In the aftermath of Zac Rinaldo getting away with a free head shot on Sean Couturier, it occurs to me that Wayne Simmonds warned this could happen, yet at the same time, believed that past friendships would overrule any action on the ice.
“Reno? He is going to hit everybody, probably,” Simmonds said on Tuesday. “Nothing to worry about. We know how he plays the game. You just got to be aware. Be aware of when he is on the ice.
“I honestly don’t think he’ll do anything. We are all so close in here with Reno. I don’t think he would try and do something crazy. But I wouldn’t put it past him.
“He’s going to go out there and do his job. He is a professional. That is the beauty of it. You get traded from a team and you want to make a statement to the team that traded you. You go up against him and play as hard as you can. I fully expect that tomorrow.”
Maybe that would have worked a few decades ago, but even Rinaldo said in Wednesday's morning skate that friendships are put aside once teams go on the ice.
And that is what the Flyers didn't believe and they got burned.
Even worse, Rinaldo targeted Couturier with a bee line check that buried an unsuspecting player. Because he didn't leave his feet and because the principal point of contact -- according to the NHL's Department of Player Safety -- wasn't the head, it was an "ok" check.
If Rinaldo were still a Flyer, do you think he gets off easy? On the other hand, clubs around the league are probably saying to themselves, "what goes around, comes around," because during his entire stay here, Rinaldo was a loose canon always looking to for the "big hit" and nothing else.
Let's have a poll: should Rinaldo have been suspended 10 games or more (his last suspension was 8, so it has to go up as a repeat offender if handed out)?
What say you?
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