Why Crosby Should be Penalized for Slew Foot on Callahan

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There has been a lot of commotion about Sidney Crosby's cheap slew foot play on Ryan Callahan during the first period of last night's game between the Rangers and Penguins at Madison Square Garden. Before I move on, allow me to explain what a slew foot actually is for those who do not know. A slew foot occurs when a player puts his foot behind another player's legs, and sort of kicks out the player's legs from under him with that foot. This is exactly what Crosby did to Callahan when skating through center ice last night, but somehow Callahan ended up with the penalty and Sid got off free.

First of all, slew foots are extremely dangerous because when it happens, the victim normally falls backwards, which means they could smack their head on the ice if they do not brace themselves. Secondly, the player could also hurt their lower back, where there is absolutely no padding whatsoever. To me, performing one of these should be considered intent to injure and should be penalized appropriately. But as I already mentioned, Crosby did not get called for it, which is why fans are so enraged.

In my opinion, Sidney not only should have received a minor penalty for slew footing Callahan, but also an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty as well. That would have given the Blueshirts a four-minute powerplay because kicking out a player's legs from under him is just as bad as cutting a player in the face by high-sticking him, which also gives a team a four-minute powerplay. But somehow Callahan gets called for interference? This goes back to the poor officiating that becomes a factor every time the Rangers face the Penguins, which is something head coach John Tortorella has called the league and complained about.

But beyond all of this; the penalty, non-penalty and anything that actually happened in that specific game, what does something like this say about Crosby as a player? He wonders why, despite being a top talent in the league, he receives so much hatred. Well, Sid, when you play a cheap style of hockey and take advantage of being the league's posterboy, no matter how many goals you can score in 82 games, opposing fans/players are simply not going to have you on top of their favorite players list.

The whining and faking that is tied to Crosby's name is no myth. It has been blown out of proportion over the years, I will not doubt that, but it is no lie. He is always talking with the refs, which is why the Rangers always have a player listening in on the conversation, and he is always poking at the goalie and doing whatever, and then when it comes to paying the price, looks to the refs for defense. He may be a good player, but his character is horrible in my opinion.

Whether the league takes action against Crosby for the play is out off my control, but I know that they certainly should. With the recent Colin Campbell e-mails coming out to the public, they want to disabuse their image. Fining Sid, or even suspending him, for this will help do that.

Thanks to our handy dandy friend better known as YouTube, here is a video of Crosby's slew foot on Callahan so you can see exactly what I am talking about.....