"The Code"

[jmatchett]

So, in last night's Flyers' game, there was a lot of talk about the fighting code. For those of you who missed it:

Rinaldo and Crombeen bump and decide to fight. The dance for a little, then Rinaldo gets a clean shot off to Crombeen who starts to go down to his knees. While he's on his knees and starting to fall, Rinaldo lands a second punch to the back of his head. Crombeen was dazed and left the game, did not return.

Later in the game, Lecavalier challenges Talbot and they start to go. Eventually, Talbot goes down. While he's laying on his back, Lecavalier punches him straight down in the face.

So, the question that was raised was: Did Rinaldo break the code, and if so, was Lecavalier right in what he did? If you believe in the code, there's no doubt that Lecavalier broke it. But, if can be justified if he was doing it in retaliation, believing that Rinaldo did as well. Personally, I feel that until the guy is down, he has a chance to get back to his skates and can therefore turn the fight around and beat you. However, it seemed that Crombeen was on his way down, it was fairly clear he wasn't staying on his skates. What are your thoughts? Where does a player have to be for "the code" to come into play?

[centrehice]

The code of fighting is this:

If you are the size of Gerbe, and you are jumped, that is the only way you hit somebody while they are Prone. On the way down is a different thing.

If you both decide to dance and your punch puts the other guy prone, and laying on the ice, you should not hit him again, you've got the decision. Now if he slips and goes down, even less reason to hit him.

2 Reasons only for hitting a guy while he is down and both must be covered.....

1. Twice Your Size
2. And He Jumped You

If the goon fulfills these 2 categories, he should be beaten senseless.

[mooneyes]

Watch Chara if you want to see the code, an honorable one imho,...whenever some fool decides to "try" and fight him, he usually just wrestles the opponent, who is just holding on for dear life, to the ice,Chara is than in perfect position to destroy the defenseless player with a few hay makers, but he than lowers his fists and simply skates away. Not unlike a fight a few nights ago, forget the combatants, but one of them injured his shoulder and his ability to defend himself was compromised, so the other guy stopped fighting and let him go.

Its a very paradoxical phenomena...the point of fighting is to hurt someone, yet when someone does accomplish that goal, like John Scott did to Shawn Thornton, Scott said, you hate to see a guy get injured and was inquiring about how Thornton was...showing concern and respect to a fellow enforcer I suppose.
Bottom line, even though they are on different teams, players are like brothers, no worries punching your brother in the beak or giving him a fat lip, but you don't want to see your bro in the hospital with a severe concussion.

[OPCbreaker43]

Tootoo and Begin fought last night. Beauty of a fight and after it they both gave a pat to each other, said good fight and went to the box. That's the correct way to do it, not the garbage way in the Philly/TB game.

[policeradio556]

Watch the video...Zac went out before his next shift just to ask the ref... http://www.csnphilly.com/hockey-phil...fight-crombeen

[CJ1510]

Watch the video...Zac went out before his next shift just to ask the ref... http://www.csnphilly.com/hockey-phil...fight-crombeen

I saw this today too and the ref thought that it was a fair shot. TBH Im a little more ok with it than not especially after Crombeen's "antics" last game and the fact that it almost looked like he was trying to get/stay up during the fight and even though its obviously questionable weather its okay or not and that he was hurt. What Lecavalier did IMO was worse than Rinaldo. He started with Talbot, who is a fair fighter if you dont believe me watch the "fight" against Ryan Callahan, and punched him in the face when he was completely down on his back. At least crombreen was still falling/trying to stay up or however you see it. I could very well be biased but so be it i guess.

[mooneyes]

^pretty certain we are all biased on here,hockey fans are very passionate, than collectors even more fanatic...I am watching the Habs/Bruins game right now and it feels like a play-off game, lol!

[jon555]

I've heard numerous people talking about Crombeen's "antics" last game and that Rinaldo was just reacting to that. But IMO Crombeen was reacting last game to the Flyer's "antics" for going after Vinny therefore basically saying you go after our captain we will go after yours. Now having said that Lecavalier is more equipped to handle himself against a guy like Luke Schenn or Max Talbot than Giroux is going against Crombeen but still. Finally I have watched the replay over and over again and my opinion has changed almost every time I watch it. I was watching the game and my first through before even seeing a 2nd replay was unnecessary and dirty on the part of Rinaldo. However after watching the replay a number of times I don't think Rinaldo realized that Crombeen was going down and was simply continuing to swing away like he should of. As for the Lecavalier fight it was clear and obvious that the punch to a downed Talbot was a direct retaliation to the Rinaldo fight. Talbot was down for a number of seconds before Lecavalier fell beside him and decided to throw one last punch. My thoughts are that the Lecavalier punch to the face was a violation of the code were as Rinaldo's was not.

[policeradio556]

I've heard numerous people talking about Crombeen's "antics" last game and that Rinaldo was just reacting to that. But IMO Crombeen was reacting last game to the Flyer's "antics" for going after Vinny therefore basically saying you go after our captain we will go after yours. Now having said that Lecavalier is more equipped to handle himself against a guy like Luke Schenn or Max Talbot than Giroux is going against Crombeen but still. Finally I have watched the replay over and over again and my opinion has changed almost every time I watch it. I was watching the game and my first through before even seeing a 2nd replay was unnecessary and dirty on the part of Rinaldo. However after watching the replay a number of times I don't think Rinaldo realized that Crombeen was going down and was simply continuing to swing away like he should of. As for the Lecavalier fight it was clear and obvious that the punch to a downed Talbot was a direct retaliation to the Rinaldo fight. Talbot was down for a number of seconds before Lecavalier fell beside him and decided to throw one last punch. My thoughts are that the Lecavalier punch to the face was a violation of the code were as Rinaldo's was not.

So many people keep saying Vinny was retaliating for a late punch from Rinaldo on Crombeen, yet in several interviews I have seen with Vinny, he claims not to have seen the alleged "late punches" from Rinaldo... So in my mind its just a guy who doesn't know the code, being a toolbox.

[mooneyes]

If you believe VL, the captain of the Lightening, than he was the only person in the building unaware of Rinaldo's antics, unlikely to say the least. He isn't know for looking to fight, but in the past, he always stands up for his teammates, even if it means fighting Chara, and last night was no different, simply evening the score and making sure no one takes liberties with his mates, basically doing his job like he has always done in the past. Maybe not the best thing, but that is hockey and 9 times out of 10 the retaliation is much worse than the original sin...