Lisää juttua Parkerin Ja Nashville väleistä :-)
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What exactly set off Parker?TIME SITTING, SEEING, AND THEN ENFORCINGBy David PollakMercury News
Having missed 57 games this season because of lingering head injuries, Sharks enforcer Scott Parker is familiar with the view from the press box.
So sitting up in the rafters for two games this week is nothing new, even though this time it's considered punishment, his NHL suspension for going -- well, let's use his term -- ``a little haywire'' Saturday against Nashville.
As it turns out, all that idle time the past five months contributed to Parker's frame of mind when he climbed the glass enclosure surrounding the Predators' bench, an almost-over-the-top move.
``I've been doing a lot of watching, unfortunately,'' Parker said. ``I've been seeing a lot of stuff happen, and it definitely has built up. Liberties taken, seeing the boys take hits and stuff that nobody responds to. Little things.''
Parker, 28, knows his role, even in the new NHL: at 6-foot-5 and 230 pounds, it's to have every teammate's back. In theory, mess with them and, sooner or later, you mess with him.
Add energy, add spark. And by making opponents less aggressive, buy an extra second for teammates to get off a shot or a clearing pass.
In the locker room, he looks the part: a stars-and-stripes tattoo on one arm includes the name of his father's Vietnam War military unit, and a tattoo on one leg features a skull and a jack-in-the-box. His Harley-Davidson Heritage Springer adds to the image.
But, as with many NHL tough guys, there are contradictions. The first of Parker's three wishes listed in the Sharks media guide is peace and goodwill toward man. The day before he tried to scale the glass at HP Pavilion, he was all smiles as he signed autographs for kids after practice.
So what made Parker go ``a little overboard'' -- again, his term -- on Saturday? A mix of things, he said.
His moment of mayhem came in the second period, after he was whistled for elbowing Jordin Tootoo. But the wheels were set in motion at 16:31 of the first period, when Parker was on the bench and Nashville's Brendan Witt stuck out his leg and made contact with Sharks forward Milan Michalek.
Michalek's linemate, Steve Bernier, saw it as dangerous knee-on-knee contact and immediately went after Witt, whose 158 penalty minutes rank second in the NHL. Michalek was pummeled by Predators forward Scott Nichol.
Parker did not see that as the end of things.
``If they want to fight guys who have never been in fights before and try to hurt our players, obviously it's not going to make me happy,'' Parker said. The next time they were on the ice, Parker asked Witt if he wanted to fight. ``He didn't oblige me.''
In that second period, Parker said, the Predators were out to antagonize him -- and they succeeded.
``I was trying to play hockey and you've got this little 4-foot-2 guy'' -- a reference to Tootoo, who is 5-foot-8 -- ``trying to do figure-eights around me. I was like, `Hey, this is my space. Get away from me.' ''
Eventually, Parker's elbow met Tootoo's head. Parker thought Tootoo deserved a diving penalty as well, so he complained and threw down his stick. He got another two minutes for unsportsmanlike conduct. He complained and gestured. He received a 10-minute misconduct and an escort to the locker room.
Then came the detour. Parker cites Nashville forward Darcy Hordichuk as the cause.
``He's leaning over and yapping at me and whatnot,'' Parker said. ``Enough's enough. I'm on the ice and you have a chance to go at me and you guys back down. Then when I'm getting escorted off, everybody wants to talk big. That's not the way it's meant to be played.''
Witt happened to be the player closest to Parker as he lifted himself onto the glass. The defenseman, playing in his first game for the Predators after a trade from Washington, saw Parker as an invader and began swinging away. He, too, was tossed from the game.
This time, it was the Predators who were complaining.
A player like Parker ``shouldn't be in the NHL anyway,'' Nashville goaltender Tomas Vokoun said. ``The penalty cost us more than them. We got an impact player thrown out. They lost a marginal player.''
Parker shrugs that off, but his coach does not.
``That team has talked about the trade-off and Parksie being a marginal player,'' Sharks Coach Ron Wilson said. ``How about Scott Nichol pummeling Milan? What's the trade-off there?''
Wilson said he has no intention of telling Parker to ratchet it down. ``Obviously it was an ugly scene, but I support him 100 percent.''