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Originally Posted by C_of_Red28
I thought both Neals and Thorntons were both dirty.. Glad to see Neal got at least 5 games for it. I thought he would only get 3. As for Thornton.. I like the guy and think he just got caught up in the moment.. but even he knows he was in the wrong.. I think 10-15 games is plenty.. Hopefully don't see more than that. As for Orpik I thought his hit on Erikkson was dirty... I think Orpik should of stepped up to the plate and fought.. I would of fought Thornton either.. but I would of challenged someone more my size..
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I don't doubt that he is feeling very contrite right now.
But I think it's fair to point out that if the concept of the team enforcer wasn't promoted as some type of justice-wielding measure, then the Thornton-type incidents would decrease.
Thornton is running around on the ice because he feels that as the team's enforcer, this is part of his job. Conversely, he probably felt a bit under pressure to go out and enforce some justice for his teammate because he senses (rightly or wrongly) that the coaching staff expects that of him. He was a little desperate to mete out justice, knew that he had not yet been able to do so, and lost his head.
So yes he got caught up, but I don't think we should excuse the pressure that these enforcer types feel because of how their role is defined by the coaches. Although I don't excuse Thornton for what he did, I also don't excuse the team and the coaching staff because they're the ones who define the roles for their players.