What absolute claptrap. To extrapolate what a paid antagonizer does and equate that to mean the person must be a sociopathic pariah is among the most ridiculous things I've seen stated here.
While I agree that sociopath is probably taking it a bit too far, I think you are being disingenuous when you hide Kassian's actions behind the words "paid antagonizer".
This incident didn't take place in some sort of antagonistic confrontation, or even a fair fight between gentlemen. It was at best an act of senseless carelessness, and at worst a blatant attempt to injure using a weapon. Gagner was an utterly innocent victim.
But suppose we excuse all that. What do you say to a person who has months to reflect on the damage he has done to a fellow professional's career, and he chooses to mock the victim publicly? While that may not qualify as sociopathy, it certainly raises some very serious questions about Kassian's mental makeup. Imagine how low you have to be that you can't even shake hands, and apologize as a human being after breaking someone's jaw and causing them to endure surgeries and countless hours of pain and suffering.
it seems as if you didn't even consider that this is a player that will do anything to get an edge as an antagonizer.
This is a strange narrative. I noticed it earlier with the cinder block wall comment. What evidence do you have that Kassian is the type of guy who will do anything to win and absolutely lay it all on the line for the team? If he was that sort of player would he be where he is right now?
Kassian wasn't just mocking Gagner. He was mocking a team that will do nothing about it or about any injury or licence taken against any player. To that degree I actually thank Kassian for outing what a backless ****show this lineup typically is.
Allrighty then. So long as he was mocking the team, fans and city as well, that gives him license to hold a fake straw up to his mouth as if he is sipping his dinner?
I gotta say, I'm very surprised to find you on that side of this argument.
I'd respect Kassian a lot more if he would have dropped the gloves with some legit heavies instead of running his mouth and cheap-shotting the littlest guys he could find.
Sams own teammate, Taylor Hall, in perhaps not his most thoughtful moment laughed at Gagners face on Twitter and said "That's a good look for you Sam". Nobody would be calling Hall "Human garbage" for saying that it was merely bad humor and bad judgement.
You can't seriously be comparing the good natured well wishes of a team mate with being mocked, by Kassian of all people, on national TV? I can't believe I'm reading this. One of the most disgusting things I've ever seen a Canuck player do, and that's saying a lot given the beauties they tend to employ, reduced to bad humor.