[calumniate]

To me, it seems as though he wanted to get to the bench pretty bad and thought he was way out of the play (puck in the other end). Ref in the way was just icing on the cake.

So I'm not defending him or absolving him either. It's a super weird situation, with others potentially at fault as to how they handled him afterwards. Chris Simon was a loose cannon, but that play where he lumbered a guy after being hit into the boards was similar. The inner beast came out. Refs in mma are subject to this as well where fighters keep on swinging despite being tapped out and in lala land. I'm hoping for at least a bit of leniency here.