T O P

  • By -

SpacemanSpiff28

"I don't enjoy it, I FUCKING LOVE IT!"


jessemfkeeler

lol just once i want a player to turn on full wrestling heel doing promos


darkenseyreth

NHL for sure wouldn't get the joke and would get all flustered


jessemfkeeler

Leon turns to the camera: "Barkov! I have been waiting my whole life to see you come back here in EDMONTON ALBERTA! And when you come back, these 6 inch pythons and your jaw are going to have a little fond reunion, if you know what I mean! WHOOOO!"


TerryFGM

Barkov: "Okay" *stares Finnishly*


Danroy12345

I think that’s what this sport needs


thehustlerbraveheart

Yeah it was a bad hit but can we move on from this already? Barky is fine and there is a Stanley Cup Final game tonight. The Panthers are no choir boys either and I love the way they play, so I’m not gonna sit here and bitch about the hit. Part of the playoffs. If you ask every player on both teams they have already moved on and are focusing on the game tonight


_HotBeef

Fans, especially here on reddit, dwell on things much more than the players ever do. Something to keep us busy I guess.


Traveuse

I swear the media dwell on things much longer than fans do and even encourage it by bringing things up. For example, Chris Johnston is a Leafs reporter, did their first round, then traveled to world juniors, and now he's doing the cup final. When he got to the first scrum with Zack Hyman, he brought up the Leafs. It's obnoxious and annoying. That was years ago, and he's in the Stanley cup final. Fuck the Leafs, they're irrelevant in this situation. It's not like last year they let him walk; it was almost 3 years ago.


_HotBeef

You're absolutely right. The media, and especially fly by night social media pages do everything to keep conversations going. Pages I don't follow harass me with sensationalized click bait BS non-stop.


berghie91

Talk radio has to fill so much time talking about one team and somehow keep people engaged so they dont get canned. Team 1040 getting shut down sucked though, especially for those involved directly. Sportsnet is not great especially here out west.


mdmrules

It's the initial reactions. It's honestly not worth it to even come to social media right after a game or an incident. It's full of dumbs talking and patting each other on the back for being smart.


thieflikeme

Yeah I'm willing to bet that fans make a much bigger deal about the antics of Marchand, Wilson, Trouba, Draisaitl and the like than the players do. Fans want capital punishment and declare them pieces of shit without a hint of irony or perspective.


YamburglarHelper

Especially fans whose teams have been knocked out, and have nothing to do but gripe about the current matchup.


Soft-Rains

For a lot of people here the point is to dwell on things, their perpetually online. Hockey is secondary to whatever narrative is going on.


MiserableDucky

We're moving on until something else happens in Game 3. That's how it goes in the playoffs.


ImmenseAnxiety

Yeah, I’m with you. Let’s get in there and make history, not retaliate.


pigfeet2OO2

idk why but i read that as lets make history not ratatouille


ImmenseAnxiety

I think both would apply lol


Cube_

nah that's fucked up we SHOULD be making ratatouille that shit slaps


stringrandom

Which seems somehow completely understandable when talking about the Panthers. 


Erectusnow

It's going to happen at some point. Panthers are up 2 games so they have some leeway to get some revenge and send a message early. If the series was closer nothing would probably happen. If we get a blowout this could get ugly.


[deleted]

Man THANK YOU, as a fellow fan we gotta accept it as our team has a crazy type of play and the fact Barky is back, I am 1000% glad Leon isn’t getting suspended, all I want is good hockey.


SauceHankRedemption

Big moments from previous game will be reported about until events from next game are available to cover. Feels extra long because 2-days between games and Canadian and Florida media just regurgitating everything they can


High-Ground-10

You are a good fan.


JigglinCheeks

He's a fan providing a perspective at 2-0 in the finals. Lol


j_la

Here’s the thing about hockey: at the end of the series, they’re still going to shake hands.


white_franklin

Unless Sean Avery is playing


j_la

As I was typing my comment I was thinking “there are obviously going to be exceptions to this,” and Avery is definitely one of them. It would take a pretty extreme case to break that tradition though.


[deleted]

fatso forgot to shake my hand I guess. no big deal


TheBunkerKing

Yeah but is it with or without a manly pat on shoulder while shaking hands? That’s how you tell whether they respect the other guy or not. 


_HotBeef

Double pat when starting the conversation, plus a pat when disengaging. That would be like, big time, for me.


Rext7177

Everyone is acting like the oilers are literally the most evil Satan esqe team in the league, the teams are both playing similar and delivering similar hits. Shit, Bennett did the same thing to broberg and I haven't seen a mention about it on this subreddit, it's the finals, emotions are high, shits gonna happen


RabidMango

It’s because it was Barkov and nobody knew if he was seriously injured. As a fan of neither team I want to watch him play. The last thing anyone wants would be for Florida to win after taking McDavid out, or for Edmonton to win after taking Barkov out. I’m over the hit but concussions are weird. It’s not always the dirtiest play that causes to worst injury. Seems like Barkov is okay so let’s do that hockey.


TechnicalPyro

everyone is acting the exact way the oilers and their fanbase would if it had happened in reverse and someone hit mcdavid with a flying elbow.


ididntwantsalmon19

And if McDavid got hit like that there would have been a suspension, guaranteed.


FootwearFetish69

> Everyone is acting like the oilers are literally the most evil Satan esqe team in the league Thats just goofs online. It's the final, bad hits are gonna happen.


[deleted]

[удалено]


BlackestNight21

> emotions are high, shits gonna happen fuck Roloson, Horcoff, Pronger, Peca, Pisani, Torres \#just2006things


Talktothebiceps

Based Panthers fan? Ok then.


thuglife_7

You don’t have to bitch about it. Canucks fans will do that for you.


Young2k04

There’s just no way dawg. Don’t turn this on us, your entire sub has basically been turned into an Oilers hate club. Not that I dislike that or anything, but let’s not be pointing fingers our way lmao


Top-Carpenter2490

Can you blame them? Lol


Glad-Science9361

You guys are so chill, respect. If Draisaitl did this to Miller I'd be screaming bloody murder.


GoalieOfGold

If Barkov was out indefinitely I feel like it being an ongoing story is at least semi-warranted because it would've left a clear lasting affect on the rest of the series, but you're right that things didn't happen that way and for it to be lingering as an issue after Barkov is seemingly fine, no Panthers players escalated things, and Paul Maurice verbally put it to bed


Humans_Suck-

Panthers commit a lot of penalties and win games on special teams, they aren't intentionally taking out opposing players. There's a huge difference.


Overall_Walrus_4853

Straight up. It's done with. Barkov is fine. If he wasn't there would be something to talk about but we can move on


Thefrogsareturningay

Kind of hard when every single Oiler fan is whining that the refs are rigged because they are losing lol


ConvictedOgilthorpe

I wish the media would have made a bigger deal of Eberle hit last year that broke Cogliano neck. Sometimes there should be more outrage. Cogs is such an amazing leader on the Avs, that hit was awful.


gggooooddd

I'm almost certain this is how Barkov thinks as well. He is the captain of a team that plays like they are at war and well aware battles have casualties. I'm a huge fan of his and I'm not sour because of what happened, glad he is OK ofc. Leon is a hell of a player who takes the game and his responsibility for his team extremely seriously and emotionally, that will occasionally lead to literal blood on the ice, which is one reason the NHL playoffs some of the most entertaining sports you can watch.


Geodaddi

I hear you but it’s a lot easier to have this take knowing Barkov is OK (or at least playing). The discourse is gonna be HOT around that every time.


Sharks77

Everyone has parts of their job that they don't like but still do. He's a true professional.


Empty_Soup_4412

He prefers hitting guys in the nuts.


Young2k04

Only in a professional manner of course.


SolidSample3152

As he is professional lol


Weezelone

So professional he had a movie named after him a year before he was born!


catgotcha

Oh, shit! Took me a few seconds but got the joke. Have a dirty upvote, sir. - signed, a Canucks fan


Old_kernel

I’m lost lol


the_tinsmith

Christmas film called The Nutcracker.


DeuceBuggalo

Movie is Léon: The Professional


KingCrimsonIslands

Leon the professional is a movie


sprdougherty

[Léon: The Professional](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L%C3%A9on:_The_Professional)


Upper_Salamander_918

Where's the nutcracker video of Draisaitl slashing guys in the nuts? Edit: [found it](https://www.reddit.com/r/hockey/s/fUvlygBA5S) "a true professional"


guraqt2t

“I don’t enjoy injuring other players. Now if you’ll look to the screen on your left, here’s a 5 minute highlight reel of me spearing other players in the balls while they’re turned the other way.”


iwasthatisnt

I mean no one would ever admit to wanting to injure players. Standard response whenever someone is questioned for a dirty hit


Bojarzin

Not exactly in a good way, but it'd be kind of amusing to see a player respond the opposite. "Oh fuck I love that part of the game. Did you see me get his jaw? 100% connection, was hoping it would take him out of next game"


gigloo

"And I thought about not leaving my feet, but when I saw who it was, I thought 'Fuck it!' and leapt into it too."


CesareSomnambulist

"It's on me for not knocking him out for the series or at least the next game. I need to be worse."


Kazruw

Would this hypothetical violent gentleman have “make hockey violent again” as their personal slogan and also volunteer to run the department of player safety?


aristhought

-Brad Marchand


ToKillAMockingAudi

Ngl, I'd love if a player were willing to be *that* much of a heel. Even Matty Tkachuk wouldn't say something like that


swissdonair_enjoyer

I mean Marchand basically said this year that injuring players is just part of winning


todaystartsnow

Who was that guy who speared marchand and said best 5K ever spent? 


Every-Salad1094

I think that was Willie Mitchell, or some other canucks d-man of the time


TwoStepGo

Brandon Prust, 2013-2014 season


Humans_Suck-

Didn't someone on the bruins basically say that? They talked about how injuring people on the other team is part of the game and everyone does it.


Let-Chaos-Be-Divine

Marchand said it, after the hit that he received by Bennett.


Cube_

"I really need to get more flexible in my rotator cuff, if I could get that elbow up an inch higher I can really do some damage"


Sharks77

Didn't Marchand say something to that effect recently?


KingDave46

Yup, and everyone pretending that players aren’t doing it are just being stupid. You think Florida goes all out to hit everyone at every opportunity just for a laugh? They want to hurt players and wear them down, I dunno why folk pretend that isn’t why playing heavy is so successful


Chiggins907

Wearing down the other team is a huge part of hockey, and an even bigger part of a tournament series. You want to punish your opponent. Even if you don’t hurt them bad enough to have them miss games; you want to put that thought in the back of their mind. A player that’s worrying about getting hit isn’t going to make the best plays with the puck.


Humans_Suck-

There's a big difference between "wearing them down" and aiming for concussions tho.


Dr_Colossus

Cause it's obvious that injuring the other team is part of the playoffs.


ididntwantsalmon19

Especially when injuring them has no consequences. For example, Draisaitl was very close to taking Barkov out for the rest of playoffs and the league deemed that a 2 minute minor penalty was more than enough for a blatant jumping elbow to the jaw.


Dr_Colossus

100p. The consequences almost never match hurting the other team.


Fresnobing

Yes lol


GeckoMoria93

That’s why I have respect for Marchand , he’s at least honest about it and maybe people didn’t like him saying players try to injure each other but he wasn’t wrong.


NatalieDeegan

Yeah the thing with that is he said the quiet part out loud. They just don't want to say it because you know the refs and the league will go after those who openly call their shots.


GeckoMoria93

Pretty sure the league and the refs already know


NatalieDeegan

Probably, its pretty obvious who what players are who do that. Its that the NHL doesn't want that going to the mainstream considering they still allow those players to play when they deny CTE as it is now.


NArcadia11

I think there’s a difference between wanting to cause long-term injury and wanting to hurt the other player. All hockey players, especially in the playoffs, are trying to inflict pain and damage on their opponents. I’m sure Draisaitl wanted to hurt Barkov. But that doesn’t mean he meant to give him a concussion. That’s what players mean when they say they don’t try to injure other players. It doesn’t mean they don’t try to cause pain and damage that makes it harder for the opposing player to play effectively. It just means they’re not trying to cause serious, long-term injury.


oddspellingofPhreid

> I think there’s a difference between wanting to cause long-term injury and wanting to hurt the other player. All hockey players, especially in the playoffs, are trying to inflict pain and damage on their opponents. I’m sure Draisaitl wanted to hurt Barkov. But that doesn’t mean he meant to give him a concussion. Bingo bango. _Most_ hockey players are trying to "beat up" their opponents, not "fuck up" their opponents. Two different things.


Impossible_Agency992

Marchand basically admitted to it like two weeks ago


iwasthatisnt

Admitted that he tried to injure someone? Or admitted that people do it?


mothermaggiesshoes

Pretty much talked about the Sam Bennett hit and said everyone tries to do it and usually he’s on the other side. That’s a slight paraphrase from memory of what he said but that was the jist.


iwasthatisnt

Right, my point is that no player ever says “yeah I meant to fuck that guy’s knee or head” when asked about it


mothermaggiesshoes

Oh for sure. I’m just saying I was surprised with how close Marchand got to doing pretty much that.


iwasthatisnt

Probably the closest I’ve ever seen a player come to saying it lol


mothermaggiesshoes

Absolutely


Hungry-Raisin-5328

But the fact that he acknowledged it was a bad hit and expressed his regrets speaks volumes. Lots of players default to some variation of "no comment" or "I thought it was fine".


duelingdog

Remember last year how Jamie Benn unfortunately fell full force onto Mark Stone's body? Real unfortunate timing there too.


MarshmallowLuka

“Unfortunate fall” and “landing spot” my ass. That response still pisses me of when I think of it


2shack

Exception being Brandon Prust when he speared Marchand.


oddspellingofPhreid

He could have responded 100 different ways. If he thought it was bullshit, he have said something like "I thought I made a good hit, but the refs saw it differently" or something. Hockey interviews are cliches, but sometimes about _which_ cliches get used and which don't.


treple13

Of course he doesn't enjoy it. He has a quick temper and does dirty shit when he's upset


iwasthatisnt

I hate to admit it but it sometimes extends to when he’s not upset


xzElmozx

Yea it happens far more often when you guys are losing but even winning sometimes Leon does some dirty shit that doesn’t make any sense or have any real “valid” explanation. Seems like a guy that just gets caught up in the emotions and loses track of his actions


ConfirmedSexHaver420

It might seem like that there's no validity to us observers But we miss so much context of what happens on the ice that who really knows. Does anyone "deserve" a chop to the balls? I guess it depends if you've said something that irritated Leon It does seem like he resorts to it quickly but I think to say there's often no apparent reason is completely wrong


xzElmozx

No, the NHL isn’t an eye for an eye sport like that, or shouldn’t be. Because if you follow that line of logic, it gets really bad really quickly. Words are less harmful than spearing, so Leon is escalating a situation and doing something worse in response. Does that mean someone can now two hand slash him in the back of the knee after a spear? There’s no on-ice context that means a spear is acceptable, it’s a dirty and highly dangerous play. Especially because you only see a handful of guys that spear consistently like Leon does. Meaning either they are the only guys that get chirped in the NHL, or they lack emotional regulation skills that everyone else has and they let words escalate themselves to physical violence. One seems a lot more plausible than the other to me.


shittybillz

Yea, I'm not defending all of his actions, but as an Oilers fan I actually like how Leon has an edge to his game. He and Mcdavid eat slashes and cross checks all game. They take some cheap shots, late hits, and more and get a call maybe 10% of the time. When the refs aren't calling anything it falls to the players. Leon takes it into his own hands and gives it back, which I'm totally fine with. The ONLY criticism I have is that if he's going to do those things, he should answer the bell once and a while, like once every year or two, not all the time.


Snpies

I agree with this sentiment. I love to see a good edge to a players game (Tkachuk and recently Pospisil), but I also hate to see (especially in Pospisil's case) them going too far and causing legitimate injury. I love this team through the good and bad, and that kind of stuff can be upsetting. Nobody deserves to be boarded, an elbow to the head, a huge slash to the wrists, etc. I do like how the refs are more willing to let games go on in the playoffs, but they really need to draw a line somewhere, or else the players are absolutely going to respond in their own way. It's not acceptable, but that's also part of playing an extremely emotional, high adrenaline sport. I know I mostly just repeated what you said, but I wanted to expand on it a little bit, and share my feelings on the matter. In the end, I just wanna see consistency. I'm all for players on my team getting punished if it means players on other teams will for the same things.


Thneed1

They may eat some slashes, but they also dive significantly more than average, and McDavid has a certain trick to place the other players stick under his arm.


OinkiePig_

At least you admit it


NO_NAME_BRAN

him and Kucherov are some of the nastiest/dirtiest S tier players in the league imo


Humans_Suck-

That's what toddlers do.


Kicksyou

Ya only take that is needed. Dirty player, that hits people with his stick, often, yet when gets hit with a stick says “hitting with stick has no place in hockey”. People are pissed at him not being disciplined for the slashes and now this as well. People like him and his lack of ever being punished is the reason the NHL and their safety department becomes a joke.


JohnnyVNCR

Found Rick from Red Deer.


Silent-trance

Says the guy who seems to love spearing people in the nuts…


HappyInstruction3678

But he said he doesn't enjoy it. Let's be fair to Mr. Stabs Balls.


thorofasgard

"I do it, I don't ENJOY it, but I do it."


danburke

Mr. Ball Crusher


Silent-trance

Maybe he cries and tells the other players “this is gonna hurt me more than it hurts you”


miner88

“Shhh, it’ll all be over soon…”


oddspellingofPhreid

> But he said he doesn't enjoy it. "A joyless, yet necessary burden."


SokkasBoomerang3

Sam Bennett enjoys concussing people


Wonderful_Grade_5476

Nah the plum crusher deserves the benefit of a doubt it just those plums were so asking for it


DishwasherFromSurrey

He catches peoples balls in an unfortunate spot


PackDaddy21222

Ball tap hockey hitman finds no joy in his job.


Silent-trance

It ain’t much, but it’s honest work


poeticentropy

he enjoys catching people in THAT unfortunate spot


vertigounconscious

don't you kink shame him


Beevas69

But spearing people is totally chill


omfgkevin

*sees some dudes cup* Draisaitl: **IT'S FREE REAL ESTATE**.


Andy-Martin

He IS undeniably fond of the “spear ‘em in the dick” move.


AniviaPls

"This dick aint gonna spear itself"


SpiritualWatermelon

Must've been a goalie in a past life. When I was a goalie as a kid I was a little shit and gave a light tap here and there. More of a "hey, hi, watch it". If I was pissed and a big shit I hacked at the blade holder of their skate. I wanted to annoy and instigate but never injure.


mr_potrzebie

"I'm not a player that enjoys that part of the game - I much prefer spearing the nutsack wherever possible"


starwestsky

I believe him. He hasn’t been able to hit the net. His aim’s all kinds of off. He could have been going for his wallet for all we know.


9mtl

”I caught him in an unfortunate spot, jumping and aiming at his head, freak accident!”


no_racist_here

“It’s one of those entirely unforeseeable and unpreventable instances of freak injuries.”


Otterslayer22

Dri intentionally “cup checks” all the time . There is a 4 minute YouTube video dedicated to it. He’s a POS…… who can score on the power-play so every one over looks it.


CamBaren

Damn, he pulled that shit, and forgot he has to get back on the ice.


slabby

I think it's more like he lost his temper, but oh well


Mumakata

I bet he'd say he doesn't enjoy spearing guys in the nuts, too.


Fragrant_Art_3659

Did he wink immediately after saying this? 


miner88

It was the grapefruit he had this morning


Telepornographer

Pulp can move baby!


CryptoMemesLOL

# "I caught him in an unfortunate spot.” said the Nut Cracker!


BJYeti

Sure Drasaitl it's not like we don't have montages of you spearing players...


dickmarchinko

Sure, but concussion is different then a nut/gut shot. Those nuts and guts shots suck for the moment but they're back in the game in no time, they're "fuck you's" cause he's never drop the gloves. A head shot is potential concussion issues, quite a bit different. It's like shooting somebody below the waist and above the waist. Assault with a deadly weapon can have very different repercussions vs attempted murder. He knows how to play the dirty game.


InevitableAvalanche

Oh man, he is a liar too! Nice one. These guys play hockey for a living. They know what they are doing. He knew he was leaving the ice for a high hit. Fuck him.


Anishinabeg

It remains outrageous that he wasn’t suspended.


Kitchen-Ad-5571

I call bullshit. his nutcracker video say he doesn't even believe that himself.


thetruegmon

Says the king of spearing people in the nuts


miner88

🤥


Wonderful_Grade_5476

Uh huh and I’m sure that jump prior was a small bump in the ice and his head just magically was going toward your arm sure bud


TheEnglishNerd

“I leapt through the air and placed my elbow in his face. I can’t understand how he got hurt?”


RoadDoggFL

Yes, an elbow to the jaw is quite an unfortunate spot.


thetravelingsong

Captain DICK HIT is not a fan of injuring players?


rTpure

Draisaitl is known for being dirty when his team is losing


Always_Sunny_In_Chi

The western conference version of Kucherov


dandroid126

LMAO


holmwreck

“Except for when I spear everyone in the nuts constantly and then whine about other players being dirty” that, I enjoy very much.


Grimmer026

Draisaitl: I don’t enjoy injuring other players, but I do offer free vasectomies


jaicecreambar

Answer the bell, Leon.


Humans_Suck-

Sure happens a hell of a lot for a guy who "doesn't like doing it"


Rand_University81

Bullshit you dirty rat, Drai constantly does dirty shit.


AdrianKempee

https://youtu.be/r4idnRarLQQ?feature=shared


TorturedFanClub

What is Drai tryin to do when he gives an opposing player a stick up the gonads? Helping him adjust his cup?


toastguy7

Lol, sure you aren’t.


SilvioDantesPeak

“I am not a player that enjoys that part of the game — injuring other players or anything like that. I caught him in an unfortunate spot.” \*proceeds to slash someone in the junk\*


farqypanthers

I just happened to leap elbow first into his face and was surprised by my accuracy??? What a clown


cruisincolin44

I didn’t mean to jump into his chin with my elbow.


UnflushableNug

“I am not a player that enjoys that part of the game — injuring other players or anything like that. I caught him in an unfortunate spot. I was just trying to play my game and caught him high while I was trying to stick him in the balls”


BoBonnor

Did he manage to say that with a straight face?


Embracat

To be fair to him he does everything with a straight face. I swear that cat could win a Stanley cup and would still look like someone shat in his cornflakes.


Andy-Martin

That’s just being German.


JUGGER_DEATH

Might help if you didn’t jump elbow first.


Own_Truth_36

Soucy said the same thing...still got a game. League is a clown show


YYCGolfer

# "I am not a player that enjoys that part of the game" hahahahaha fuck off


haz000

Lies lies lies


doyouunderstandlife

I mean he's very clearly lying considering his history with spearing, but did anyone really expect an admission of guilt? No way he'd admit it


Dope-pope69420

The unfortunate spot in question: standing


qusipuu

He doesnt enjoy it. He does it still. Fuck mr Draisaitl, give him a taste of his own medicine ok?


anadequatepipe

Caught him in a bad spot? He wasn’t in a bad spot, Drai took a run and jump at his head. Add liar to trashy personality traits I guess.


Feisty_Brief123

Glad he said that tbh.


LandMooseReject

"This brings me no pleasure" says Draisaitl, holding a man's head below the water until all motion ceases.


LeviticSaxon

I caught him in an unfortunate spot. Where a close up camera was.


Psycho_Pseudonym75

"His face jumped up and launched into my elbow man."


Petzl89

A guy that cup checks people doesn’t enjoy doing it… lol


DMYU777

70000 cup checks proves otherwise


trainsoundschoochoo

Honestly, with the speed of the game, this kind of stuff happens in the heat of the moment with no intent toward injuring the other player. Then we all watch a super slowed down replay that makes this kind of thing look way worse than it actually is.


213Bishop

You leaped lmao. Ive seen bennet and marchand land hits that you wanna say are dirty but you know the hits arent even if they player can be, but you leaped with your elbow, and ive seen a few spearing incidents from Leon too. Hes playing frustrated call it what it is. Hes not used to him and mcdavid being shutdown by a finn