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I’ll be honest, I turned off the game. Shortly after the second period started. I tuned in a couple more times in the third, and can confirm Detroit losing 7-3 and players from both teams still were taking stupid shots at each other. Dirty plays on both sides and referees that are either incompetent or grossly unqualified to handle these games.
After being mocked by St. Louis fans over my concern for the cheap shots and violence, an idiotic play by Columbus put Jared McIsaac on a stretcher. And then, Detroit started their own parade to the box being just as stupid. Detroit has 5 or 6 players whose seasons could be shot because of dirty play from Dallas, St. Louis, and now Columbus. And the response is to do the same thing? Where on God’s green earth does it end. Hearing Art Regner say that, “no one means to make a dirty hit… is such an embarrassment. Let’s own what’s happening here so we can change it.
I wondered how Detroit would handle another night of vicious and dirty physical play. In essence, they lost two more players. Berggren and Raymond, arguable two of the most talented forwards on the roster, are on the shelf. A St. Louis fan actually chimed in to blame Berggren for his own injury. Calling Berggren a 180 pound “wimp… and praising him being run over and hurt. That attitude continues to plague this tournament.
Let me be very candid. My life was turned upside down because of an incident in, of all things, a roller hockey league. After taking several cross checks and trying to get it to stop (it was a no contact league) a maniac ended up kneeling on my chest and punching me in the head a half dozen or more times. I lost count because i lost consciousness for a second or two. I had a helmet on.
As I was coming to, I saw the guy who hit me get a fist bump at his bench while they laughed. I see fans doing the same, I see parents in jr hockey do the same. The Players aren’t helping their own cause. As long as someone thinks they can get ahead by destroying someone else, this will keep happening. I have to get past the fans from that last blog. My hope is that you really don’t know what you’re saying. I hope you’re not cheering watching a guy carry his helmet back to the bench. I hope you don’t really mean that someone’s size dictates the type of injury they deserve to have. I’m willing to call my team out. Detroit’s response disgusted me. Chase Pearson in particular is supposed to be a leader out there. Sebrango nearly put another guy on a stretcher as well.
These tournaments put so many players on the shelf. Is it really worth it to watch prospects try to kill each other? I’m deeply disappointed in the officiating. If, on Friday night, players were kicked out of a game or suspended from the tournament, this would have stopped. Instead you had players and coaches taking swings at other players while they were on the bench. The whole thing is a disgrace at this point. Do you really want to see someone not be able to function as a human being at 19 or 20 years old? From the feedback I’ve gotten, some fans certainly don’t seem to mind. As long as it’s not someone on their roster.
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