This blog piece is based on what happened between the Montreal Canadiens and the Winnipeg Jets. The Canadiens won the first game of the second round, but at a cost of losing Jake Evans with less than a minute to go. He scores an empty net goal and is demolished by Jets player Mark Scheifele. Quick scrum and medical staff come onto the ice. Evans gets put on a stretcher. The Montreal Gazette is reporting he will be out indefinitely with a concussion. Doesn't sound surprising.
I like a little bit of physicality in hockey. Fights are something I do enjoy when push comes to shove for the teams playing. But this is not the time to lose your cool and alter another player's career. Scheifele went full speed and charged around the head of Evans. There would have been a penalty and possibly a minor game misconduct for charging and maybe roughing if he didn't go upstairs. I have no idea how bad of a suspension it will be. My suggestion would be the rest of the round. That was Pierre Turgeon territory, though Turgeon's playoff goal in 1993 had more meaning.
There was nothing clean about it. The sport of hockey is a contact one, but there's a point to where it has to be played safely but also keep the physicality that fans enjoy. George Parros has not done a good job recently in my opinion. There should be a strict suspension. If there was to be a minimum, anywhere from three to five games. All I will say to end this is that one solution will not solve everything. It is something the NHL has to construct thoroughly. They won't win everyone over, but some safety can go a long way to prevent stuff like this. You just hope that Evans career isn't over.
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