The Penguins have just played three very productive workmanlike games on the road to run their record to 5-1. They are playing tough physical hockey, answering hit for hit in three rough games in a row starting in Philadelphia, then Toronto, and now Ottawa.........it is fun to watch them play, fun to watch guys like Cooke, Kennedy, Rupp, Staal, Kunitz, Guerin, Adams, and McKee finish checks EVERY shift. That said, I am struck by the Canadien influenced cement head mentality of the NHL, which in many ways is still a garage league. I LOVE tough hard nosed hitting and even the occasional fight as much as anybody, but I cannot stand when players of questionable talent and character are allowed to run around and potentially hurt players because there are no consequences. Or at least consequences not significant enough to deter their actions. Lets start with the Flyers game, a tough hotly contested game all night long. At the end of the game, when it was apparent they were going to lose, Richards attempts to take Fleurys head off by running right over him, then turtling like a punk as if he were hurt so as not to take the retribution he deserved. Then Hartnell bites Letang, and with no direct video evidence there is no punishment......Hmmmmm, the two of them are in a scrum, and Letang leaves bleeding with teethmarks in his finger.......I wonder what may have happened there, huh? Only in Canada could a cross dressing loud mouthed imbecile like Don Cherry be popular....he thinks Hartnell had no choice because Letang "had his fingers in his mouth." What a joke.......then in Toronto they let Rosehill take some serious runs at players all nite, starting with an obvious spear to the upper chest again on Letang, and followed up by several cross checks and hits from behind into the boards...........hopefully, long memories will prevail and a season for a player who does not even matter will be ended the next time the teams meet........add Chris Neils dirty boarding hit on Gonchar, eerily similar to the hit by low life thug Koci that killed most of Gonchars season last year in this game, with no call and you see a pattern that puzzles me. I have no interest in protecting star players from the hardest of "clean" hits that can be delivered. I also have no problem with "letting them play" if you will allow the retaliation from the other team to serve as justice and future deterrent.......but what I see is less talented players attempting to make a name for themselves and level the playing field by targetting talented players for cheap shots.........and the referees ALLOWING IT...........so lets end the season of a Malkin, Crosby, Gonchar, Tavares, Gaborik or other guys nobody comes to see, so that these great pillars of the game like Hartnell, Rosehill, Niel, Ruutuu can play on an even playing field.............The Pens are so well known for their skill level, that many make the mistake of underestimating the toughness and will of this team.......it is a mistake that I enjoy watching...........they will match any team in the league in a rough game of hockey.....the refs need to make sure that the cheap shots and hits from behind are punished enough to be a deterrent..........I promise more than one seaoson of an exciting player will be ruined by a cheap shot from a guy whose talent is marginal at best......
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