Tuesday, January 23, 2007

Means Avoids Further Punishment

The WCHA announced this week that they were satisfied with the punishment Minnesota State handed down to assistant coach Eric Means and will not take further action. The school declined to comment on what Means punishment was, but he was not behind the bench for Minnesota State's three most recent games.

It looks like what I predicted two weeks ago happened. Means was "suspended" for a couple games where he probably would have been out recruiting anyway. Jon Campion worked the following weekend, but didn't work last weekend, though with four league teams off, they didn't need every official. Some may say that punishment seems light for both, but I kind of get the feeling that this is an incident that the WCHA doesn't want to make too big a deal of, since full disclosure probably hurts more than it helps.

Certainly we know most of the details about what Means did, but there are still some holes in the story. Means started yelling at Campion, and about midway through, apparently challenged him to a fight. I doubt Means went from just yelling to threatening to fight him without some sort of provocation from Campion, and it's probably best for the league if that was kept quiet.

There's also the issue of how the UofM police treated Means and head coach Troy Jutting. I don't know any of the details, but judging from the footage I've seen, Minnesota's campus police force could use a John Spartan(the Sylvester Stallone character, not the dumbass that paints himself green). It's probably best if their reaction was kept quiet as well.

So that's that. It seems that the WCHA is willing to say "No harm, no foul" and try to put that unpleasant event behind them.

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

This is typical of the favoritism shown to a league patsy. Abuse the referees and then go recruiting. More proof of why the Mavs are universally thought as the biggest goons in the WCHA. Thanks for defending this idiot Chris. Your a homer to the end.

Anonymous said...

What's with this U of M hockey riots link to youtube. I've never seen that before. Any info?

Anonymous said...

Aw crap. Chris just slighted the UofM police.

Now we're going to get another dozen posts stating how Chris is just a no-talent Gopher hater.

Wasn't Means a former Gopher player? I suppose that means Chris is even more an anti-Gopher hater because he didn't come up with some lame excuse that justifies or at least downplays Means' role in the whole affair.

And I suppose, since Gopher fans never complain about the officials, he should have downplayed Campion's role in it as well.

I guess the "good little Gopher fan" would have found a way to blame it all on Jutting and MSUM while avoiding any and all reference to the Gopher program, its former players, the refs, the school itself, or anything else that could be drawn back to the Gopher program in the most remotely unsavory way.

GOod job Chris, you blew it again. :rolleyes:

Anonymous said...

I have spoken to some people in the know and this entire ordeal was blown way out of proportions and the yelling match wasn't as big or long as people are trying to state otherwise. Just my 2 cents

Anonymous said...

I have spoken to some people in the know and they said this incident wasn't blown out of proportion. And the yelling match was fractions of a second away from becoming MURDER! Just my .02.

LetsGoMavs said...

Your write up on this is just pathetic. First off, you're basing your whole article under the assumption that YOU were right about what the punishment was (you didn't find out FOR SURE what it was) and that you basically know everything that went down that night, though you weren't there.

If you don't have the facts, then don't write the article.

It's also just pathetic to start blaming the U of M police and then compare it to the riots. Last time I checked, these two altercations were VERY different.

It's one thing to be a homer (take me, I'm a die hard Maverick Fan but in NO WAY do I support what Means and Jutting did) but a whole different thing to write an article on assumptions. What's up with this "I'm Chris and I know everything about hockey and I'm god" attitude you've been displaying this past month or so? Just sad. You used to have good write ups but they've really been slipping more and more to mostly your opinion, based on few facts.

Anonymous said...

Why not put up a video of the "Mankato Riots" from a couple of years ago. There had to be as many students and non-students involved. Probably as much or more property damage. They would be about as relevant as what you put up.

Anonymous said...

Aroganceisblissguy

The blame is squarely on the kind of goon-at-all-costs program that Jutting runs at Mankato. They are the most penalized team for a reason. Chris again ran his mouth with little to no facts in attempt to shift the blame. I understand that you and he obviously share a hatred of the Gophers. Maybe you both could try to express this with facts instead of baseless accusations. Everyone who reads what Chris writes knows that will never happen. Chris is a troll and deserves to be labeled as one.

Anonymous said...

Is this what passes for journalism down in Mankato nowadays? "I don't know any of the details, but..." then proceed to offer an opinion on what you just stated you didn't know anything about?

No wonder people in "journalism/blogs" have such low credibility. This kind of really brings it out into the open. Thanks for the admission. It certainly helps to gain better insight into your "style".

Make sure you have a double major, the one in "journalism" isn't worth much if what you offer up on the internet is the best that you've got.

"I don't know any of the details, but..." Should stick with you for a long time. You wrote it, you own it. Freedom of speech, a beautiful thing, but not without consequences.

Anonymous said...

Anonymous 11:11-

I'm not really a "Gopher hater" but it is true I'm no fan of the Gophers.

What I am biased against is the seeming attitude in the comment section of Chris' blog that infers that Chris has no right to criticize the Gopher program without being subjected to personal attacks. What irks me is that these Gopher fans that show up here and post seem to be all in favor of criticizing other teams (whether they deserve it or not) but be seemingly unable to accept criticism of the program they support even if the criticism is valid!

Not every fan has to bow down and pay homage to the University of Minnesota. Not everyone has to acknowledge that the Mariucci Arena has a great atmosphere. Not every fan has to put all of the blame on one of the entities involved in a bad altercation! Is Means and Jutting at fault? YES! Good grief! Is the UofM Police responsible for some of the out of control behavior? Maybe it is, maybe it isn't.

But the fact remains that everyone is still subpar compared to the Maroon and Gold and any argument or criticism that shows otherwise will be met with derision and personal attacks. THAT is why I do not like the Gophers. That is why I support Chris.

If Chris is wrong, wow, he's human and this blog is mostly his opinion! But in my opinion, if you resort to attacking Chris instead of attacking what you believe to be incorrect, then you are no better than what you accuse him of being!

It's like this:

Person A (Chris): "I don't like the playground at X School!"

Person B (aka Gopher fan): "Oh yeah? Well, your ugly!"

Person B clearly put Person A in his place, no? :rolleyes:

Anonymous said...

arroganceisblissguy,

What seems to generate comments on this blog is when Chris careens from being a reporter presenting information in a news format to that of opinion columnist. You know, going from who,what,why,when and how to sprinkling in his opinion at the same time.

So is this an opinion oriented blog or a news oriented blog? By blurring the distinction, Chris opens himself up to the critisism. The blurring of the line between news reporting and opinion/analysis is a big problem in all aspects of journalism today.

As a "reporter", Chris should be reporting the news. Chris shouldn't be injecting his opinions into the story. As an "opinion columnist", Chris has the forum to advance his opinions.

If Chris wants to be a poor mans Pat Ruesse good for him, I'm sure there are plenty of opportunities for him in the future. I'd just prefer that he kept the news reporting and his personal opinions seperate. Or make the distinction between the two clearer than he does now.

I like coming to the site because it is a good source of information, what I don't care for is being gratuitously insulted at the same time.

Anonymous said...

Okay kids, let's simmer down. This is what we call a blog. Chris can write whatever he wants. He isn't paid for this. This is not a job. This is a hobby that is based on what he loves and what he wants to do in the future. If you want to read some of his best work, go here: http://sportswritersjournal.blogspot.com/