Maxim Lapierre isn’t expecting a warm welcome in San Jose on Friday.
The Blues agitator, who concussed Sharks defenseman Dan Boyle with a hit from behind in mid-October, says he’s ready for a harsh reception for the first meeting between the two clubs since the incident.
“Obviously I think it will just be a normal thing for the fans to react to that,” Lapierre told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. “I’m ready to face the music.”
Lapierre said that he and Boyle exchanged texts following the incident, but only to explain what each was thinking at the time of the hit. It doesn’t sound like any fences were mended -- “I can’t say [Boyle’s] happy with it,” Lapierre explained -- and Boyle told the San Jose Mercury News he’s not in the mood for making nice.
“Not really,” Boyle said, when asked if he was ready for a handshake moment with Lapierre. “Not right now.
“I understand there are times in a game with some of these open ice hits that are just part of hockey. But when you hit somebody from behind like that, it’s a lack of respect.”