Careful, guys... I'm about to go on another Player Safety rant.
So, Matt Beleskey of the Bruins delivers one of those three-feet-from-the-boards hits on Derek Stepan that I've complained about a million times before and that I consider to be the most dangerous type of hit in hockey. McIlrath takes exception, fights Beleskey. End result is Boston actually GOES ON A PP after Beleskey isn't even penalized for the hit and McIlrath gets an Instigator penalty.
Here's the whole sequence, with the best angle of the hit showing at around the 30 second mark:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i6qez_zGB7U
(And don't even get me started on the ludicrous spoutings of Pierre Maguire during the replay)
The NHL preaches player safety, yet they allow these types of hits to go unpunished. The justification is that Stepan was not seriously injured and was able to stay in the game. Again, INJURY is the determining factor in discipline. All this is suggesting to players that it's OK to hit a guy three feet from the boards... AS LONG AS HE DOESN'T GET HURT. Nevermind that IF he gets hurt on a hit like that, he could break his neck, cause permanent spinal injury, etc. "But hey, he got up and skated away, so no harm done."
It infuriates me. If the league wanted to cut down on these, at least give Beleskey a major penalty for boarding (which is within bounds of NHL rules) and put his team down a man for 5 minutes. No NHL player wants to put his team in that position, and I'd be willing to bet he'd think twice before doing it again.
I love hockey, you all know that, and I try to stay fairly positive when talking about the game, but I see these guys going into the boards like that and I'm just waiting for that terrible moment when one doesn't get up. It's going to be terrible. And these types of hits are TOTALLY avoidable. There's no reason an NHL caliber player should feel the necessity to check a player that far away from the boards in that manner.
Rant over. Sorry guys, just had to get it out somewhere.
Also, congrats to all the dads in here still getting it from their ladies on the reg.