Arron Asham has apologized for knocking Jay Beagle’s face in and making a mockery of him for doing so. Asham’s showed contrition, sincere feelings, and looked like a human being for making an ugly fight look worse. There’s a few guys around the league that could learn from that.
Even after all that and more, Asham is worried that the referees around the league are going to type-cast him as the bad guy on the ice. Asham tells Paul Waldie of The Globe And Mail that he “doesn’t want his career to be defined by making a couple of stupid gestures” and that he “wishes he could take it back.”
Fortunately for Asham, he’s got a lot of bad deeds to do to wind up being the guy that catches the stink eye of the officials in Pittsburgh. Unfortunately for Pittsburgh, having a couple of guys who might not get the benefit of the doubt in an intense situation creates a potentially hairy situation for the Penguins.
Yes, officials are meant to be impartial but it’s human nature to see a guy with a reputation out there when things are getting rough and not suspect they’ve had a role in problems. Asham’s apologetic nature over this situation should keep him clear of earning a bad reputation and potentially some bad calls. That kind of positive work after a bad situation goes a long way, but that doesn’t mean we won’t be watching to see how the rest of his season plays out.