NHL Continues to be Stupid #NHL

I know less than nothing when it comes to hockey and the NHL. I know that there are people who love it, who defend it with great passion and think it is the greatest game ever invented. Then there is the other 98% of the populace.

I do know this however; what happened to Bruins' center Marc Savard was a huge reason why hockey will never be more than a niche sport at the NHL level in this country. Savard took an elbow from Penguins' forward Matt Cooke that turned off his lights, dropped him to the ice and then had him taken out of the rink on a strecther. The shot was cheap, dirty, and from the blind side. A vicious, flagrant hit that was thrown for no other reason than to try and hurt his opponent.

I don’t want to hear about code, or honor, or not knowing the game. I agree, I know none of those things. But I know thuggery and senseless violence when I see it and I saw it yesterday in Pittsburgh. The code, the rest of the BS that is used to cover a senseless assault, is just that, crap.

There is no reasonable explanation for that kind of play. The Olympics were great. That kind of hockey might actually have a chance to appeal to non-hockey fans. NHL hockey, with those kind of hits being the only thing that someone watching ESPN might see, is dead in the water.

The instances of goonery might be rare, but not rare enough. I like watching Ray Lewis smash into Ben Roethlisberger as much as the next guy. I like a hard hit and controlled mayhem too, but that kind of play is chickenbleep. The league needs to make an example of guys like Cooke who throw cheap dangerous hits; otherwise, the league will continue to be the most popular sports league that Versus has to offer.

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