Loosing stings. Tim Thomas learned that from the first to the final horn of Tuesday's Bruins/Panthers game in Boston. But what stings more is getting clubbed in the head with the side of a goalie stick. Carl Soderberg learned that when Tim Thomas took a cheap shot at him with 3.2 seconds left in that same Bruins/Panthers game.
After the Bruins scored 6 goals, and made their former goalie look so bad that at one point in the 3rd period the sing song chant of "TAWW-MAS!" that rained down from the stands turn into one nearly incomparable to any other taunting this fan base has done in a while. While we can only speculate what Tim Thomas thought during the waning seconds of that game we know that he was no completely insulated from those chants, his skin was not so thick that those 6 goals did not get to him. He is an athlete and more so a competitor who no matter how sure of the fact that this team he currently plays on will not win the Stanley Cup hates to be beaten and then mocked like he was. But as the post-game interview dragged on, Tim Thomas said that the taunting, the goals already scored had nothing to do with it.
"I didn't notice them in my crease more than any other teams and to be honest with you, nobody was really running into me until the end there." Thomas said before turning his answers to reporters’ questions to the subject of Carl Soderberg "Soderberg, you know, the play before that he did a hard jab and next thing you know, the puck is up in the air, catching it and his stick's in my throat. I mean, less than a minute left in the game, there up 4 goals, 6 to 2 I take exception to that"
And take exception to that he did. As Carl Soderberg came jumping into the crease charging for a 7th goal for Boston, Thomas caught the puck then reared back with his blocker/stick hand. Soderberg, who was still watching behind Thomas for the puck to come dribbling out had no clue even that the play was over. He was oblivious to Thomas' possession of the puck well, that is until the slash. With Soderberg just barely sliding through the crease, Timmy slammed the sharp side of his goalie stick right into the ear of Soderberg's helmet. Immediately felling Soderberg and causing him to writhe on the ground for nearly 5 seconds before getting back to his knees.
Now frankly, Thomas has a history here but has never attacked someone on this level. As you may remember, Thomas of course got into that tussle in 2011 with Carey Price and then in those playoffs he slashed and then punched Alex Burrows in the leg after Burrows slashed him. In that incident in particular while the slash was pretty brutal for one it was not to the head as the Soderberg attack was and frankly he had a far greater reason to attack in that situation than he did Tuesday night solely because Burrows intentionally slashed Thomas in that case while Tuesday, Soderberg was going for the puck and accidentally connected with Thomas.
Through all this, Thomas has never been suspended. But frankly, there is a first for everything.
Tim Thomas lost his cool Tuesday night in Boston and he did so in a way that made this league look very bad. Unlike stuff like the Alex Burrows bite or even a discrete elbow check, this was a play that could be seen from the rafters, live TV or fairly conveyed through radio without need for further explanation or replay. If slashes like these go un-punished than they will continue and very quickly injuries will pile up.
I have said it once and I will say it again, it is time to suspend Tim Thomas.
0 comments:
Post a Comment