Brick wall hits you.
Last night the Sharks played the Canucks, and today we get to see what is becoming a standby of Bay Area hockey: the opposing coach complaining about his playing comically bouncing off of Sharks defenseman Douglas Murray. The hit in question this time.
Here at 11:59 remaining in the period, Canucks forward Maxim Lapierre has posession of the puck and is in the process of passing it to a teammate as they gain entry into the Sharks’ defensive zone. Look out, little man! There’s a giant viking right there in front of you!
Here at 11:58 remaining in the period, Lapierre has passed the puck and strode forward into a massive wall of crush-you-like-a-bug. Note that Murray barely moved at all here. This is like watching a bluebird smack itself into a window. No penalty was called, nobody was injured, and a retaliatory scuffle immediately followed resulting in several good players cooling off in the penalty box.
Vancouver’s couch Alain Vigneault complained about it afterwards, adding to a chorus of condemnation from opposing teams’ head coaches that Douglas Murray fans everywhere should recognize as the praise that it truly is. Vigneault would give his left nut to have a guy that could hit like Murray and still provide reasonable defense.
