Ha, nuclear deterrent, what rubbish. No, what he is is a liability, if he intends to keep jumping into fights like that. But if he doesn't and he now tones his actions down, then he quickly loses this so called 'deterrent' and becomes just another low IQ defencemen.
No, what Nurse now knows is that he has to challenge a guy fairly. Lets see him challenge Polak straight up and see if there are different results. But are the big tough guys in the league suddenly worried about Nurse? No way. He's back in for the St Louis game. Are Reaves and Backes sitting there worried about going onto the ice with Nurse? No chance, I bet they are loving it. I bet they are slashing him, cross checking him, trash talking him, anything to get him to react and do something stupid. And if he does drop the gloves and they oblige in kind, I'm willing to bet he gets smacked a lot.
No, what Nurse now is is an unpredictable liability. I'm sure he feels like the big man, I'm sure the guys in the dressing room are all giving him a pat on the back and saying well done. But sooner or later, he'll challenge a guy that will put him truly on his arse. There might not be goons in the NHL anymore, but there are enough big guys who can throw punches still. He'll challenge the wrong guy and he'll look very silly at the end of it.
You can't have one of your top 4 guys being a liability and being a target for the opposition players. All he's done is make things worse for himself and the Oilers. But if they and their media want to paint it as a victory, let em. Shows how badly they are scrabbling for positives in what has been another car crash season.
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