- Jan 29, 2003
- 25,618
- 21,323
It would have been fitting if Wilson tackling Marchand ended Marchand's season as Wilson gave him a concussion earlier in the season as well. Wilson also took Marchand off for 10-10 misconducts at the end of the game.
Marchand is clearly frustrated with how he has been targeted this year; risking breaking a hand fighting Orlov is a clear sign of that. The refs will NEVER give him the benefit of the doubt and other teams see they can cross the line with him.
Do you notice at the end of this scrum, "Killer" is standing next to Wilson with the gentle hug?
I repeat the question: which Caps star was targeted in the same way that Marchand was last night?
BTW: It was really interesting to watch the game and see how well behaved Wilson was against the Pens earlier this year! He's usually extra nasty against them but I'm sure it had NOTHING to do with this in the back of his mind:
** Funny how in Wilson's first game against the Reaves-less Blues he did this and broke Jaskins:
People who think there is no intimidation in hockey are beyond delusional. I'm not a small guy (230pds) but there are other guys that scare the crap out of me, on and off the ice. I used to be a great hitter when I was a young guy in northern Canada but I would go from blowing guys up to just finishing my checks if I knew I had to fight certain guys as a result. Maybe it's just me and I'm a sissy but I suspect I'm not the only one.
Every comment in this post is on point. If you’ve played sports after the age of 15, at any level, I cannot fathom not understanding that intimidation is a factor.
I’ll concede that the effect that intimidation has is entirely unquantifiable, but it exists.
I was fortunate enough to play fast pitch softball at a very high level for a few seasons when I was in my 20’s.
The first year or two there was a team that was a heated rival. I’m talking 4-5 brushback pitches, a game, hard take out slides at 2nd base, catchers (me) getting bowled over....the whole 9 yards. The other team pretty much had their way with us.
Season 3 we grabbed a couple of guys from one of the lesser teams. One was a pitcher who was huge and threw hard, the other was a first baseman who was intimidating because he literally never talked to anyone on the other team (except in anger). No chit chat at first base, nothing. Very unfriendly guy, even to some of his teammates.
Those two guys changed the entire dynamic of the rivalry. If we got brushed back, one of their guys took one in the ribs. If our SS got taken out, theirs did too, whether necessary to the play or not. Our whole team, 10 of which we’re exactly the same guys from the first two years played entirely differently because we added two tough guys. Again, this was softball, not the NHL.
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