St. Louis Blues Think This Is The No Fun League
By Tim Redinger
The National Football League has done so much to eliminate touchdown celebrations. Your not allowed to leave your feet, use a prop – or do a
No celebrations here. USA Today Sports Images
choreographed dance with your teammates when you gruel 100 yards or so down the field to score a touchdown – oh and don’t let your opponent see you spike the ball – that could get you 15 yards for excessive celebration. The basic rule of thumb in the National Football League – act like you have been there. And now the NFL wants to take a look at the pre-touchdown celebrations as excessive celebrations as well. No more of that “not in my house” type wave as you easily cruise into the end zone.
The NHL leaves player celebrations alone – allowing a guy who scores to jump into the boards, slide on the ice – or do whatever when they are able to get the puck in the net. Where would the Foligno legacy be if the sons couldn’t emulate their father – even if just once in their careers? I hope that one day – Marcus or Nick Foligno have a son playing the sport in the National Hockey League who can leap on their first goal – paying tribute to Grandpa Foligno – who (at that point) played the game so long ago.
The Montreal Canadiens put the skids on the triple low five celebration between Carey Price and P.K. Subban during post game celebrations. That I get – because the Canadiens wanted them to be a part of the team, to be one, not on a perch above the Canadiens. I get that.
For the St. Louis Blues – the message the team wants to send through their players is act like you have been there before. To help with that, the team is eliminating the cursory high five down the bench for the guy who just scored a goal. The message though – is the wrong one to send.
The suggestion is not coming from the locker room, but former players who have a say in the way things are done in St. Louis. Act like you have been there. How about the guy who just scored his first NHL goal? What about the guy who just snapped a goalies three game shutout streak?
I have to disagree with Brett Hull and Kelly Chase on this one. The high five isn’t a celebration like you just won the Stanley Cup when you scored your team’s first goal late in a game to make it 2-1 – winning the Stanley Cup involves chucking your gear all over the ice and recreating a WWF pile on. Hell – the Patrick Kaleta dice roll isn’t even that – its about motivation – its about camaraderie, and above all showmanship.
How many times has a proven goal scorer gone over the top with his goal celebrations? I don’t care if you score 50 goals a year – or one goal a year. Getting a fist bump from your teammates is just something that is done. To me this is nothing more than an organization standing in protest against Tomas Hertl going between his legs for the fourth goal of the night in a blowout.
Your goals are short sighted St. Louis – there are larger issues in the game than acting like you have been there. But I guess who have to be there, before you can act like it.