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The late Capt. Lou Albano used to have a stock assessment of his many storyline enemies: "He's got the brain of a dehydrated BB. Put his brain in a parakeet and it would fly backwards."

Well, Boston Bruins forward Zac Rinaldo and Dallas Stars counterpart Antoine Roussel are two dehydrated BBs in the same BB gun barrel in the way they play the game, because both players are diminishing returns players who ultimately become liabilities to their own side. Both are somewhat like BB pellets, flying around at random targets except both are capable of causing more damage.

I have already had my say on how Rinaldo plays the game, and why I think any team that would have him on its roster -- or coach that starts him in games -- is doing itself a disservice. Roussel is virtually the same player as Rinaldo, except that Roussel has just enough skill to score 13 or 14 goals a year whereas Rinaldo contributes nothing in that regard.

Be that as it may, the Rinaldos and Roussels of the world are almost always bound to be journeyman players when all is said and done: their recklessness, lack of genuine toughness, risk-taking in taking themselves out of the play because they are so worried about hitting someone -- anyone -- who may be vulnerable, their lack of respect for the safety of fellow players and their mutual tendecies to take more needless penalties that leave their own team shorthanded than the power plays they supposedly create by goading the opposition.

Ultimately, their teams realize that the negatives start to outweigh whatever so-called energy they bring to the club. The players inevitably become a distraction and detriment to the team's bigger objective of winning games.

I do not want to restart the debate about the demise of the old-school policeman role in the game but, yes, I do attribute part of the reason why the Rinaldos and Roussels of the game run amock is that there is no one on the other side to put them in their place. Meanwhile, since there is an epidemic of players who neither know how to protect themselves nor stand up to defend their teammates, having a Rinaldo or Roussel running amock actually increases the danger to a team's own players.

I don't know whether to laugh or vomit when I sometimes see players like Rinaldo or Roussel described as "tough guys" or "agitators," because they are neither. True agitators don't leave their own team shorthanded so much, and neither guy would stand a chance in a fight with someone who could handle himself, especially a heavyweight. Call them what they really are, which is a blight on the game.

When Rinaldo and Roussel play against one another, it is almost a cinch that one or both will do something incredibly stupid. It's usually just a matter of which one does it first.

Back in Dec. 2013, when Rinaldo was with Philadelphia, he got an aggressor penalty and created a seven-minute penalty kill for his own side by jumping and punching Roussel (who didn't fight back) about a minute into first period.



On Tuesday night of this week, it was Roussel's turn to deliberately foul Rinaldo with a slew foot and a high stick in one continuous motion.



It is hard to feel much sympathy for ether player -- Rinaldo vs. Roussel is kind of like Iran vs. Iraq proposition -- but even guys who deserve their comeuppance play under the same Rule Book. The Department of Player Safety this season already emboldened Rinaldo (and, by extension, Roussel) to keep on doing their thing. It will be interesting to see if the NHL sits on its hands with Roussel here.


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Paul Stewart holds the distinction of being the first U.S.-born citizen to make it to the NHL as both a player and referee. On March 15, 2003, he became the first American-born referee to officiate in 1,000 NHL games.

The longtime referee heads Officiating by Stewart, a consulting, training and evaluation service for officials. Stewart also maintains a busy schedule as a public speaker, fund raiser and master-of-ceremonies for a host of private, corporate and public events. As a non-hockey venture, he is the owner of Lest We Forget.