Montreal Canadiens tough guy George Parros was only sticking up for his teammate PK Subban when his night ended abruptly and he was transported to a Montreal hospital for evaluation and observation.
With Toronto leading 3-2 early in the third period of the season opener in Montreal, Maple Leafs tough guy Colton Orr drove hard to Carey Price's crease with vim and vigor. Habs D-man PK Subban took exception to the contact on his goaltender after the whistle had blown, so he opted to bottle cap Orr restore order in his end of the rink. Orr broke fee from Subban's head lock just as Habs rookie Jared Tinordi punched leafs rookie Carter Ashton square on the button sending the young Leaf to La La Land. Habs brawler George Parros did whet he's paid to do, which is to stick up for Subban and Price by challenging Orr to a punch in the face contest. Parros won their first fight of the game by TKO. This would be their rematch. The two heavyweights locked up on one another, they traded cinder blocks to one another's head. and they wobbled til something had to give. Orr hit the deck first, then Parros followed. The Montreal heavyweight fell forward, off balance, and his face violently broke his fall. It happened so quickly that Parros couldn't get his hands untangled from Orr's sweater quickly enough to use them to break his fall, so gravity took over and the 6'5 Parros was knocked unconscious. He lay motionless, on his belly, blood streaming from his chin and mouth. Orr immediately jumped to his skates and summoned the Habs' training staff to mobilize to get to work on the seriously injured Parros.
The scene was gruesome, shocking, upsetting and violent.
That the implied risk of being an NHL fighter. A serious, perhaps career ending injury, is just one punch away. Even the heavyweight champs get knocked out cold and suffer brain injuries from being concussed.
A thought crossed my mind as I watched Parros be stabilized and stretchered off the ice to an awaiting ambulance.
Are Toronto head coach Randy Carlyle and Habs head coach Michel Therrien now subject to the same fine that the NHL levied against Sabres head coach Ron Rolston as a result of the John Scott-Phil Kessel incident in Toronto on September 22? Rolston was fined for leaving his heavyweight Scott on the ice for the next shift after a fight that resulted in Toronto heavyweight goon Jamie Devane breaking the jaw and concussing Buffalo middleweight Corey Tropp, who's helmet-less head smashed the ice after losing the one-sided fight.
The NHL fined Rolston for his "player selection".
One wonders if Brendan Shanahan and the NHL have the stones to fine Carlyle and Therrien for their decisions to skate Parros against Orr, especially after the two men had fought earlier in the second period.
I'd love to say yes that the NHL will follow the standard set forth in the Scott-Kessel incident, but I know better. The NHL makes up the rules as they go along. They formulate the discipline to meet the crime. case in point, the Rolston Rule. The Sabres head coach was fined because he left John Scott on the ice after Tropp had scored the goal that bought the Sabres to within one goal in the exhibition game in Toronto.Carlyle had last line change and decided to throw Kessel onto the ice to "defuse" the anger and aggression that was born out of the incident that saw the bigger Devane brutalize the smaller Tropp.
Will the NHL be handing out fines to the head coaches?
Its just another night, and yet another fight for the Leafs.
Is it time to brand Randy Carlyle a repeat offender?
Listen to Don Cherry accuse Ron Rolston of being a sh*t disturber of a head coach by having the audacity to line up Scott against Kessel.
Whats more, Grapes called Scott a "bully" and a "coward" for terrorizing Kessel. No metion of the coward Kessel lumber jacking Scott?
Shut up, Grapes!
Thanks, CBC
Listen. I'm a big fan of fighting in hockey. I believe that there is a place for bare knuckle fighting in the game. There are inherent risks to be sure, like the concussion that Parros is now suffering from as a result of the face plant to the ice after he and Or tumbled oddly down. The damage to Parros was not caused by a fist.
When Darcy Regier and Lindy Ruff summoned veteran grinder Steve Ott to Buffalo, they did so with a purpose in mind. Regier wanted to to build a team that is tougher to play against than Leafs teams of the recent past. Ott wasted very little time in holding his teammates accountable in his first season in Buffalo.
Captain Thomas Vanek learned a lot about being an accountable NHLer by watching and listening to his former teammates Chris Drury and Mike Grier. Now its time for Vanek to apply all the lessons that he has been taught over the years.
Alternate Captain Christian Ehrhoff feels like he is ready to make more of a leadership contribution to his young Buffalo Sabres squad.
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