Why Laraque might get a huge suspension

Monday, November 23, 2009 | Feedback | Print Entry

Let me start this edition of the Monday10 by telling you that I use one of those space-aged composite sticks  just like the NHL stars  when I lace 'em up with senior league legends Dave Nichols and Chet Lawson. Having said that; I can tell you that I still respect wood.

With that quick nod to Larry David, here's the Monday 10.

1. NHL will send a message to Laraque: I'm pretty, pretty sure that Montreal Canadiens winger Georges Laraque will be suspended by the league for initiating the knee-to-knee collision with Detroit Red Wings defenseman Niklas Kronwall, who'll be sidelined for four-to-eight weeks with a sprained MCL in his left knee as a result of the reckless play. Hey, things happen fast in a hockey game. But you can't stick your leg out every time a guy goes around you. If the league wants to clean up these types of plays, they can send a message by tagging Laraque with a double-digit suspension.

 
 

To read about how the Red Wings will fare without Kronwall, an emerging super-skilled Blues player and one game you absolutely cannot miss, you must be an ESPN Insider.
  • E.J. Hradek E.J. Hradek

    E.J. Hradek is a senior writer at ESPN The Magazine, joining the staff prior to its launch in 1998. He began covering hockey as a writer/editor for Hockey Illustrated in 1989. The following year, he beat the Stars to Dallas (by three years), taking over as the editor of Beckett Hockey Monthly. When the Stars finally did arrive in Big D, he hosted a weekly hockey radio show and tried (unsuccessfully) to convert ESPN's Skip Bayless to the greatest game on ice.

    In 1996, Hradek left Dallas, but not the Stars. Relocating back to the New York area, he became a part-time pro scout for the club, seeing more than 100 NHL/AHL games for each of the next two seasons. The scouting gig was a great learning experience, offering a different view of the game.

    Hradek grew up in Tuckahoe, N.Y., about a 40-minute train ride from New York City. Despite the proximity to the Rangers, Hradek embraced the Islanders when the expansion franchise debuted in 1972. Eight years later, he was part of the sellout crowd at the Nassau Coliseum that witnessed the Islanders' first Stanley Cup championship.


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