Quote:
Originally Posted by Stugots
**** you Phaneuf. don't care if it was a "clean hit."
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it was 'clean' only according to the letter of the law. but, for me, it was another example of disrespect for a fellow pro. a guy seeing a chance to get away with hurting someone. probably not even suspension-worthy, but it leaves a bad taste.
it's like, when someone stupidly opens their door into traffic. do you hit it (after all, it was his fault) or give the guy a break and stop. (not the best analogy, i know). yep, sauer had his head down. and he was fair game, since the puck was closeby. but here we are. there are probably 15-20 players in the league who play like that.
it's almost impossible to stop this kind of thing...it's just a matter of having respect for your fellow professionals.
i do think the blindside charges - like what neil did to boyle or what wolski did to alfredsson - can be eliminated with stricter discipline. but this play was so weird...phanuef had the puck right up until the hit...he didn't target sauer from a long way away and charge him. there's really no way to quantify it in order to make a rule against it. can't really suspend a guy for having no soul.