Colorado Avalanche defenseman Devon Toews, 7, faces left winger Jamie Benn, 14, during the second period of Game 2 of the second round of the 2024 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs against Dallas. He received a hit and crashed into Dallas Stars center fielder Wyatt Johnston, 53. Stars in Dallas, Texas, Thursday, May 9, 2024 (Photo by Andy Cross/The Denver Post)
DALLAS — Jamie Benn's Needs To “feel” youas Nuggets coach Michael Malone likes to say.
If the NHL doesn't send a message to Ben in Dallas Stars green, the Avalanche must. It begins with Game 3 on Saturday night at Ball Arena.
Legal hit? It's more like a calculated attack. At worst, the Dallas captain could have been given five minutes on a cheap shot by Avs defender Devon Toews around 2:43 into the second period of Game 2.
Ben launched. He lost his footing. Toews' head snapped off like a crash test dummy. The authorities declared this a crime on their shoulders and suggested that we all move on. In the words of my good friend Deion Sanders, it's just bull junk.
First, even if the Stars winger was aiming for Toews' shoulder, at least from one angle he could be seen connecting directly to the No. 7's neck. Last I checked, this is connected just south of the head.
“So he grabbed part of the shoulder? Yeah, I think you could make that argument,” said Avs coach returning team to Denver after road split at American Airlines Center 's Jared Bednar said when I asked him about the crash. “But the target was high and it was above his head and he made contact with the head. And I've seen many times players get called for head shots and penalties for much less than that. But they I don't think he thought so.”
Second, Ben knew. that's right what was he doing? The stars knew what he was doing. Dallas coach Pete DeBoer was happy for his Las Vegas team to push the Abs in the postseason, but he knew better.
“Benner has been outstanding in this playoff game. I thought he did it against Las Vegas, and he did it smartly,” the Stars manager said late Thursday night. “He did it at the right time and did it cleanly. But his physical presence impacts us in a really positive way in the playoffs.”
Kareem Jackson, you picked the wrong sport.Mr. DeBoer loved you.
In the NFL, Ben's shot means an ejection, a fine, a suspension, and a conversation with a safety officer.
In the NHL, it's a “truly positive” presence, a strategic wrinkle in an unrestricted and unforgiving bracket.
The umpires determined that the blow was not a head shot, but rather near Toews' shoulder blade. In some of his slow-motion angles, he wasn't, especially when he attacked another Dallas player like a D-man ragdoll. According to the letter of the law, it looked “clean” (I'll give you an air quote).
However, it is still barely legal. barely.
“That's what it is,” Bednar said. “We have to get it done.”
must respond.Gabe Landeskog would have found it after that hit. A convenient and strategic moment to kindly reposition Ben's face in the action.
Once the bullies learn they can get away with murder in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, there's only one way to stop the murders.
Someone has to pick up the captain's spine. Someone has to let Ben know this isn't okay. And so will he.
Someone has to pick up Randy's steal. Randy's soul.
That's not in Nathan MacKinnon's game, bless him. It's not in Cale Makar's DNA, but a reactive shove after Toews clocked him into an awkward headlock for several seconds.
“I hope it wasn't an intentional hit to the head,” Avs forward Andrew Cogliano said of Benn's ambush.
And instead of making it walk backwards, Cogs made it walk forward.
“He probably had a little bit of a wound on his head obviously,” he added. “But, yeah, I don't know.”
he knew. Everyone did.
“It’s a physical game this time of year,” Bednar said. “But I don't understand why that wasn't a penalty. Even if it wasn't a five-minute major.”
Join the club. Luckily, Toews is back on the ice, but Ben needs a break. And a lesson. If the league doesn't do it, someone in burgundy and blue needs to grease the elbows a little.
Even better, the entire elbow.
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