This I know about this incident:
- The hits were legal as defined by the rule book, which is all that matters. The NHL has no bias towards the Flames or Tkachuk, so they wouldn't pretend they weren't if they didn't think they were. So, now we are in the realm with all this talk about these hits are whether they SHOULD be legal or not moving forward.
- Tkachuk definitely targeted Kassian...........and managed to stay within the rules. He picked the target he thought he'd get the most bang for buck out of, and he was right. It's part of his game. I understand how this pest role is annoying to opposition fans (it would be to us roles reversed), but credit to Tkachuk for doing it masterfully within the rules. That show's part of his growth since Doughty round 1 where he failed to accomplish that perfectly.
- If I was an Oilers fan, I'd be very happy, outside of the result, that Tkachuk is targeting a player more than physically capable of handling the hits Tkachuk is doling out.
Things I believe about this incident.
For the first part of exercise I will replace Tkachuk as the offending Flames player, with Mark Giordano (I know as a D man he might not have the same opportunity on the hits, but this is more about the names).
- If Giordano made the same 3 hits on Kassian..............there might be some minor complaints coming out of Edmonton..............but other than that there would be 0 talk from anyone about whether these hits were suspect. People would be praising Gio for being the physical leader the Flames need and being a difference maker. People be going on about that's why he's the captain and why he won a Norris, so versatile. There would also be 0 talk about him having to "step up" to Kassian in a fight.
- If Kassian would have ragged dolled Gio in the same fashion (I think Gio would respond mind you), he would have received a minimum of a 5 game suspension. He would also be the hands down bad guy in this scenario in the media (outside of Edmonton) and the talk would all be about how Kassian is what is wrong with the NHL.
Now I'm going to replace Kassian with McD.
- If Tkachuk hit McD the way he did Kassian, first of all there would have been penalties on the ice. Tkachuk would have also received a suspension for sure, the NHL would have found a way to flop their stance on the hits.
- If McD started to rag doll Tkachuk (not that Tkachuk would have let that happen), he'd also be praised for sticking up for himself and his leadership.
Point being, nothing out of the ordinary happened in this event. The hits are only in question because of who laid them out. The NHL isn't responding to clean hits with discipline because of who they were on. And the Oilers overreaction to their tough guy taking some contact ignited the whole thing.
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