McSorley breaks his silence on the Brashear incident

[MadLuke]

The one thing I really disagree with here is that he wasn’t prepared. None of what he said sounded like a gut reaction on live radio. It sounded to me like he walked in knowing exactly what he was going to say, down to the phrasing of his requests to pivot to another topic. It all sounded to me very much like someone who has spent time being coached by a PR agent and rehearsing his talking points (which could also just be a reflection of having talked about it a lot for 20 years).

Or just that he would not have thought a vast amount of what he would say if asked in the shower, car drive, etc... for a good part of his life around that incident, seem impossible...

He went to court... he went to a nhl hearing about it, he is a public figure, the incident made national news... even with 0 PR coaching or never talking about it.... chance are he would have played that kind of moment a lot in his own head.

 

[The Panther]

it knocked Brashear out. do you realize how often Brashear was punched in the head and not knocked out.

it is clearly top 3 most egregious 'stick work' plays of all time

Wow, I don't see that at all. I don't know how old you are, but by the time I was about 14 (1990), I'd probably seen five or six stick-incidents worse than McSorley on Brashear. As noted, McSorley on Bullard (1988) was, to me, much worse than the Brashear incident, not only by the stick-work itself but also because it was completely unpremeditated.

But I suppose this is a pointless discussion. As Huey Lewis once said, "bad is bad".

 

[MeHateHe]

It all sounded to me very much like someone who has spent time being coached by a PR agent and rehearsing his talking points (which could also just be a reflection of having talked about it a lot for 20 years)

I’ve done media prep as part of my job for a couple of decades. His answers were textbook examples of what not to do if you want to shut down a line of questions. Don’t get angry, and don’t get defensive. He was a little of the first and a lot of the second.

 

[MadLuke]

Everyone as a plan before being punched in the face apply very well to a situation like that....

 

[Nona Di Giuseppe]

Wow, I don't see that at all. I don't know how old you are, but by the time I was about 14 (1990), I'd probably seen five or six stick-incidents worse than McSorley on Brashear. As noted, McSorley on Bullard (1988) was, to me, much worse than the Brashear incident, not only by the stick-work itself but also because it was completely unpremeditated.

But I suppose this is a pointless discussion. As Huey Lewis once said, "bad is bad".

Im old enough to have watched 80s and 90s hockey and I'm sorry, but I"m calling bullshit on seeing "five or six stick-incidents" worse than this one. idk if you're a McSorely fan or what, but it doesn't not check out.

I'd rank worst stick accidents as follows:

1) McSorley on Brashear
2) Maki VS Green (1969 hockey stick duel, fractured skull, charges pressed)
3) Simon on Hollweg
4) Could be several from here, but prob Brown on Sandstrom, May on Heize, Hextall etc

To be clear, poking someone with your stick isn't as bad as two-hand wielding it like a sword and hitting someone in the head.

 

[Nona Di Giuseppe]

McSorley is not anywhere near a HHOFer guys. Nor was he ever being floated as such. Led the NHL in plus/minus in 1991, which was nice, but he was a serviceable defenseman, was on some pretty good teams and certainly was more valuable than his stats show from an enforcer standpoint but he definitely wasn't elite.

One of my issues with how McSorley gets labelled is as if he was intending to do it. I don't think he was, I think he meant to hit high, like the shoulder or something, but not the head. He looked ready, almost prepared for Brashear to turn around, so my thought is that he never wanted to whack him in the head. How often did Marty do cheap shots anyway? Not sure I saw any others of his.

Also, there is a forgotten slash that happened just a month or so later that was worse than this one. Scott Niedermayer slashed Peter Worrell in the head in what looked like from just a scrum along the boards. It was harsh, hard to say that it wasn't deliberate. I'll never forget Worrell's reaction, it was priceless. It was one of those "Are you serious bro?" types of looks he gave Niedermayer. Then he fights him but by then Niedermayer had a lot of his buddies jumping in to help, because he'd have been seriously ragdolled. Anyway, I always thought this one was worse, but Niedermayer just got 6 games. Worrell didn't get hurt which was probably the biggest reason why.

He knew exactly what he was doing. He skated over, zero distractions, complete control over everything but his temper. He's an NHL player; even a mediocre one like him can control his stick well enough to avoid someone's head if they wanted to.

McSorely did many cheap shots.

How can you think a hit to a helmet is worse than a two handed blindsided whack to the temple/face?

 

[Crosby2010]

He knew exactly what he was doing. He skated over, zero distractions, complete control over everything but his temper. He's an NHL player; even a mediocre one like him can control his stick well enough to avoid someone's head if they wanted to.

McSorely did many cheap shots.

How can you think a hit to a helmet is worse than a two handed blindsided whack to the temple/face?

Because I can see he was trying to hit him high and it glanced off of his shoulder. If you watch the replay you can see it. McSorley did re-iterate that it wasn't what he intended to do. Just out of curiousity though, how many cheap shots did he give? He was normally thought to be an honourable player/enforcer out there.

 

[Gorskyontario]

Im old enough to have watched 80s and 90s hockey and I'm sorry, but I"m calling bullshit on seeing "five or six stick-incidents" worse than this one. idk if you're a McSorely fan or what, but it doesn't not check out.

I'd rank worst stick accidents as follows:

1) McSorley on Brashear
2) Maki VS Green (1969 hockey stick duel, fractured skull, charges pressed)
3) Simon on Hollweg
4) Could be several from here, but prob Brown on Sandstrom, May on Heize, Hextall etc

To be clear, poking someone with your stick isn't as bad as two-hand wielding it like a sword and hitting someone in the head.

Bullards injury was more serious injury than any on that list except the Maki/Green one.

 

[Salsa Shark]

McSorely talks about this all the time lol, it's basically what he's known for and why he's somewhat relevant

Still mad the Rangers signed Brashear 2 months after that horrific cheap shot on Blair Betts in the playoffs.

 

[MadLuke]

As for ranking worst sticks, it depends if one go just by result or what they decide the intent was, if it was trying to poke him high on the arm and got to the head.... it was a dangerous and irresponsible act that turned really bad.

But that not the same as the voluntary trying to injure sticks, a bit like Bertuzzi-Moore, one of the worst result hockey act wise, Chara-Pacioretty, etc... but those were in part badluck, could of inch of difference and no one talk abouts.

Clarke on Kharlamov, some 6 inch directly and aimed at the face near the eyes, it is ok to consider those worst, specially for someone that think he aimed the shoulder and not the head, which is not crazy.

 

[seventieslord]

Pospisil, you mean?

 

[Hippasus]

I remember this two-handed slash to the face about 10-15 years ago. It was in the AHL or perhaps juniors, and the victim lay convulsing on the ice. I thought it was one of the Kostitsyn brothers, but I couldn't find anything on the internet when I checked just now. Anyone remember this? It was beyond dirty.

 

[seventieslord]

I remember this two-handed slash to the face about 10-15 years ago. It was in the AHL or perhaps juniors, and the victim lay convulsing on the ice. I thought it was one of the Kostitsyn brothers, but I couldn't find anything on the internet when I checked just now. Anyone remember this? It was beyond dirty.

Perezhogin.

 

[MadLuke]

 

[Hippasus]

Perezhogin.

Thank you. It was Perezhogin on Garrett Stafford, and it was in the AHL in the 2003-04 season.