[Dion]

So What Can Be Done to Prevent This From Happening Again?


Honestly, I have no idea. Maybe the NHL could actually step up and regularly call slashing infractions? Enough of this “game management” garbage, call penalties when a penalty happens. If that means calling 7 penalties a game on a team for slashing Gaudreau, then so be it, because there have been games where that really should have happened. People watch the NHL to see the stars of the league, so maybe the NHL should do a better job of protecting them from dirty plays. Gaudreau is not the only victim of this; I regularly watch Winnipeg Jets games and a similarly skilled player in Nikolaj Ehlers is frequently victimized by such plays. It happens to many smaller, fast players throughout the league. It is on the NHL to make it stop, regularly calling penalties would be a good first step.


Some may argue that the Flames should make teams pay for going after Gaudreau and in a sense I agree, but what exactly are his teammates supposed to do about it? Good on Sam Bennett for hunting down Suter later in the game and giving him a good crosscheck, but that does not negate what happened to Gaudreau. The Flames have players like Micheal Ferland, Troy Brouwer and Deryk Engelland that can make teams pay physically, but are they supposed to go take retaliation penalties that will put the team at a further disadvantage and not really help prevent such a thing from happening again in the future? Gaudreau was slashed all the time last year when the Flames regularly dressed Brandon Bollig and Lance Bouma. Are the Flames supposed to go and mercilessly slash other team’s skilled players to even the playing field? That does not sound like a good solution. There are no winners in that scenario.

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