from Don Brennan of Off The Posts at the Ottawa Sun,
I’m not at the rink today – nor was I with Senators on their weekend road trip – but something has been bugging me ever since I saw on TV Kevin Westgarth ram Mark Borowiecki’s head into the boards from behind Sunday in Raleigh.
That something, of course, is the fact nobody went after Westgarth.
I know he’s a mountain of a man at 6-foot-4, 235 pounds. I know he is also one of the toughest guys in the league. And I know that the softer Senators were on the ice at the time of the incident.
But seriously, somebody should have done something. Fight him, stick him, grab him … anything. If not at the time, then at least later in the game. And if not to Westgarth, then to one of the Hurricanes’ smaller, more skilled players.
I have a problem with guys – Borowiecki being a prime example – having to fight when they deliver a clean, hard, open ice hit. But intentional or not, that was a dirty play. Is there another team in the league that would have watched one of its own get injured like that without retaliating at some point, in some form? I don’t think so.
Instead, the Senators sent a message to every other player in the NHL – it’s okay to take liberties against them. You may or may not have to answer the bell.
Watch the hit here if you missed it earlier and Westgarth does have a meeting today with the NHL Safety department.
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