For two teams who rarely see each other considering the fact that they play in other conferences, there certainly was a lot of anger on display between the Boston Bruins and Dallas Stars on Thursday night. After all, the two teams engaged in a dizzying three fights in the game’s first four seconds.
The probability of bad blood boiling during their next game is pretty high too, as the two teams will have another violent moment to focus on. Bruins forward Daniel Paille nailed Stars right wing Ray Sawada with a blindside check that former PHT editor Brandon Worley called “one of the worst hits” of the 2010-11 season.
(Click that link for video of the hit. We will try to pass along one of our own as soon as possible.)
Team-related bloggers often disagree about controversial hits like these, but SBN’s Boston Bruins blog Stanley Cup of Chowder also labeled it a blindside hit and wonders if a suspension is coming for Paille. The blog also notes that Paille’s match penalty was downgraded to a game misconduct after the game, something that might factor slightly into whether or not the league will take action for the stomach-turning blow.
Considering the trouble Marc Savard is facing thanks in large part to Matt Cooke’s blindside hit from last season, the Bruins are one of the last teams who should complain if some serious discipline comes from this situation. To their credit, the Bruins expressed regret about it, admitting it was a bad hit.“I mean, it’s a bad hit, right?” Bruins defenseman Andrew Ference said. “That’s what they’re trying to get rid of. You can’t be a hypocrite and complain about it when it happens to you and say it’s fine when your teammate does it. It is a head that they’re trying to get rid of.
“You hear it from every player after they do it, they feel bad,” Ference added. “I just talked to Danny and he feels bad. It’s tough. That backchecking forward, to make those kinds of hits now, it’s so hard to do it in a clean fashion with the new rules. It is what it is. He hurt the guy and I’m sure he’ll have a little conversation [with the league].”
Sawada came down the middle of the Bruins zone and was leaning slightly forward trying to maintain control of the puck when Paille came from his right and delivered a lateral hit with the shoulder. Sawada went down hurt and did not return to the game.
It’s not known at this time if Sawada will miss any time from the hit. It’s sad that it’s a bright side when a player doesn’t need stretcher, but it appeared that he was at least able to skate off the ice after the collision.
We hate to fuel conspiracy theories here, but one wonders if the Bruins’ status as an “Original Six” franchise along with the built-in doubts that come from Colin Campbell’s son playing for the B’s will factor into the suspension (or the outrage that would come from Stars fans if nothing is done).
Either way, we’ll keep you updated in regard to the latest controversial hit in a disturbing series of dirty checks.