My reaction to the King boarding penalty, at the time, unfettered by any outrage from Blues fans, was as follows:

1. That’s a penalty.
2. I hope Pietrangelo isn’t hurt.
3. I hope he’s not bleeding, because I don’t want it to be a major.
4. I hope King doesn’t get a suspension, but I wouldn’t be surprised if he got a game for it.

The thing is, though, as I’m writing this, I’m watching the live #LAKings Twitter feed scroll by on the right margin of this site, and with each passing tweet the over-blown outrageous blood-lust of Blues fans is pissing me off more and more. “Let’s take out Brown. Fuck it.” “All the good the league did by suspending Torres is undone by not suspending King.” “Immediately disqualify cheap shot artist King.” Etc. (more below…)

I’m sure Blues fans will dismiss everything I say as homerism, but– they’re just a bunch of homers if they think that. Aw I said, I could understand why Shanahan would want to suspend King for a game because of the outcome of King’s hit. But you have no credibility at all if you can’t see the difference between a Raffi Torres intent-to-maim charging head shot and a hockey play in which one player puts his  hand on the back of another player and shoves him toward the boards. Yes, it turns out he used too much force. Yes, it turns out Pietrangelo was not prepared for contact. But this is not in any way “a dirty hit.” It’s a hockey play gone awry. Dwight King is not trying to hurt Pietrangelo. He’s trying to gain position. That’s his job. Was he reckless? Yes, and that’s why he got a penalty. Could it have been a major? I don’t really understand why the refs didn’t see the blood in the first place, in which case it would have been a major — and if I were a Blues fan I would be upset about that. And — again — I would not be surprised to see a suspension, given the climate. But that’s a play that happens pretty much every shift. King, in retrospect, was over-eager (thus reckless). But picture this if you will:

What if Dwight King wasn’t just fighting for position, but instead was a dirty head-hunter (see tweets below if you think I’m exaggerating) targeting Pietrangelo on that play, and actually checked him? I don’t mean shoved him. I mean, shoulder-down driving him into the glass, all 6’4″ 230 pounds of King hitting the guy like a freight train. You know, like the Torres hit which everyone keeps comparing this to.

Pietrangelo wouldn’t be day to day, he’d be life to life.

The play deserved a penalty, maybe a major, and maybe even a game or two off. But to suggest that King and Torres are related in any way is absurd. It ends the conversation.

Latest Twitter gems:

• “At least we now know who the NHL wants to win this series.”
• “Unleash Reaves on Brown and Doughty.”
• “The only thing that matters now is the #lakings leave the series crippled in a way they can’t win the Cup.” (Dude, way to pack it in after one game.)
• “Why shouldn’t BJ Crombeen take a run at Dustin Brown? What’s the downside, @NHL? 50/50 at best @NHLShanahan would care #stlblues#lakings”
• “If game 2 of #lakings and #StlBlues doesn’t start with a brawl I’d be shocked. Shit is gonna go down if Pietrangelo is out for long. #Dirty”

Really, I think these are just trolling Vancouver fans posing as Blues fans. They can’t really be this stupid.