I have deep resentment for the dive specialist Kariya
trademaster said:
yeah u keep telling yourself that buddy, watch a game & open your eyes up
for once :thefinger
I may not to get to watch all of the games trade but I do read what sportwriters have to say. And by his own admission he admits to it. Wasn't that a Duck that was called for diving in game 4 against the wild :thefinger
March 1, 2003
BY HELENE ST. JAMES
FREE PRESS SPORTS WRITER
As he made the rounds in the Red Wings' dressing room Friday, collecting teammates' autographs on one of his jerseys, defenseman Chris Chelios paused to speak out on one of his favorite subjects.
His passion was so noticeable that at one point Sergei Fedorov called over and asked Chelios about whom he was talking.
"Paul Kariya," Chelios answered. "Diver. Biggest one in the league."
Chelios came down hard on the Anaheim superstar while bestowing praise on NHL executive vice president Colin Campbell, who this week sent a memo warning players they could be fined $1,000 if they fell on their own in an attempt to draw penalties. Offending players' names would be released weekly to teams in hopes such publicity would help end the trend.
Chelios said the people who really needed to see the list were NHL referees. "Once the word gets out, let the guys dive, just don't call it," he said. "They want to dive and make fools of themselves and get fined, let them."
Kariya -- whom the Wings face March 9 at Anaheim -- said during a conference call Feb. 20 that sometimes diving was his only recourse. "I'm going through the neutral zone and I've got a guy tugging me through the whole way," he said. "If I don't go down, I'm not going to get a call."
That, naturally, didn't go over well with Chelios.
"There are ways to call hooking," he said. "That's what they've been trying to stop -- a guy puts a stick on a guy, it's automatic. . . . You see a guy like Paul Kariya, he got called for it and the next day he's crying about it. And he's one of the big reasons why they're calling penalties like that. He goes down when he gets touched."
Chelios went on to call out Carolina's Ron Francis, saying, "He dives all the time," and Colorado's Peter Forsberg, who "every time someone lays a stick on him, he's looking at the ref for a call."
Asked whether he thought the offenders would be embarrassed by the list, Chelios shrugged. "Some guys won't," he said. "There are guys who won't even care. They'll just keep diving."
Chelios then reiterated his disdain for Kariya, whom he faced when Team USA lost the gold-medal game to Canada at the Salt Lake Olympics.
"It was a shame in the Olympics, he did the same thing and drew a penalty for that and it ended up being a goal," Chelios said. "With that kind of hockey, you have to play with a little honor. Guys like him ruin it for everybody else. It's just embarrassing. Or maybe he's not embarrassed because he probably believes he's not doing it -- that's how liars are."
