I really wonder how a scum bucket like Roussel is even allowed to play.....watched the game in spurts but saw the short segment where he jammed Gunnar to the head and then cross checked Tank up high at the bench....what a garbage player. He's the prototypical intent to injure player....gives the entire league a bad name by being on the ice.
The league allows players like Roussel to thrive with the way they officiate the game. Scumbags like Roussel draw penalties from retaliation for their team, and throw scorers off their game. I think it would be best for the NHL to phase out these types of players. Is it really best for the NHL to have guys going out their looking to throw top scorers off their game and injure star players that NHL fans pay money to watch play the game?
I think not.
I think players of his type are relics from "old time hockey". But in "old time hockey" guys could give him an elbow to the face when they saw him coming. In "old time hockey" guys like Thorburn wouldn't get an instigator penalty for forcing cowards like Roussel to fight.
But in today's NHL scumbag players can go out there, play dirty, look to injure the other team's top players, draw retalatory penalties and escape punishment from a deserved beatdown... And in the event that they do drop the gloves, they have their helmets on anyway, so rarely do they ever get the beating they deserve.
If the NHL wanted to phase out the Roussel's of the game, they absolutely could. I believe they would need to do the following:
1. Make an offseason decision to clean up the game and get rid of the pests, punks and scumbags of the game like Roussel, Wilson, Shaw, etc.
NOTE: I'm not saying those 3 should be out of the NHL entirely, all 3 have other talents, and would need to alter their games to keep playing clean hockey.
2. Over enforce every cheapshot by specific players. Make life a living hell for the 3 mentioned and other players like them. Make coaches keep them out of the lineup with the massive penalty minutes they get assessed.
3. Suspend those types of players with massive suspensions every time a suspendible infraction occurs. 2-6 game suspensions are worthless. Suspend known offenders for 25+ games, often. Make their team see their salary as wasted salary.
If those 3 things were to happen with regularity, I think the game would be much cleaner, star players less injured and better able to perform within a season or less.