Hockey players across the league lose their mind a few times during the season. When the banality of the regular season becomes too much to deal with, they have to break out in the only way they know how: trying to kill each other. It is fair to say that other players are the closest to letting out one's frustration.
The worst of the chaos occurred in Winnipeg. Hockey caters to its worst demographic because of its taste for justice. Which was the root of the Jets madness. When Neal Pionk said "Pionk", he kneed Rasmus Sandin on a rush.
The league needs to punish these kinds of hits more heavily. They can cause serious, career-changing injuries and if they don't, players will take it into their own hands to get justice. The players take kneeing very seriously because of the injuries they can cause. Even if Pionk meant to do this or not, it's irrelevant because of the urge to say he just reacted. It is dangerous. Pionk didn't get a penalty for this, which caused the assault that came later.
Which would be the decision of Spezza to take matters into his own hands.
Hockey is the only sport where you can be suspended more than five games for something the refs on the ice completely ignored because they are spineless, and Spezza is getting an in-person hearing for that.
Spezza should see at least 10 games for what he does here. He waits until Pionk is vulnerable, can't see him coming at all, and then aims for the head. Kneeing can cause injuries. One's life is pretty much the same after those are repaired. We can't say the same about head injuries. The height of chickenshit is what this is, no matter how many people plead for the replay today. This isn't about standing up for a teammate. This is a direct attempt to hurt an opponent in a major way. How long will the NHL allow this kind of thing to go on?
If the refs had taken care of this, this wouldn't have happened, instead they let players police themselves, which makes it worse. The Leafs should have had a major penalty. By not doing anything at all, the refs opened the door to murder from the likes of Spezza.
The best player on the planet,Connor McDavid, got in on the fun in the game against the Kings, as this wasn't the only controversy on the night.
The five minute penalty and game misconduct was given to McDavid. It doesn't mean that he was treated unfairly. The hit was pointless and dangerous. Adrian Kempe didn't have the puck, was facing the glass, and couldn't protect himself from the free shot that McDavid took. We know the truth, but McDavid can claim it was an accident. Again, this can cause head injury for no reason other than it.
The NHL is like this every night, where the malaise sometimes turns violent so that any of these guys can feel anything during the endless monotony of the games.
