Anisimov Shot Down

There are a few unwritten rules in hockey, and one of them says that you should never show up your opponents or embarrass them in the eyes of sportsmanship. Artem Anisimov found out the hard way what happens when you decide to ignore that unwritten rule.

Lightning captain Vincent Lecavalier went after Anisimov immediately after Anisimov committed his shooting celebration, and the result was a four-minute double-minor for roughing, a ten-minute misconduct, and the obligatory two minutes for unsportsmanlike conduct. Sixteen minutes in the sin bin is pretty dumb after scoring a big goal.

"It was disrespectful to point directly at our net and our goalie," Lecavalier said. I fully agree. Anisimov scored a goal, so why push his luck by doing something dumb like rubbing the Lightning's faces in it? After all, you know the Lightning would have to react when disrespected as they were.

"He was wrong and he knows it," John Tortorella said of Anisimov. "He apologized to his teammates and we will move on from this."

Young players will do dumb things. He should just be lucky it was Vincent Lecavalier who was first on the scene for the Lightning, and not someone like Steve Downie. Things could have been a lot worse if it had been someone who is paid to keep peace rather than score goals. I'm sure that this sort of thing won't be seen again from Anisimov.

His coach, John Tortorella, would have been one of those guys who, had he been on the ice for the Lightning, probably would have pounded this knowledge into Anisimov's head.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!