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Phaneuf Needs To Fight His Own Battles
by Paul on 09/19/09 at 08:58 AM ET
Comments (2)
from George Johnson of the Calgary Herald,
He’s a hitter. He’s a hunter. And physical presence remains an integral part of the game.
What is troublesome, though, and what has become a disturbing trend, is the big No. 3 stepping back, surveying the carnage he has wrought and letting someone else--the willing, but unfortunate Mark Giordano in this case--wade in to clean up the mess. To often unpleasant results.
As if he’s somehow above it all.
Filed in: NHL Teams, Calgary Flames | KK Hockey | Permalink
Tags: Dion+Phaneuf,
Comments
(How many times on the JumboTron last season did they show the ‘highlight’ of Phaneuf wearing out his oven mitts on Swedish pacifist Mattias Ohlund’s noggin?).
Picking your spots so assiduously gets you a reputation around the horn, and not a good one.
Those are pretty tough words coming from a Calgary writer. But he’s dead on in the assessment above. But we’ve known for some time that Phaneuf is a coward...most cheapshot “artists” are. Hell, he even got backed off by little 5’6” Happy Hudler last year. Happy kept poking him in the chest and Phaneuf kept backing away, looking for the shortest route to his bench.
Play tough, by all means. But stand up and be tough, too.
Johnson is asking for more than Mr. Cream Puff can deliver. Oh, he’ll definitely keep head-hunting and cheapshotting guys. But stand up and be accountable for his actions? That’s just not in a coward repertoire.
Posted by OlderThanChelios from Grand Rapids on 09/19/09 at 10:41 AM ET
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I agree that if he throws a dirty hit he should answer the bell for it.
Now, when he throws a dirty hit, let’s see if he answers the bell for it, rather than chastising him for not fighting after he throws a clean hit.
Posted by Garth on 09/19/09 at 10:14 AM ET