Claude Julien and his men were well aware of how much they needed the 2 points that were up for grabs in their contest with the Panthers last night and it showed. As soon as the puck was dropped the Canadiens made it clear that they had their heart set on getting the the win. Unfortunately, MacKenzie Weeager was ready for something else. He had been biding his time since Paul Byron hit him with a high hit in mid January (for which he was suspended for 3 games) and it was time to settle the score. Weeager asked Byron if he wanted to dance and since hockey players still live by "the code" the Canadiens' speed merchant just felt like he had to fight.
Problem is though, the Panthers' defenseman is 3 inches taller and 40 pounds heavier than Byron. There are no weight class in the NHL and if an heavyweight is fighting a lightweight, more often than not Goliath will prevail over David even though people love an underdog. Last night, Byron was put down with a well placed upper cut but still somewhat managed to get up to get off the ice and back to the locker room. Of course, the linesman had to support him as he was visibly bot shaken up and dizzy. I think it's safe to say this is one of the worst knock outs I've ever seen. To be fair, I'm not a boxing fan and I don't enjoy fighting in hockey but you can judge by yourself:
How do you feel about Paul Byron standing up for his hit earlier this season? #HockeyTwitter
— theBRKDWN (@theBRKDWNsports) March 27, 2019
He served his 3-game suspension but still stood in against Wieger and got dropped. pic.twitter.com/CGXVUX2JAV
I find it rather intriguing that in a time and age where the NHL is doing its best to prevent hits to the head through body checks, elbows and what have you it's fine for 2 players to just decide to beat the living daylight out of each other...or in this case, one of them does it and the other just takes a beating. Byron didn't HAVE to fight but he felt like he did...Former NHLer Simon Gagné commented today saying that for the good of his reputation throughout the league, Byron had to stand up for himself and face the consequences of his actions. See to me, he had faced the consequences by missing those 3 games he was suspended for.
I believe it's high time fighting is taken out of the game, today's athletes are bigger and stronger than they were before, some of those guys when punching just become weapons, dangerous weapons. There is no sense in risking the health of professional athletes in the name of entertainment.. I mean they don't even hit each other for real in the WWE and they're meant to be fighting surely that should tell us something.
Unsurprisingly, Byron did not fly with his teammates to Columbus, he's listed day-to-day with an upper body injury...who would have thought. Byron might have earn some respect from players around the league by answering for his actions but at what cost? I'm not even talking about missing the all important showdown with the Blue Jackets tomorrow but about the real danger that brain injuries are and how athletes can put both their lives and careers in jeopardy by engaging in such fights.
Now though, the Canadiens do have a match tomorrow and since Byron is out, it means that someone will draw back in. Who should it be in your opinion? Peca? Deslauriers? Hudon? Wease? That my friends is entirely up to Claude Julien and I'll admit that I'm almost scared to find out tomorrow...