Its hard for any Vancouverite to point an accusing finger and label Bruins fans and the Boston sports media a disgruntled, hyperbolic crowd of bad losers. But no one has to flip a car to merit such a charge. (Speaking of only one accused has pled guilty to charges relating to the violence and mayhem that scarred Vancouver in Junes Stanley Cup riot.)
Sportswriters cherish a heated rivalry, and in many cases the fuel that feeds the fire is poured from the pressroom. In a rare hockey column, Boston Globe commentator Dan Shaughnessy revelled in the gloves that littered the ice Saturday morning at the TD Garden in a 4-3 Canucks win over the Bruins in what, he rightly observed, coulda shoulda wouldafor Canucks fans anywaybeen Game 8 of the Stanley Cup Final.
He tossed his own gloves, dissing Vancouvers skaters as posers and floppers, arrogant and cowardly, likening them to hard-fouling, referee-baiting Pistons centre Bill Laimbeer and controversial antagonist Ulf Samuelsson, notorious in Boston for the 1991 knee-on-knee hit that cut short the career of Cam Neely. (Its hard to believe Cam Neely ever wore [a Canucks] sweater, goaded the Globe writer.)
But the columnist, dubbed Shank by we-read-him-so-you-dont-have-to bloggers at Dan Shaughnessy Watch, stops fanning the flames to light the kindling, pile on wood, stoke the fire and blow hard rhetoric when he concludes, Beating them up is just so much fun, and flipping one of them butt-over-tea kettle sweetens the day.
When smart hockey analysts, current and former players and medical professionals are discussing the psychological and physical trauma of violence in hockey and specifically the unknown long-term damage of concussions (with which Sami Salo was diagnosed following his butt-over-tea kettle spill when he was taken out from behind at the knees in a low-bridge hit from Brad Marchand), Shaughnessys conclusions are short-sighted, irresponsible and deliberately inflammatory. Provoking is what he does. Whether you feel fighting is an integral and traditional quality of hockey, taking glee in spilled blood and a bruised brain reduces the sport to an arena of Gladiators. But then again, Bruins forward Milan Lucic did go in for a headlock.
We can draw different conclusions from the same plays: No, Canucks forward Alex Burrows did not try to guillotine Shawn Thornton; Yes, Canuck Dale Weise turtled. Other claims by the Boston press are laughably, patently false.
Blessedly, the one regular season meeting between the two Stanley Cup finalists was fantastic and entertaining hockeyfighting or no fighting, casual thuggery or notand one of the best NHL contests this season. It was the first game I got excited about since burning out last summer. The game earned its billing and will be commemorated as a classica heated, bad-blood rivalry, thanks in no small part to button-pushing columnists.
Twitter: @MHStewart
