I was sitting in the stands when Jesse Boulerice decided Ryan Kesler hadn’t eaten his daily recommended amount of lumber. I wasn’t the only one that was outraged, and not just because some jackass on the Flyers decided cross-checking one of our boys was a good idea with a few minutes left in garbage time of a 8-2 blow-out.

Well, I guess it was mostly that at the time since everything that came out of my mouth would make small, as possibly large, children cry. However, I’m more angry that this even happened and I would feel the same if it were any other teams involved. A stick to the face has no place in the NHL and more importantly, intent to injure is NOT a part of this game. Didn’t we learn our lesson just a couple weeks ago when Steve Downie put Dean McAmmond on a stretcher?

This is a serious problem in the game and it’s even more serious in that lengthy suspensions don’t seem to be getting the message through. Hits like this show a lack of respect for the game of hockey, for the fans and for fellow players. C’mon, when it comes down to it, isn’t this all in fun? Sure, fierce rivalries make games more interesting but everyone should be able to go out for a beer afterwards.

If a guy pissed you off, be a man and tell him to drop the gloves. Settle it by throwing down, not swinging the lumber, and it should be because you want to stick up for yourself and your team, not because you want to put the other guy in the hospital. That’s why I have huge respect for guys like George Laraque, who I once heard say “Good luck!” to an opponent after asking him, perhaps a little too politely, to tangle. That’s the sort of attitude we need in today’s NHL, not these morons who are looking to settle the score by ending careers.

Of course, guys like Boulerice will tell you they simply “lost their temper” but there is no room for that in a game played at such high speed with blades stuck to the bottom of one’s feet, swinging around six feet of carbon fiber. Sorry, we don’t have that luxury and something needs to be done before someone is paralyzed (which wasn’t a stretch looking at the Downie hit) or even killed. Is the punishment severe enough? Are we going to have to start fining the teams as well?

On a positive note, or as positive as it gets here, the league really showed that they are attempting to crack down with Colin Campbell handing Boulerice a 25-game suspension despite the fact that many analysts thinking it would be less since Kesler got up under his own power and was skating the next day. It shows that it doesn’t take a serious injury to justify a lengthy suspension. Intent to injure is enough, which is a massive step for a league that has seemed too reluctant compared to other major sports to suspend players. However, I wonder how this is going to work when a real star rather than a fourth liner gets involved. Look at Chris Pronger’s 1-game suspensions during the playoffs as an example of said reluctance. If we want fewer incidents like this, the NHL is going to have to get more consistent.

Also, good on the Flyers for not condoning and even condemning Jesse Boulerice’s actions on Wednesday. There are too many times where a team sugar coats a bad incident and defends a player that obviously went past the line.