Quoting: mhroblak
Or maybe just a guy who squirms on the ice when Nic Dowd pins him...
(not that Dowd did anything wrong)
I mean, we're commenting on a Rangers fan's post trading for Tom Wilson, with the name Dolan in the headline, the week after Dolan fired his management team for not hating Tom Wilson, and/or not pretending Wilson punched Buchnevich in the head when multiple video angles show he didn't. This is a thread for jokes, not more pointless agitation.
But you want to try to dredge up resentment for Nic Dowd? Nobody's perfect, but by NHL standards, he's a really nice guy who focuses on faceoffs, defense, and penalty killing. Haven't seen him mix it up much. Does he help shove Buchnevich when Buchnevich kicks his goalie? Of course. Does he try to hold him away from the goalie to keep Buchnevich from starting a fight? Sure. Could he predict that Wilson would give Buchnevich a couple shots in the ribs as payback? It doesn't matter. You don't mess with goalies in hockey. Their pads are made for stopping pucks, not skates or sticks. They're important to their teams. Kicking at Vanecek was a bad move by a frustrated player on a team that didn't expect to miss the playoffs. It predictably started a fight.
Could the refs have given third-man-in penalties to Wilson, Strome, and Panarin on the sequence? Sure, but it's over, and the game did not matter that much. Could they have given Dowd two minutes for roughing? Only if they gave Buchnevich an initial double major for roughing, maybe with a ten minute misconduct added, for kicking Vanecek. Skates are made of sharp steel. Fists aren't. Get some perspective.