All right, who switched the NHL referees with the playground monitors from elementary school recess?
The Philadelphia Flyers-Pittsburgh Penguins game on Wednesday was more embarrassing for hockey than any level of disarray could have been.
The NHL caved into the pressure, and it was ridiculous. Players were sent to the locker rooms for getting into scuffles that resulted in little harm.
Every type of physical play became a borderline penalty, and the true grit of professional sports turned into soccer players diving after every bump from the opponent.
Surprisingly, the media applauded it. ESPN.com wrote a headline during the game that read, “Make It Stop” — a phrase heard more often from a girl whose lovers got into a battle for her affections rather than a media entity.
This came after the enlightening preview subhead, that read, “The Flyers could finish off the Penguins tonight, but that isn’t what we’re talking about.”
While the third game of the Flyers-Penguins series was brutal, it showed what is great about hockey.
It is the only sport where the players have the ability to take care of everything through hard checks and fights. Also, no player missed game four because of injury, but three missed it because of suspensions.
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