Enough is Enough

Hockey is a violent sport. Yes, things are not a barbaric as they were in the 70's and 80's when situations like this occurred, however their are still acts of rage and tempers will flair. Hockey is a fast paced game, a game driven upon emotions. So players will loose there cool at times. That is what happened to Montreal Canadiens goalie Carey price last night.

After being interfered with on the New Jersey's 1st goal, Price said "Enough is Enough" when Kyle Palmieri tried to take him out. See the below link:

So Price definitely lost his cool, and took matters in to his own hands.It would've been a routine crease run except for Palmieri clearly kicking Price with both feet to knock his legs out from under him....when a forward goes into the crease, and it happens, he is supposed to "tuck & turtle" so that if he collides with the goalie, it is a softer collision...this was NOT the case, Palmieri wasn't going to get to Price with the slide, so you see him give that donkey kick to the right pad to take out the leg...deliberate attempt to injure by Palmieri.

Considering Price spent the majority of last year on IR (injury reserve) you can understand why he got upset. Especially since this incident brings back memories of Chris Kreider doing the same thing to Price a few years ago.

It is very clear that there is a bounty out on Price. Take out his knees, and try to injury him. That seems to be the only way teams are going to be able slow down the leagues best goalie. Enough is enough. There has to be more protection for goalies. Also defenseman have to be smarter about things.Yes, Palmeri could have tucked, but Petry gave him no option to avoid contact. If you look at alot these goalie interference penalties/injuries, alot of times it is a result of the teams OWN players pushing the opponents into them.

Now many people will say that Price should have received a game misconduct because of last night's incident. As per rule 51.3, they are right. Here it the rule.

"51.3 Match Penalty - If, in the judgment of the Referee, a goalkeeper uses his blocking glove to punch an opponent in the head or face in an attempt to or to deliberately injure an opponent, a match penalty must be assessed."

Well, Price definitely used his blocking glove to punch his opponent. He was punching more of Palmeri's ribs, but as per the rule, it constituted as a penalty. Nevertheless, it is time for teams, and the league to take a hold of these type of situations. If they don't, you are going to see more reactions and retaliations like the one Price gave to Palmieri.