Canucks Have Company In Embellishment Accusations

[Durl Dixsun]

http://www.cbc.ca/sp...ellishment.html

EL SEGUNDO, Calif. - Even though the Vancouver Canucks have been on the sidelines for a month now, they can take solace in a couple of matters that have transpired since the Los Angeles Kings eliminated them in the first round.

The first matter is the Canucks have a good chance to boast that they will have lost to the eventual Stanley Cup champions in their last three playoffs with the Kings only five victories shy of an NHL title.

The second issue is the Canucks now have company in being charged, tried and convicted of embellishment. After Los Angeles' 2-1 victory for a 3-0 West final lead on Thursday, Phoenix Coyotes coach Dave Tippett wasn't pleased with the Kings taking their close proximity to Hollywood a little bit too seriously with their acting skills.

There were two incidents that the Coyotes didn't like. They didn't like Kings captain Dustin Brown going down in a heap after he was cross-checked by Phoenix defenceman Oliver Ekman-Larsson, and how easily Anze Kopitar's stick came out of his hands when he was chopped by Coyotes forward Radim Vrbata.

Some of Tippett's displeasure also came from his captain Shane Doan being penalized when he was tackled by Kings defenceman Drew Doughty. Both players were called for holding. All three of these questionable penalties were made against the Coyotes after Los Angeles went up 2-1 early in the third period.

We'll see if the Kings reputation in this department receives further attention as the post-season continues. The Canucks rep certainly took a beating after Game 3 in the second round of the playoffs last year, when Nashville Predators coach Barry Trotz accused Vancouver's Ryan Kesler and Roberto Luongo of embellishments to draw penalties.

Of course, some believe these sorts of accusations are made because of jealousy. Tippett, meanwhile, backed off his post-game comments on Friday.

"I said my piece on embellishment," he said. "It wasn't geared toward that game last night. I talked about this from the start of the year. So I've said my piece on that.

"Obviously, there's frustration on our part that we would like to get better results. Our margin for error is very slim when we feel like there's some situations that happen in a game that go against you, we're looking for every little scratch we can find, every little piece of positive we can find to help us get back in the series. When that doesn't happen, you get frustrated with it.

"But, you know, you give L.A. credit. They've played very well. I don't think we've played as well in this series as we have the two previous. We're down 3-0 because of it."

Of the four teams remaining in the 2012 playoffs, the Kings are the fourth most penalized team at 14.5 minutes per game. The Coyotes are next at 12.9, followed by the New Jersey Devils (9.6) and New York Rangers (9.3).

But in the West final, the Kings have had 17 power-play opportunities to the Coyotes' 10 through three games.

Los Angeles defenceman Rob Scuderi was asked about Tippett's post-game remarks.

"I think it's kind of a tough question," Scuderi said. "It's something I'd rather stay away from. It's up to the ref's discretion. In my opinion, I think they've done a good job. Not a shocker, we've had more power plays than they have. I think the refs have called the game. You can't call the score, you have to call the game. I think they've done a good job so far.

"Whoever has more power plays that game is going to be happy. Whoever has less is going to think the other team embellished or what have you. We've been on the other end of it at times and felt like we were short-changed. Apparently in this series, it's the other way around."

[CNKZfan]

you argument doesnt not counter the emblishment act

if some else does it doesnt mean u should to and if some else does it does you arent doing

canucks do have a embeslishment issue

[micgao]

Still embarassing to see our players dive.

[wendythirteenthrashers]

The kings are total divers..... Flopping on the ice pretending they're half dead then laughing on the bench when the other team is penalized and miraculously feeling better to take their next shift.... Pathetic....

[Sanj]

you argument doesnt not counter the emblishment act

if some else does it doesnt mean u should to and if some else does it does you arent doing

canucks do have a embeslishment issue

[RyanKeslord17]

This is what the NHL is turning into though..

Special teams is what wins you games nowdays, that's why players do it. It's sad what this great game has turned into, but it is what it its. And it won't change until the refs start calling stuff, otherwise players won't know if they are going to call it, hence the embellishing/diving.

[LostViking]

you argument doesnt not counter the emblishment act

if some else does it doesnt mean u should to and if some else does it does you arent doing

canucks do have a embeslishment issue

[Wheels22]

Everyone hates our team because we finish first in the league. So if we do anything the least bit bad (diving, headshots, etc) , everyone freaks out, especially refs...

LA on the the other hand is an average team that is overachieving, so everyone loves them. No one expected them to get this far and play so well. They will get away with anything for a Cinderella Story win...

Did you see Shane Doan's penalty last game with Doughty? Absolutely terrible

[iLLmAtlc]

Honestly this is why I don't really get why so many people identify "diving" as the number 1 reason they hate us so much. Pretty much every other team does it and to me we only have one diver left because Burrows seems to have toned it down a lot. Boston fans seem to love calling us that but then you have Marchand flopping all over the ice in the playoffs this year.

[komodo1970]

The Hypocricy is almost unbearable. Every team cries fowl when an obvious dive results in a penalty against them, but are fine with their own players dropping to the ice, like they've been shot, at the slightest touch. The diving penalty needs to be called more often rather than the borderline infractions that caused the dive. Some of them are so obvious it's sickening. This is not soccer.

I'm also concerned with certain players getting away from their game, trying to draw penalties. Ryan Kesler's game is on the edge of fairness. When he plays with a chippy attitude, pushing the oppositions buttons and once in a while dropping the gloves, he is at his most effective and shows his star quality. His determination to get to the net rises ten fold. His stats start to rise and he just seems to be more noticeable. His sad attempts at dives during the LA series were futile and ill advised. My advice is to get back to what made you successful and keep it that way.

[canuckelhead70]

nobody cares about hockey in LA. Right now it's the thing to do down there. The only reason this is an issue is because of the play-offs. I'm sure it was done in the regular season but honestly who is watching the Kings? Are they even in the sports section of their paper? It's not like a team in Canada that has tons of media coverage on eveything the team does.

[Pears]

Other teams' fans when we 'dive': 'That was a dive'

Other teams' fans when their team 'dives': 'It was 'drawing a penalty' '.

[BiriBiri]

Other teams' fans when we 'dive': 'That was a dive'

Other teams' fans when their team 'dives': 'It was 'drawing a penalty' '.

['NucK™]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N6WXoqoZp9g&feature=g-all-u

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j-B_4WUm6Yg&feature=g-all-u

[riffraff]

All teams dive at times. The Canucks have divers on the team without a doubt. Tippets comments are born out if frustration as the kings are completely dominating his overmatched team. In game two the yotes lost their minds. As good as doan has been he has taken the odd undisciplined penalty, hanzal cheaped brown from behind and Derek Morris attempted a knee on knee.

This is the hockey product we have now because over expansion has allowed fringe players a role and the instigator penalty protects the cheap shot artists.

[Mr.DirtyDangles]

Try living in Calgary and listening to all the idiot turn coat band wagon fLAMES homers, who are nearly ALL cheering for LA a team the city has despised for ages just because Sutter is the coach ? What a frakken joke ! LA is a joke the officials are a joke. They are laughing it up at the Kings opponents whining about the diving. I am hearing "it's how you have to play to win the cup look at the Bruins they got away with everything " I cant believe this is what hockey has fallen to ? The game I loved for nearly 4 decades is really losing it's shine for not just me but fans around the world . The Kings diving is epic and worthy of a few Oscar's , they have gone above and beyond what is acceptable in this or any league.

All of you about to go off on our diving please save it because it does not compare to the Kings in any way this playoff run .

[SNACanuck]

I don't even think most of the people here other than hockey fans know what diving is even about... They can barely acknowledge the hockey team as is, what makes anyone think they care about diving??? Mention diving down here and they are going to think your talking about going to the pier at the beach and diving off that.

[Burnsey]

The Kings, the Bruins, the Coyotes, the Devils, the Rangers, etc. can all dive it will not make me happier about the Canucks diving. Nashville suspended two of their players for breaking a team role in their series against the Coyotes. How about teams add diving to the team rule book, and start sitting their players out for a game to get their attention. I hate diving, and thats a big reason Kesler went from being my favourite player to a player that if we traded I wouldn't be too saddened about. Diving has to stop, it's almost as bad as head shots imo.

The fact of the matter is that as long as calls aren't being made, diving is going to happen. There are many non-calls that would be calls in the reg. season, I understand that maybe the refs don't want to be the reason one team wins (by getting a PP advantage) but at the same time, if the call is to be made in the reg. season why isn't it in the playoffs?

[canucklesmith]

this article was written by Tim Wharsby of the CBC. The same clown who wrote during the Stanley Cup finals last year how the likable Bruins are Canada's team compared to the unlikable Canucks. This is what the CBC thinks of Vancouver, and in two years I really hope Gillis and Aquillini have enough pull to convince the NHL to let TSN take over the national broadcast rights.

[Forsy]

More retarded articles and comments.

Every team dives, if you want it to stop, tell these idiot referees to call out the penalties as you see them, not to balance out the game. Have every possible penalty video reviewed to make sure it was real and not a dive.