I'll bite. The Penguins brought this on themselves by constantly and unapologetically cheapshotting Bruins players. Despite the fact that the Bruins picked up two points on a miraculous last minute comeback, it doesn't matter with the injuries that the Penguins inflicted. I used to dislike fighting in hockey, but teams like the Pittsburgh Penguins are exactly why it needs to stay. I don't understand how you can compare the actions of Neal and Thornton. Neal could have ended Marchand's career with that knee to the head, after several other cheapshots by Penguins, and Thornton lost his cool. You can't have one team (Penguins) trying to paralyze opponents while dodging fights, and then act disgusted when the other team throws a few punches. They are not equal events. Neal should get at least triple the suspension of Thornton. Orpik and Dupuis should also be suspended.
Let's review:
- Orpik concusses Loui Eriksson, out for at least a game
- Dupuis slashes Chris Kelly so hard that he breaks his ankle, out for a couple weeks
- Neal INTENTIONALLY KNEES A DOWNED PLAYER IN THE HEAD, causing more injury, Marchand will be out for a few
- After all that, Thornton punches Orpik. Somehow you guys think this is the worst part of it all?
All three of those Penguins players should be facing heavy suspensions before you even talk about Thornton retaliating. What the Penguins did to the Bruins that night was more brutal and even more unnecessary than a couple of punches could ever be. How many more Bruins did you want to see go down before they did something about it? Oh that's right, you haters won't care until all of the Bruins are gone. I bet you were all licking your lips and tasting the hypocrisy when Max Pacioretty boarded Johnny Boychuk last week too! Speaking of which, did Montreal Police investigate that hit?? I never heard the results of that.
Note I am not saying Thornton is an angel, I think he should also be suspended. But giving Thornton the same suspension as Neal would be ignoring the spirit of their actions. 999 times out of 1000, Orpik gets up and everyone forgets that the fight happened. But Orpik is a slimeball and apparently live tweeting from the hospital is enough to get everyone to forget why you were sent there.