Quick PSA To All NHLers Out There: Stop Hitting Guys Into Your Own Goalie, You Dumb Stupid Idiots
Last night in the Carolina-Detroit game, Eddie Lack had to be stretchered off the ice after colliding with Andres Athanasiou who was pushed into Lack by his own teammate Victor Rask. This exact play is something that happens at least once per game. Usually the goalie ends up being alright but it was only a matter of time before one of them got injured. Out of all the dumb shit that hockey players do on a regular basis, this is by far the dumbest. It’s something I’ve been fighting against since at least May of 2015.
How stupid do you have to be to be in this position right here and think to yourself that taking the body is a good idea?
Best case scenario is you end up in the box for 2 minutes and nobody dies. Worst case scenario is your either send a dude head first into the boards and we have another Connor McDavid situation on our hands, or you push the guy right into your own goalie and now we have this situation on our hands.
Thankfully it sounds like Lack will be okay and he tweeted out last night that he was able to leave the hospital on his own. But still. It was only a matter of time before something like this happened when it’s so common for guys in the league to hit opposing players into their own goalie. I just don’t understand the thought process behind it. I get you want to take the body in front but have a basic understanding of your surroundings. Understand that if a guy is driving to the net at full speed, maybe it isn’t the brightest idea to hit him from behind. Are they trying to draw a penalty? Are they looking for goaltender interference? Who the fuck is teaching guys to do this? It happens Every. Single. Game.
You’d think that common sense would have told them to knock this shit off years ago but here we are. 2 years into my fight against hitting players into your own goalie and it’s as big of an epidemic as ever. Maybe this Eddie Lack injury is what needed to happen in order for these guys to turn their goddamn brains on and stop making this play every night.