All of the "top" goalies weren't Vezina candidates, that was my point. Nabakov, Giguere, Turco, etc... Thomas, Mason, and Backstrom. Who would've predicted that?
NHL SUSPENDS NY RANGERS’ BLAIR BETTS FOR TWO GAMES
NEW YORK (Apr. 27, 2009) – The National Hockey League announced today that New York Rangers forward Blair Betts has been suspended for two games for interfering with and obstructing Washington Capitals forward Donald Brashear during Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Quarter-Final Series.
The incident occurred 9:54 into the first period.
“While it is a difficult decision to suspend a player at this point in a Playoff Series, it has been made clear to all of our Players that the National Hockey League cannot—and will not – tolerate any blatant obstruction fouls,” said NHL Senior Executive Vice President and Director of Hockey Operations Colin Campbell. “We do not take this action lightly. It is the result of an entire day of investigation and evaluation that included the retrieval and review of videotape of the incident and discussions with Mr. Brashear.
“That investigation revealed that Mr. Betts purposely placed himself in the path of Mr. Brashear, obstructing his forward progress and preventing him from retrieving the puck and prevented a scoring opportunity.
“While, in these circumstances, it always is easy to allege mitigating circumstances, the fact is we will not tolerate these actions. The reputation of the National Hockey League as an institution of fairness requires us to take the appropriate action.
Referees Brad Meier and Bill McCreary were also reprimanded for allowing Betts to cause a stoppage of play and not making the appropriate call of 4-minutes for Delay-of-Game and Interference.
This blog post put our league in perspective best:
"Blair Betts career could be in jeopardy and Brashear gets away with murder!
No anger management for Brashear? Incredible…
Hit ‘em in the head all you want… Bite their hand off as much as you can… BUT DON’T YOU EVER EVER SAY ANYTHING ABOUT THEIR GIRLFRIENDS!
That is how we get down in NHL now days!"
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