I'm not being sarcastic when I ask who it is on the Rangers who would challenge Burrows or some of the other tougher Canucks.
The Rangers do not have a response. It is what is. Time to move along and all that. But let's not BS ourselves into thinking the Rangers are capable of initiating retribution or intimidation.
Not gonna happen.
Why could Carcillo and/or Dorsett not challenge them? I'm fairly certain that Carcillo was asking AV to put him out after.
No team ever has a response. There is literally no response that actually makes a bit of difference aside from making your own teammates maybe feel more comfortable or fostering a "we have each others' back" attitude in the room.
Nobody fighting is going to make certain players stop making dumb moves.
The idea that such a thing is even possible hinges on so many assumptions, the first of which is that these hits are premeditated to some degree, that players think "hmm is this team going to come after me if I do this?" then decide, "no, they won't," then make a dirty hit. Sometimes it seems like that might have happened, but I don't see how it could have this time. In addition, it doesn't seem that "tough" teams get less dirty hits against them, which would have to be the case if this logic were true.
Beyond that, nobody ever has to fight. What's the threat exactly? If the hitter thinks they can take the person retaliating, they'll scrum around, the refs will almost certainly get in the way to prevent a fight, and no one is any worse for it. If the hitter doesn't think they can take the person retaliating, they'll just turtle. Nobody is forced to fight in today's NHL - hell, even when there are two completely willing partners, the refs get between them and stop them fairly often. Maybe one out of a thousand times, the fight will actually happen and the guy sticking up for his teammate will seriously do some damage to the guy who threw the dirty hit. Maybe.
If suspensions don't stop these hits and giving the opposition extended PPs, which can cost the game, don't stop these hits - someone who arbitrarily fits the "tough enough" label being willing to fight about it certainly isn't either.
