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Originally Posted by Textcritic
Which is dumb. The only thing distinguishing Gudbranson's hit as "dirty" was the fact that it was a split-second late. Hits like that can happen in every single game, and every single player is at risk of being on the receiving end. What are you proposing here? Do the Flames need to dress Prout in every game just in case they do?
Prout's presence would NOT prevent hits like Gudbranson's. The game is too fast for even the best players in the world to process all of it that quickly. Like I said earlier (or in another thread) the only reason to dress Prout is for retribution, not deterrence. The likely result will be seeing the Flames playing big chunks of the game on Saturday shorthanded.
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I've never said it was a deterrent and such. So stop with the insinuation that is what I'm referring to. If you read my comments you would comprehend and understand I stated since this just happened the other night it's best to dress someone who is tough and can take a shift. That way when something like this does happen which is and I agree with you is a hockey play, you don't have an incident like Harmonic needing to step out of his weight class.
The hockey culture will always have someone step up on a hit like that. That is a given. In addition after what happened on Wednesday, having someone like Prout will make the team play bigger.
Do the flames need to dress Prout every game, no. But being the incident happened Wednesday. You absolutely do what you can to instill confidence in the team the next game. It's never a deterrent but can be an uplift to have someone like that on your team when you play said team again immediately after. As long as they can take a shift. Prout isn't a goon but can be steady as well on the back end in a third pairing role for a game here and there.