Can You Say WAH

We would like to thank Pittsburgh Penguin Coach Michel Therrien for possibly doing more to force the NHL and their referees to address the issue of diving than anyone else has possibly done before.

Therrien in a rant during a press conference on Saturday actually did more to cause more questions about whether or not Sidney Crosby was a diver than resolving the issue. We can not blame Therrien for wanting to protect a major part of his coaching game plan.

During the post-practice press conference, Therrien went on what we will call a truly educational experience that we expect to come back to haunt him and his players.

“I’m kind of disappointed ... (Renney) tries to give attention to the referees and complaining about the penalty at the end of the game,” Therrien said, attempting to stay calm despite his frustrations with the Rangers bench boss.

Excuse us Coach but here is what Tom Renney actually said in the post game was:

Asked after the game about the controversial call, Renney remained silent for several seconds before finally saying: “I just answered it.”

The assembled media then repeated the question and this was Renney's second response: “Did you see it? Draw your own conclusion.”

We apologize to all of you reading this for not being able to figure out the secret code that Renney used to say all that Therrien accused Renney of doing. We tried contacting the FBI, CIA, USMC USAF, NSA and Homeland Security to release the secret code that said all that Therrien said Renney told the refs.

Ah but Therrien continues his rant: “We know what he is trying to do but I’m convinced the referee doesn’t buy into those things,” he continued.

Are we Coach? This is the second straight series where the opposing coach has been the one who has done all the public venting about the officiating. The Rangers for the most part have remained silent about the issue.

Still there is more from Therrien: As for the criticism aimed at Crosby, Therrien replied: “Why don’t we give credit to guys who play in traffic? Who will get shots? They never saw the shot in (Crosby’s) face in the first period by (Sean) Avery.

Or how about that the Refs saw the shot and did not think it was a penalty? Maybe you need to do a better job at providing a force field so nobody comes within 3 feet of Crosby to touch him.

It does not help Crosby's cause when videos like this one make the rounds because of WHO is making this accusation:

When a Peter Forsberg is calling you a diver during a game then you are going to earn that reputation really quick. Last we checked Forsberg is one of the more respected players among his peers.

However here is where we think Therrien actually did more damage to his own team because of his own big mouth:

“Sometimes (Crosby) is going to draw penalties, sometime there is not going to be any penalty. But he’s going to keep going there.”

So Can we ask Therrien IF this was one of those in traffic calls then?

Now the NHL has got to show that they are impartial, that they are willing to call "diving" even on a player of Crosby's stature. Now that Therrien has basically opened the door for every shift that Crosby has to be under a microscope because we believe the NHL is going to call Crosby for 'diving" now just to show that they do not protect or have special rules for certain players.

It does not help Crosby, the Penguins, or the NHL when Crosby is looked upon as a possible diver. Let us break "diving" down to the bottom line which is that it is cheating. Whether Crosby actually does dive or not; to have the "marquee" player in the NHL having whispers about his character hurts the NHL, it hurts Crosby and it takes away from what is a great talented player.

If anyone saw what Greg Wyshynski wrote at Yahoo called it perfectly when he said about what Therrien said: "strong enough that he may have actually just screwed his star player."

With Game 2 going to be shown on national television then now every single time someone goes near Crosby, every time Crosby is knocked off his feet or heck knowing NBC the subject of repeated debate.

We believe that the Refs are going to be so super sensitive that there will come times when Crosby is knocked down that he just might not get a call he deserves or even worse if it even looks suspect that he will be called for diving when he didn't just to show that the officials are being fair.

Ah wait we here want to be fair as we wish to show that Coach Therrien is right about how Crosby is being unfairly treated by Tom Renney because what we did not know that diving is part of the Penguin game plan or please tell us that Ryan Malone made a great HOCKEY play here



Oh and Coach we think we were as funny here as you were credible in trying to defend Crosby and attacking Renney.