Board to Death

First and foremost, if you haven't seen the hit that Niklas Hjalmarsson laid on the Sabres' Jason Pomminville last night, take a look at the video real quick before you continue.

Now, media outlets everywhere have been coming down hard on Niklas Hjalmarsson's house-cleaning hit in the Hawks game from Monday night. People have referred to the hit as malicious, unnecessary, and vengeful. But, it seems as if nobody has taken into account the situation in which the incident occurred, or the player who was involved before these people started 'jumping to conclusions' like Tom Smykowski in Office Space. Hjalmarsson, or 'HJ' as I affectionately refer to him as, is typically an even-keeled, Sweed defenseman who gets his job done on the ice and doesn't provide many notable soundbites afterward (perhaps we just don't understand them because they're in Sweedish). Still, in a pivotal moment in the hockey game Monday night, with his Stanley Cup defending Blackhawks down a goal in the first period, HJ brought the wood to a defenseless defender (kinda ironic isn't it) who he anticipated would have the puck, and proceeded to knock him unconscious. After the hit, the Sabres and Hawks instantly began exchanging four letter words and four knuckle shuffles around the right circle and HJ was later given an exit ticket from HSBC Arena from the game's officials.

Now, was the play deserving of a penalty? Absolutely. Should he have been ejected? Possibly. But if Pomminville had rose to his feet and skated off the ice in his own power, would HJ be taking translated phone calls from the NHL commissioners office this morning and be a subject of constant criticism by every wannabe hockey safety advocate in the greater Buffalo area? Not a chance. What people need to realize is that HJ didn't go head hunting for Pomminville. He doesn't have an ongoing quarrel with Jason about his wife's whereabouts from a few Friday's back, and he didn't just level him because his last name sounds like an unincorporated village in upstate New York, he was just a victim of a violent hit in a violent game. Just like Chubbs Peterson's mom not signing the football permission slip because she thought it would be too dangerous, Pomminville shouldn't have laced up his sweater if he didn't know the dangers of professional hockey. Deciphering the difference between an aggressive hit and a malicious melee are about as difficult to tell apart as Ronde and Tiki Barber in pro hockey. Hockey players define their own sport--tough, gritty warriors. The kind of guys that get double digit stitches and are still probable for return, the kind of guys who still play despite their dental infrastructure looking like they were raised in the same Louisiana trailer park as those pro-insest maniacs who escaped from an Arizona prison in August.

Even after all of that, what disappointed me most may have been the yellow-bellied actions that recently caped Captain America, Ryan Miller took part in after the game. Instead of defending his player on the ice and throwing his weight around like our Captain Jonathan Toews did, Ryan Miller sat in his American flag boxers in the Sabres locker room and advocated suspending Hjalmarsson and openly questioned his motives to a bunch of sweaty journalists wearing short-sleeved floral button-downs holding CASIO 128MB Recording Devices to his mouth. I don't care how many lbs. of pads you have on Ryan, take off your mask and defend your boy like a hockey player if you want to say something. Not even an Olympic shutout can rescue you from that act pantywaist patsying.

As for Pick of the Day, that 4th quarter Brett Favre pick 6 led to the Jets covering the spread through the backdoor (no pun intended). Today, in the only game 5 of the divisional round of the MLB playoffs, Pulse Man likes the Rays to slay Cliff Lee, the Rangers former cocaine-addict manager, the Rangers former cocaine-addict Centerfielder, and the rest of George Bush's boys at (-115).

Pick of the Day: Rangers @ Rays. RAYS (-115)

Record: (23-18-0)

Now I'm done. Rack me

Frost