New York Rangers 2 Philadelphia Flyers 4
Boston Bruins 4 Detroit Red Wings 1
Montreal Canadiens 3 Tampa Bay Lightning 2
San Jose Sharks 7 Los Angeles Kings 2
The NYR/PHI series is 1-1 and game 3 goes Tuesday at 7:00 CST on TSN
The BOS/DET series is tied 1-1 and game 3 goes Tuesday at 6:30 CST on TSN
The TBL/MON series is 3-0 MON and game 4 goes Tuesday at 7:00 CST on CBC
The SJS/LAK series is 2-0 SJS and game 3 goes Tuesday at 9:00 CST on CBC
GIF of the Night:
via d3j5vwomefv46c.cloudfront.net
Rant Time:
Steven Stamkos took a knee to the head (I did not see the game so I am not touching legality here) and returned for the third period.
Stamkos said he told the medical trainers that he wanted to get back out there. He says he has a headache but wanted to play.
— BrianWilde (@BWildeCTV) April 21, 2014
That looks terrible on Tampa's staff. Stamkos most likely lied to them, but according to people (fans and media alike), he looked woozy coming off the ice. This is up to the trainers to keep him off the ice. JetsNation writer Travis Hrubeniuk actually knows stuff about concussions and wanted the Tampa trainers fired and stripped of their credentials on the spot. It is unknown if Tampa's doctor was with them on the trip as it is fairly common for doctors to travel with their teams during the playoffs. What I do know about Montreal's trainers and doctors is they have pulled at least two players from games this year after head contact left them stumbling on the ice, only to be diagnosed with a concussion a day or two later.
The problem with this is Stamkos made the call. No one told him he had to sit until he could be properly evaluated. People let him make a decision on his health when they did not know if anything was wrong with him. Something is broken here, someone should pay. Lawsuits are being filed against professional sports league every week for not protecting players against concussions and yet Stamkos is deciding that he is healthy even with a known symptom of concussions. This should be handled by the NHL if he is diagnosed with a concussion as this is an irresponsible response from a team in regards to the health of a player. Brian Wilde did his job in getting the Stamkos comment out there, it is now up to the NHL and NHLPA to look into it further for the health and safety of all players.
Links:
The aforementioned Travis examines the performance of the Winnipeg Jets goaltenders this year.
Bruce Arthur sorts through the chaos that is Montreal/Tampa.
James Gordon explains why the Ottawa Senators may never contend without spending more on player salary.
Tyler Dellow delves into Bruce Boudreau's uncanny way to get his teams to score more goals.
