Thornton should be suspended for thirty games for the good behavior he pulled last night. To pull somebody to the ice from behind and then start punching him in the face is disgusting. The entire Boston team plays like a bunch of thugs. I'm all for playing tough but there's no room in the game for whatever that team is trying to do.
Thornton is an honest guy he just made a mistake. I still dont know how Orpik got knocked out, it looks like Thornton hardly touched him
Thornton should have pulled a Rupp on Kopecky back in that Florida game a few years ago. If Orpik won't answer the bell, yank him out of the scrum and pound him. At least Orpik would have the chance to defend himself and if he wants to turtle that's on him. But to slew foot the guy to the ice and then hit him while he's on his back....I don't know, that's just indefensible in my opinion no matter what the guy did. And it wasn't even to the right guy. Neal's knee on Marchand was way worse than Orpik's hit earlier in the game. Yeah Orpik hit Erikkson without the puck but it was a bang-bang play, not a headshot.
Marchand was lying on his back after getting tripped by Crosby and Neal skated by full speed and targeted his head with a knee then went to the bench like a coward, much worse than what Thornton did. Thornton went over because Orpik and Letang were ganging up on Campbell in typical Penguin style (you can watch it on YouTube). Orpik and the Pens are far from angels and the fact that Brooks won't fight makes cheap crap like what Thornton did the only way to retaliate. Cry a river of crocodile tears for the Pens if you must Messiah but they are usually on the giving end of slew foots (Malkin to Callahan), elbows (Cooke to McDonough) or one of the cheapest moves I've ever seen when Letang came up behind Boogard in a preseason game, wrapped his arms and slammed him to the ice so his shoulder/head took the impact effectively ending his season/career with a concussion.
Its hard to feel bad for any of these guys like orpik who is a cheap shot artist and marchand who could be zorro with his stick. Guys like them eventually get whats coming to them whether legal or not. Thornton will get a lengthy suspension and neal should also get at least a few games for his actions. Thats why we need big mac up here so this shit doesn't happen to any of our skill players. Wait a second, did I just say we have some skill players.
Neal suspended 5 games for trying to kick a field goal with marchands skull. Thorntons suspension should be a doozy
15gms for Thornton. with the Orpik hit and Neal's knee to the face the Pens had it coming and Thornton did what he had to do. I don't blame him. Pens are a filthy team.
Thornton sounds like a good dude, In his postgame comments following the incident, Thornton expressed regret for his actions and said he "felt sick" about what he did. "It's hard for me to talk about right now. I can't say I'm sorry enough," Thornton said. "I'm sure I'll be criticized, but it's true. I felt awful. It wasn't my intention. I know Brooksie. I've gotten to know him the last seven years here. I skated with him during the lockout. I texted him a couple of times. It's not what I wanted to see or anyone to see."
Nowhere near the malice in what Thornton did, doubt he was thinking let me concuss Orpik when he pulled him down. I think Thornton like most of the other NHL teams simply had enough of Brooks hit, run and hide cheap stuff and gave him a long overdue beatdown. Neal on the other hand made no effort to slow down and changed direction and knee position, lucky for him that Marchant wasn't hurt I guess but I thought he deserved more. If those were blueshirts instead of Penguin jerseys Thornton would have probably only gotten 5 from that phony Shanahan.
I wish the Rangers would play like a bunch of thugs. I wish they had a capable defense that could play that way.
