Welcome back to the NHL. Check out this monster hit by Mattias Ohlund on Phil Kessel. All I can say is "OUCH." You have to keep your head up when you come across the Blue line. The part I don't like is someone lays out a player with a legal hit and then someone comes after Ohlund and wants to fight. That's ridiculous.
Hitting the other team's skilled players, especially one who is just coming off an injury is going to illicit some anger from the guys put on the team to protect guys like Kessel plus after a hit like that, momentum can shift to the hitting team where a fight can swing it back in your favor. I'd be more upset if my tough guys didn't come and protect me if I were Kessel.
ReplyDeleteI think it's bush league to want to fight someone after a good hit, checks are part of the game, you get back up and take a number get them later.
ReplyDeleteKessel has been known to get clobbered a few times skating across the blue line. It happened to him a few times when he was a Bruin. This was actually one of the more interesting stories in the Northeastern Division the Return of Kessel.
Sticking up for your skilled players, clean hit or not, is part of the game too.
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