There was plenty written about the Matt Bradley-Dan Carcillo “fight” over the weekend during the Caps’ 8-2 win at Philadelphia. The good folks at Japers’ Rink broke down the bout in style – complete with screen captures and examples of the Philadelphia media struggling to remain impartial. Bradley laid a clean hit on Carcillo – although his stick did come up and might have caught the Flyers forward. That happens all the time and doesn’t usually lead to a meltdown. But Carcillo responded poorly with a cross-check and then dropped Bradley with a punch just as the Caps forward tossed his gloves. That’s a big no-no in the NHL. Replays clearly show Carcillo’s fist already on the way as Bradley flings his gloves aside. He hit the ice a half-second after they did and left dazed and bleeding. Carcillo was given 29 penalty minutes total and the Caps scored three times on the ensuing nine-minute power play. He was also suspended for four games on Sunday by the NHL.
I was going to leave it alone. But then I got a chance to catch NHL Network’s “On the Fly” show late Sunday night and analyst Dave Reid’s opinions on the incident. Needless to say, I disagreed with just about everything he said. Fellow analyst Craig Button was far more measured. Not sure how many people saw the segment since it came on a slow day in the NHL. But here’s a complete transcript of Reid’s and Button’s thoughts. Since the brilliant folks at Fire Joe Morgan only blog about baseball – and not even that anymore – I did my best imitation of them on hockey. Reid’s comments deserve to be skewered by someone.
Dave Reid:
“I think it’s a tough play for Matt Bradley on this one. You’re going to give Dan Carcillo four games? Matt Bradley if he didn’t want to fight – which it’s obvious with everybody saying he didn’t – should have skated away. He initiates the hit. Carcillo doesn’t like it. I don’t mind a guy saying ‘Come on, let’s go. You want to hit me? Then you’re going to pay a price for that.’”
Wait, he’s not talking about them playing hockey here, right? Because they allow hitting in that sport. Or used to. Did Bettman ban hitting after the lockout? He might have, actually.
“Well, Bradley if he didn’t want to fight, I think should have skated away. Instead, Bradley faces him and starts maybe chirping him?”
Absolutely. On the replay you can clearly see Bradley’s lips flap up and down once. Vicious stuff. I think he said “What are you doing, brosephus?”
“It’s very difficult to tell.”
No. It isn’t.
“The problem – I think Matt Bradley wanted to fight or was willing to get involved in a fight,
I hear you. Wait…what? Because two paragraphs above this one you said….I mean, those two sentences mean the exact opposite of each other…Time out – is Dave Reid playing mind games with me? I’m flustered now. This is a bit embarrassing.
but dropped his gloves a little too late.”
Definitely. At least a good half-second after Carcillo’s fist launches towards his jaw.
“Dan Carcillo is not a big guy. Everybody knows he’s a scrappy guy.”
Whooooaaaaahhhh….hold on everyone. The train is sliding off the rails now. 6-foot, 205 pounds (Carcillo) vs. 6-foot-3, 201 pounds (Bradley). Not exactly Floyd Mayweather, Jr. vs. Andre the Giant – if I may mix my boxers and my wrestlers and maybe even my metaphors.
“He’s not going to let Matt Bradley step up and drop the gloves and go ‘Okay, maybe let me get the first punch in?’ Unfortunately for Bradley he caught it on the chin.”
By “it” he means the sucker punch. Also – has Dave Reid seen Matt Bradley fight? If he doesn’t leave the ice dazed and bleeding it’s an upset.
“But four games to me seems a little tough. Maybe [Carcillo’s] history is going into it. But to me I think four games is a little steep.”
To steal a Bill Simmons joke – don’t mind if I do – Troy Aikman thinks Dave Reid is being too obvious here.
Craig Button:
“Well, you know – it’s a 1-1 hockey game at that point when Matt Bradley hits him. And Dan Carcillo gets the two minutes for cross-checking and the punch and the suspension is a result of what happened after.”
Troy Aikman nods.
“But you know – it’s a 1-1 hockey game. Take a number if you want to get back at him.”
Hmm…the train seems to have righted itself. Promising.
“But you already took a cross-checking penalty. I mean, hitting – it’s give and take. Like you know, take a hit, give a hit.”
Much like the famed “Give a penny, take a penny” concept – except with more pain.
“Nobody seems to be able to take a hit anymore without overreacting. And I call that an overreaction.”
Craig Button is dominating this segment.
Dave Reid:
“Well, it might be an overreaction. But at least [Carcillo] was the guy reacting.”
Oh, no! We’re off track again. Somebody cut to commercial.
“He didn’t have someone else – Scottie Hartnell or someone didn’t jump in and say ‘Oh, hey! You can’t hit my teammate.’ And that’s what you get a lot of times.”
I hate when teammates stand up for each other. That’s not why we watch hockey. It’s the pure individualism of the sport that moves me. If I wanted to see players “helping” teammates I’d watch the NBA. Wait…
“Carcillo’s saying ‘Hey, you can’t hit me.’ I have no problem with Carcillo saying ‘Let’s fight.’”
No, that was fine. It was actually just the quick punch that was uncool.
“Obviously, the league would prefer that both players ‘DROP THE GLOVES TOGETHER!’”
I bolded that last part of the sentence and put it in caps and italics for you, Dave – with it underlined and an exclamation point, too. De nada.
“In this situation Carcillo drops them first, got the first punch in and that was it.”
This is actually a fact. Well done.
Craig Button:
“But he took the cross-checking penalty first.”
Button continues his Aikman imitation. That guy cracks me up. Button – not Aikman. Please. The best part of this abysmal Redskins season is getting Fox’s No. 5 or No. 6 broadcast team almost every week.
Dave Reid:
“Well, he did and maybe Bradley realized that and said I’m not going to drop the gloves. But I still think Bradley’s got to protect himself a little more.”
A fact followed by a legitimate opinion? You, sir, are rolling!
“Especially with a guy like Carcillo. [Bradley is] not hitting Danny Briere. You don’t expect Briere to [strike back].”
Alex Ovechkin felt a sharp pain in his groin as he read that sentence and then called shenanigans.
“But you know – you expect Carcillo to do it.”
This is word-for-word what zoo keepers said last month after a deer accidentally jumped into the lions’ cage at the National Zoo. You know – right after the lions ate him.
“He’s got a history. Maybe this is why he got four [games].”
Aikman nods his head vigorously.
Now Reid is narrating on-screen highlights that include Carcillo unleashing total carnage on the ice. A butt end of the stick/punch to the head of Pittsburgh’s Max Talbot during Game 1 of the Eastern Conference playoffs last spring – during a faceoff! Earned a one-game suspension for that one. Also – while playing for the Phoenix Coyotes – Carcillo is shown punching Chicago’s Ben Eager during a fight with another Coyotes player. They were on the ice. Carcillo was actually just sitting on the bench. He was suspended two games. Reid does not blink during this highlights package.
Craig Button:
But I’ll throw something else out there. The way it’s going now you hit [and] you’re expected to have to fight. Matt Bradley may not want to fight, but he might think ‘Well, I have to fight. I hit him.’ Which is another problem. Hitting is going to be out of the game soon. [sarcastic]
Button just refuses to let the segment die. Even injects some – minimal – humor. Keep up the good fight, Craig. You’re doing work.
Dave Reid:
Hey, there were a lot of times when I played against guys like Rick Tocchet or Wendel Clark or Bob Probert – there were a lot of guys that you went to hit and they didn’t like it.
Reid just named three of the toughest players in NHL history. These guys routinely punched family members to keep their fighting skills sharp. Subtlety works better in a debate, Dave. It really does.
They were going to say “Let’s go.”
That’s “Let’s go” or “Let’s fight” No. 3 for Dave. He’s already over his quota for the segment.
And especially if you knock them down or embarrass them or something. They’re going to say “Let’s go.”
Oh, jeez.
Well, Dan Carcillo is the type of player he’s expected to generate momentum and you hit him he’s going to say “Let’s go.”
In baseball, when you strike out five times in one game isn’t it called the Golden Sombrero? Dave earned one tonight for that final “Let’s go.”
Well, he did and Bradley unfortunately – I don’t think Bradley was prepared for that part of it.
For a sucker punch? By rule you can’t be ready for one. The universe would implode.
That’s why I say he should have either hit [Carcillo] or got up and turned the other cheek, so to speak.
Pretty sure if Jesus laid a clean hit on Dan Carcillo and then “turned the other cheek” he’d be waking up moments later dazed and bleeding, too. Then again, in that case Carcillo would be facing an eternity in Hell and not just a four-game suspension.
I mean, unfortunately for Matt Bradley. But I think the history of Dan Carcillo that we watched is maybe the reason he got the extra games.
Aikman is asleep now. But he would totally applaud Dave Reid if he knew what he was talking about.
