Last night a rivalry nearly a century in creation played
out. As history would have indicated Montreal won in convincing fashion. Last time the teams met Toronto destroyed
Montreal, beat them on the ice and in the alley. Most Montreal fans looked at
that loss as the harbinger of a terrible season. Toronto won that game because
their goon system was allowed by the referee. Toronto
employs three full time goons. Montreal has one fighter who is also a legitimate
third line player. The reason Montreal won last night was that the referee
nipped goonery in the bud. When the leaf Goon Brown made a dirty hit on the
Montreal player, he was not only heavily penalized; he was thrown out of the
game. With that message sent the team playing hockey had an easy night of it. I
hope this is a sign of the future of NHL hockey and not an aberration based
upon not wanting to repeat the near riot of the previous game. That would mean
that 6’5” players like Frazer Mclaren who you must admit with his helmet on
looks like an orc, would have to be able to play an elite level of hockey to
skate in the NHL.
