[nickk382]

I really wanted to start a thread on this but hopefully I can catch some responses from you fine gentlemen here on my thoughts.

I'm really sick of seeing players attacking someone who deliver a massive and clean hockey hit on someone - especially if it's their all-star.

This is hockey - it's a physical game at its most general understanding. Now we are talking playoff hockey and calling hockey a physical game is an understatement.

If someone gets leveled by a clean hockey hit and they get attacked by a player, that player and/or players who attacked him instantly gets a 5 minute major and tossed out of the game. Not only that, but the player who got attacked has complete immunity from any penalties for defending himself. You shouldn't be attacked for doing something that isn't illegal, not frowned upon, and is and always will be a part of the game.

If all-star players like McDavid get caught keeping their head down by big boys such as Lucic for example, that's part of the game. There is this notion that no one verbally says that allows for this crap to happen, "I'm really really good at hockey so you can't hit me like that. Hold hits like that when my 4th line out on the ice."

I also have noticed that players on the same team as someone who clearly embellished/dove to get a powerplay doesn't get a tongue lashing by his own teammates anymore. Bouchard got fist bumps from his entire team when he went back to the bench, and you literally saw the entire Oilers bench look up at the jumbotron to see that it was clearly a dive. I remember Doan ripping Prucha apart for doing that once way back in the day and also Jamie Benn on Klingberg (I think - I could be be making this up.)

End of rant - I've had a few drinks of the naughty water.

PS. Imagine if we still had Ferland (hope he is doing well) and was just as healthy and a beast as he was in that 1st round we had against the Canucks (thanks again AC for that compilation video of that - I watch it religiously). Lucic is much older now and I get that but we have no one like Ferland to get the boys buzzing and worse of all, I see Gaudreau terrified of touching the puck.

Boys will be boys and when your team is down, the only way to get the boys buzzing again and tickle their pickle is physicality via obliterating.

Good article, Steve - thank you, sir!