So the Dallas Stars aren’t doing anything (login: puckupdate; password: puckupdate) about Bill Guerin’s two-handed slashing of Star prospect Brett Draney. The Globe and Mail’s Eric Duhatschek argues that this happens all the time, with people making a big deal out of Guerin’s hit, because a Sporting News camera crew caught the whole thing. Says Duhatschek: “Already this year, there have been a handful of other incidents: The Philadelphia Flyers’ Keith Primeau broke the nose of teammate Chris McAllister in a fight. Two of the Edmonton Oilers’ best players, Ryan Smyth and team captain Jason Smith, tangled in a nasty little fight. Until last week, the Flames had a player in camp, Mike Sgroi, who regularly participated in Ultimate Fighting competitions and he took on anyone willing to test him during their camp in Banff. ”
Of course all those instances are NHL stars beating up other people. You have to wonder what the repurcussions would be if a prospect hit a star that hard. Would it have been enough for Draney to apologize for almost decapitating Guerin?