Red Wings has been one of the most active players on the NHLPA negotiating team (at least in public) and a player that had been treating a European departure as a unfavorable option for the last month.

On Monday, EV Zug in Switzerland announced that Zetterberg had signed for the duration of the lockout. Uh-oh.

From Helene St. James of the Freep:

Zetterberg, who turns 32 on Tuesday, said as late as last week that he wasn't eager to go anywhere. During the lockout in 2004-05, he played for his old club in Sweden. But that wasn't an option this time around because he has $50 million left on his contract, requiring heavy insurance.

He said he'd only consider a place in Europe where neither the insurance nor the taxes would be devastating. He found the answer with Zug, home to Red Wings signee Damien Brunner and Montreal Canadiens defenseman Raphael Diaz.

Well, at the very least, Season 2 of Fake Henrik Zetterberg will to increase its travel budget.

JJ from Winging It looks at the bright side:

It's hard to argue with this. Zetterberg has been very active for the NHLPA's player negotiating committee. The fact that he's planning to head overseas now doesn't bode well for negotiations. The bright side is that he'll get time to get acquainted with new Red Wings signing Damien Brunner. It will be interesting to see the dynamic of the two, as both are known for a propensity to shoot the puck.

Zetterberg's decision is a little discomforting.

Like Danny Briere of the Philadelphia Flyers, he's a player that didn't want to take the European option, seemingly casting it as a last resort. Now, they've both left in the span of a week.

Like Briere, Zetterberg has been staunchly supportive of the players in their battle against the owners — despite that "PEACE" shirt from the New York presser. From Nick Cotsonika, back on Sept. 13:

"We have to take this fight," Zetterberg said. "It's not just for the guys who are playing now. It's for the guys that are not playing in the league, the guys coming in, all the guys that's done this before. Now it's our turn to kind of fight for the next generation. You have to make that fight. Whatever it takes, it will take."

Even if it takes going to Europe.

From a players' perspective, this is yet another key name leaving for Europe, another harbinger of doom that portends that the lockout will be lengthy.

But ask those sympathetic to the NHL, and they'll wonder if the players are simply following marching orders from Donald Fehr -- a show of solidarity and a negotiating tactic.

No matter your feelings, one thing's certain: The NHL and the NHLPA are both waiting on Sidney Crosby's decision for Europe. Because that's when the traditional sports media in the U.S. takes notice, and the Canadian media goes apoplectic.

Tags: Damien Brunner, , , Henrik Zetterberg, , , NHLPA, , , Red Wings, Wings
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Colts will get CHUCKSTRONG to support Chuck Pagano and leukemia research

04 Oct
2012
by in Fantasy Football, General

#CHUCKSTRONG is already a popular hashtag on Twitter, but the campaign of support for Indianapolis Colts head coach Chuck Pagano is about to get a lot more visible.

Pagano was recently diagnosed with leukemia, and the Colts organization, through its CHUCKSTRONG campaign, is giving fans an opportunity to show their support for Pagano and help in the fight against leukemia.

CHUCKSTRONG T-shirts will go on sale Friday at the Colts Pro Shop. They'll be $20 and proceeds will benefit leukemia research. CHUCKSTRONG wristbands will be distributed outside of Colts games for a suggested donation of $1. Proceeds, again, go to leukemia research. CHUCKSTRONG posters will be available to those who give blood at the CHUCKSTRONG blood drive and at Indianapolis area Huntington Banks. More information on all of that, plus collection campaigns at Lucas Oil Stadium, is available here at the Colts website.

The campaign is inspired by Lance Armstrong's LIVESTRONG campaign, which supports the fight against cancer, partially through the familiar, omnipresent yellow LIVESTRONG wristbands. The Colts are asking fans to wear their CHUCKSTRONG bracelets all throughout the season, as Pagano takes time away from the team to recuperate.

The Colts face the Packers this weekend at Lucas Oil Stadium at 1 p.m. ET.

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Tags: campaign, , CHUCKSTRONG, , , Colts Pro Shop, , , leukemia research, LIVESTRONG, , ,
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Derek Boogaard lawsuit; NHL and collusion; playing fake seasons (Puck Headlines)

27 Sep
2012

Here are your Puck Headlines: a glorious collection of news and views collected from the greatest blogosphere in sports and the few, the proud, the mainstream hockey media.

• So say we all. Via Kyle Delaney.

• The NHLPA and NHL aren't just meeting on Friday in New York City — they have meetings scheduled throughout the weekend. Keep Hope Alive! [NYDN]

• The NHL in Kansas City responds to the NHL cancelling their annual preseason game because of the lockout. In, uh, a very cheeky way. [NHLKC]

• The Florida Panthers announced their season ticket plan this week: "Fans purchasing the 'Pay When We Play' ticket plan can put $100 down and not make another payment until the start of the 2012-13 Panthers regular season." [Panthers]

• Adam Proteau offers an 11-point plan for a 7-year CBA settlement between the owners and players, including a ban on no-trade clauses and a seven-year cap on contracts. [THN]

• Because it hasn't been pushing an agenda of concussion awareness and NHL negligence for the better part of three years, the New York Times reports that a lawsuit from the late Derek Boogaard's family could "shake up" the hockey world. [NYT]

• Michael Grange had this take on the Boogaard suit: "Those are the larger legal questions the Boogaards seem intent on exploring. Their lawyer did not respond to a message and efforts to reach the family weren't successful, but the claim is clear that the failure of the NHLPA to file a grievance is a procedural matter that has prevented them from pushing a bigger boulder up the legal hill." [Sportsnet]

• Nicklas Lidstrom says he knows there's interest in him becoming a coach in Sweden. "No one has come out and said, 'We want you to coach or be an assistant coach,' but I've had teams ask me what I would want to do." [NHL.com]

• Alex Ovechkin takes his lumps in the KHL. [Alex Ovetjkin]

• New Toronto Marlies player Leo Komarov causes a stir by choosing No. 87, and thereby challenging the legacy of both Donald Brashear and Pierre Turgeon. [CP]

• Elliotte Friedman had a must-read on NHL collusion: "But is Devellano's comment proof enough for Fehr to file a grievance or take it to an outside court? Does he try to use the threat of it as leverage in CBA negotiations? Is the NHL even worried about it, ready to argue that it was simply an off-the-cuff comment not to be taken seriously?" [CBC Sports]

• Don Cherry doesn't want NHLers to take overseas players' jobs, and said so on Twitter. [PHT]

• Daniel Wagner laments the termination of the preseason: "A big part of the preseason is watching prospects attempting to prove to their team's management that they're good enough to make the big club. Most of them aren't good enough and they won't make it. In their case, the preseason is the only time they'll get to wear an NHL jersey. Admit it, it's fun to see your team's prospects in your team's colours. It's fun for them as well." [Backhand Shelf]

• Tampa Bay Lightning goalie Anders Lindback heads to Europe to field some offers. [Lightning Strikes]

• Tapeleg on the CBA: "The notion that the owners will win no matter what, and the players should give in, is ridiculous.  You don't back down from a fight just because it seems inevitable.  The players used up their silly gamesmanship like going to the Quebec Labor Board to try and get the lockout nullified.  Now it's time to dig in, man up, and do the job.  The players caved the last time, mostly because the fight at the time wasn't a winning battle, and somewhat because the NHLPA executives gave up.  But this is a fight worth fighting.  And yes, even if it costs the season." [Tapeleg]

• Alix Kunkle on the lockout: "The NHL could lose the entire season again because our players and owners, who make more in a week than some towns do in a year, want even more money, but I don't think anyone would even notice. The owners and players are leaving the people who care the most — the fans — in the cold and dark." [Leesville Leader]

• In which JP (for the owners) and Rob (for the players) drink beer and attempt to fix the NHL lockout. [Japers' Rink]

• Wyatt from the Legion of Blog is doing a Fake Canucks Season, following games and analyzing the news that might have been. [Legion of Blog]

Andrew Williams is also covering a faux season, for the Carolina Hurricanes on ye olde Xbox. [NC Sports Buzz]

• Meanwhile, Black Blue and Gold blog is casting the 2012-13 Buffalo Sabres Faux Season as a sitcom. [BBG]

• Pegasus News has obtaining the agenda for Friday's meeting with the NHL and NHLPA. "6:46-6:50pm: Silence, Throat-Clearing and Awkward Tie-Straightening." [Pegasus News]

• Finally, here's Mayor's Manor talking with Marty McSorely about the NHL lockout. We're big fans of how the logo behind him makes it look like he's wearing pirate earrings.

Tags: , Derek Boogaard, , , , , , NHLPA,
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Four LIU Brooklyn players suspended as a result of on-campus fight

21 Sep
2012

A fight involving four members of the LIU Brooklyn basketball team could complicate the Blackbirds' hopes of repeating as Northeast Conference champs this year.

LIU basketball players C.J. Garner, Julian Boyd, Troy Joseph, and Jamal Olasewere were charged with third-degree assault Thursday as a result of a weekend skirmish at an on-campus party, News 12 in Brooklyn reported late Thursday night. Boyd is the reigning NEC player of the year and Olasewere and Garner are the Blackbirds' second and third leading scorers.

A university spokesman confirmed Friday that the players have been suspended pending an appeals process that could take up to two weeks. The spokesman also refuted a report the fight involved three male and two female members of the school's track and field team, calling that inaccurate.

The arrests come at a time of unprecedented success for the LIU Brooklyn basketball program. The Blackbirds have won back-to-back NEC regular season and conference tournament titles, falling to North Carolina and Michigan State in the opening round of the NCAA tournament.

The return of Boyd, Olasewere, Garner and point guard Jason Brickman made LIU Brooklyn an early favorite in the NEC next season despite losing their head coach over the offseason.

If the four suspended players don't miss many games, an NEC three-peat is still very much a possibility for the Blackbirds. If this drags into conference play, it could be to the advantage of fellow contenders Wagner and Robert Morris.

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Tags: , Blackbirds, C.J. Garner, , Jamal Olasewere, Julian Boyd, LIU Brooklyn basketball team, LIU Brooklyn players, , , spokesman, ,
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Mike Rice will rappel down 470-foot building for good cause

20 Sep
2012

The fight against cancer has already taken Mike Rice to the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C., earlier this month.

Now it will also bring the Rutgers coach to the top of a New Jersey skyscraper.

Rice will rappel down the exterior of a 50-story building in Jersey City on Sept. 28 as part of the American Cancer Society's "Over the Edge" event. The building Rice chose is the 470-foot Harborside Financial Center Plaza 5, which will take about 20-30 minutes to descend unaccompanied.

"Cancer touches everyone," Rice said in a statement released by the school. "In my time working with Coaches versus Cancer, I have been inspired by many wonderful people fighting this terrible disease. As such, I have said that I would do anything in the fight against cancer. Put up or shut up. I'm putting up. Up high, actually."

Descending down a building is the most high-risk way Rice has raised money for cancer research and prevention, but it's certainly not the first time he has contributed to the cause.

Rice is heavily involved in Coaches vs. Cancer and hosts an annual dinner at Rutgers each November to raise awareness and funds. In March, he was named to the NABC Coaches vs. Cancer National Council. Last week, he attended the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network Leadership Summit and Lobby Day in Washington, D.C., and was part of a rally at the Capitol Building to underscore the need for greater funding for cancer research.

So far "Over the Edge" had generated $232,000 for the cause. Any money donated in support of Rice will go to the American Cancer Society.

Tags: , American Cancer Society, cancer research, Capitol, cause, Coaches versus Cancer, , , Mike Rice, , rappel, society
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