Beyond Dumb

I spent a long day at work today. I really needed something to let my brain unwind, and I happened across a hockey game featuring two rivals who hate one another in the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Philadelphia Flyers. This kind of rivalry between the two state-wide teams is one that always seems to bring the best out in both teams, so I settled in for what seemed like fun. And it was fun, but it also turned ugly late when Evgeni Malkin's brain decided to hit the showers early.

With the Penguins leading 3-0, with Matt Murray playing like he was a magnet for pucks, with the Penguins on the verge of defeating the Flyers, Evgeni Malkin was being bothered by Michael Raffl and responded by doing this.

After I let out an audible sigh, I began writing this piece because we're all taught from an early age in this game that one cannot swing one's stick at an opponent for any reason, let alone swinging it wildly towards an opponent's head. That simply cannot happen, and Malkin will be punished beyond the five-minute major penalty and the game misconduct he received tonight. How much punishment he will receive will likely be determined by the Department of Player Safety tomorrow.

Malkin has played 13 seasons in the NHL and 17 seasons professionally if you include his time with Magnitogorsk in Russia. He's won Stanley Cups, he's been an impact player, he's an alternate captain, he's been an All-Star, and he's generally seen as a player who can take over a game if given the opportunity. In other words, he's better than this. More importantly, he's smarter than this. But he'll hurt his team by sitting for at least a game after this reckless swinging of his stick that somehow avoided hitting Raffl in a serious way.

Malkin is better than this. He needs to be.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!