Ice Wars Episode III: Revenge Of The Stripes
A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away….
Dennis Wideman gets drilled in the corner and his skull smashes against the glass. He's dazed and delirious on his way off the ice when NHL linesman Don Henderson skates backwards into his path to the bench. Instead of just side stepping the linesman, Dennis Wideman ends up drilling him from behind and sends him flying into the boards.
Ever since that moment, NHL referees have been lurking in the shadows. 6 years of carefully crafting and plotting their revenge. And last night in Toronto, the stripes struck back.
Now it may not have been nearly as violent as Wideman on Henderson. But make no mistake about it, this was an act of psychological warfare. Basically told Michael Bunting here "what are you gonna do about it" on his way off the ice. The answer was nothing. Most likely because doing anything about it would result in a 20-game suspension with a massive fine attached to it. But also because the linseman here is former AHL goon Dan Kelly. The man spent 7 seasons in the AHL and racked up nearly 700 penalty minutes. He wasn't necessarily the greatest fighter, but he had his moments for sure.
And now we know the NHL officials' secret plan. They've already hired a former enforcer in George Parros to be the head of the Department of Player Safety. Now they're hiring a bunch of former goons to be linesmen. The stripes have loaded up on muscle to make sure that nothing like that Dennis Wideman incident ever happens ago. Do NHL referees need enforcers? Not anymore they don't.
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Sidenote: I wouldn't exactly say that I love how Dan Kelly handled that situation. But at the same time, whatever. Michael Bunting has been known to be a little shit stirrer out there. I get why you'd want to just get him off the ice any way possible. Not like he hurt him or anything. Maybe just his pride a little.