Hit on Raymond

I have another hit to talk about, I love writing about these stories but I wish I didn't have to. Last game Mason Raymond was sent into the boards awkwardly by Johnny Boychuk with only a few seconds into the game. It was one of the weirdest hits I have seen. Raymond was facing out while bent down when Boychuk drilled him into the boards. From replays you could tell that his back crunched and he laid on the ice for minutes almost paralyzed and was not able to put much weight on his legs while his team mates took him off. He left the rink on a stretcher and stayed in hospital when the doctor said he fractured his vertebrae. The hit was a little late and the puck was no where near Raymond when he got hit but he just went into the boards awkwardly. It is really too bad that Raymond got injured and they expect him to be out for four months at the best. But here is where the controversy begins, Boychuk never got a penalty for the late interference hit and he didn't get a suspension either. Boychuk should know by now about those types of hits, from a young age we all learn how to properly hit and we know we should be careful in what they call "The Danger Zone" that we should not be engaging in awkward hits in that zone. The fact is I know that the game is played at a fast pace but you also have to think, the hit happened in the first few seconds of the game. I also understand that Boston was excited and wanted to make a statement early but that is no excuse. You must be careful this is a fast game and believe it or not these guys do have respect for each other out there but the main priority is safety. I cannot believe that Boychuk did not get suspended for this incident, even the TSN panel backed up the decision not to suspend him. I mean hits like those lead to injury and just because we are trying to eliminate hits to the head and it wasn't a hit to the head doesn't mean that they shouldn't suspend him. Not only that but they suspended Aaron Rome on the hit on Horton in game three for four games and the fact that they didn't suspend Boychuk is just stupidity. It's not even about making it fair anymore it is about the game of hockey and keeping everyone safe. It can be frustrating when stuff like that happens, especially for Vancouver getting embarrassed on the road three times but not only that but these finals have been the biggest gong show ever and while the game on wed should be good it will be a hard fought blue collar game it's not what we are used to on Chicago, Pittsburgh or Detroit. But none the less Vancouver will be down a very important player and so will Boston and I think this game will be the game that makes everyone forget about the rest of the series and yes that means that I think the Cup is coming to Canada (whether you interpret that as Vancouver or the Canadian players on Boston is up to you).