Part of the cause of this fight….was Milan Lucic hitting Tim Jackman. The Isles took exception to this but of course way later. Now the hit was from behind even if it went shoulder first. Okay here is the fight first.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bN8njtpZ_zg&hl=en&fs=1
Lucic Vs. Witt
Now Jackman did come back from the hit itself. I should be able to get video of the hit sooner rather than later but the bottom line is this. Lucic is a force! He is going to pound you and he can also score on you. Some of his hits have been deemed questionable but the majority are actually very clean. The hit today was kind of from behind….right on the shoulder. However no penalty was called. That will be the interesting thing in all of this.
What is the more dangerous trend is that this seems to happen to the Islanders a little more frequently than most teams. Why? Really there is no other reason than the fact that teams feel like they can bully the Islanders. Lucic was not being a bully in this case obviously…he was just being a little too physical maybe. Now the puck was there unlike the Grier hit but this was questionable at best. I am sure the Islanders are sending a tape of this to Colin Campbell even as we speak.
Now is there something to do about these hits from behind? Well maybe Brendan Witt had the right idea when he dropped the gloves with Lucic but the timing was all wrong. Too bad the retribution did not take place right after the Lucic hit. Hey if you think it is questionable….take exception to it right then and there. Don’t wait until the game is out of hand.
So Lucic did appear to get away with one unless the league does take a look at it. Hopefully Colin Campbell is not filling his face with turkey and at least makes an honest effort to look at the Grier hit and the Lucic hit. Make some kind of statement one way or the other instead of hiding between a wing and a leg.
