Some of you may remember the rant I went on the last time the Bruins and Canadiens played and the Bruins did their normal gooning in their 8-6 win.
There were two fans of the Bruins that disagreed with me.... hey, what do you expect them to do? They have to stick up for the cheap shot artists... it's their team. I would too... after all, I liked the Cowboys in the '90's and early 2000's, prison records and all...
But I digress.... the "rematch" was tonight. If you have access to american tv, NESN showed previews for the last two weeks showing around 32 fights and blood soaked players. Class.
Before the game Brad 'I wanna be Steve Avery' Marchand was yapping to the media about how they were going to run Montreal out of their own rink.
Really? Be grateful you even have a job dude..... You wouldn't make most clubs...
Finally, the game starts. Three minutes into the game, Johnny Boychuk of the Bruins goes after the knee on PK Subban. While Subban was lying on the ice (he was fine, thankfully) Ryan White goes after Boychuk and does quite well. I don't think Boychuk will be cheap shotting anyone soon. (who am I kidding?)
Fast forward to the last minute of the second period. It's 4-0 Montreal. The game is over, the fans are singing and Zdeno Chara decides to get revenge for when he was disrespected after Max Pacioretty scored the overtime winning goal earlier in the year.
Absolutely brutal. Chara has his head up, lines up the hit, extends both arms and drives Pacioretty head first into the turnbuckle. The referees give Chara 5 minutes and a Game Misconduct.
And the nerve of Chara afterwards saying we were battling for the puck and I was battling for position. The puck was over 30 feet away!!! Accidental? No. I've played hockey all my life and if you have too, you know where the turnbuckles are at the end of the benches. He looked up, and drove with both arms into the turnbuckle. Against the guy he said he would get even with.
According to Ron MacLean and Don Cherry, if Trevor Gillies gets 10 games for a shoulder to shoulder check, what will Chara get for a deliberate headshot???
If I know Colin Campbell, probably nothing. After all, his son is a Bruin. He hasn't done anything before, why start now.
Montreal wins 4-1 and is 12-1 against Boston in the last 13....
Well, I disagreed with you on the last game, but I always try to be fair and in this case I actually agree with you. The hit was late, the puck was a ways away, and on top of that Boychuk was already on the puck, so there was no danger in Pacioretty streaking off for a breakaway. On top of that, subsequent replays show that Chara definitely drove Pacioretty towards the turnbuckle. I know Chara is not known as a cheap player, and I'm sure that he didn't intend for the result to be as violent as it was, but he definitely knew what he was doing.
ReplyDeleteI am shocked that no suspension was handed down by the league. Even if Chara doesn't have a prior history, and even if you can't find a specific punishable offense in what transpired, an example should be set. If the NHL really cares about protecting it's players, then hits like this one and the Matt Cooke hit on Marc Savard have to result in some sort of disciplinary action.
A couple of other things...
-White definitely did beat the hell out of Boychuk! Did you see how swollen his face was by the 3rd period?
-You are under-rating Brad Marchand. I know he made some comments about the Canadiens in the press, but he is a very good young player that I think will enjoy a long and successful NHL career.
-More than anything I'm glad that Max Pacioretty wasn't hurt worse than he was. What an ugly evening for the Bruins and the NHL...