Reading the Ulf Samualsson thread got me thinking about this one. Cheap shot artists. Everyone hates them, unless they're on your team. Then, you've got to like them at least a little. You know the guys I'm talking about. They're always clutching, grabbing, hacking, whacking, punching, elbowing, slashing, cross-checking away from the play or long after the play is over, like some English pig. They're the guys making the dirty hits and then skating away like nothing happened. They're the guys that make you fear for the safety of your favorite player.
The one thing people can usually agree on is that they'd like to see these guys get a taste of they're own medicine. And every once in a while, it actually happens. Someone actually puts a heck of a powerful cheap shot on them. Justice is served. You, sir, have received your comeuppance.
A couple come to mind:
1)
Tie Domi knocks out
Ulf Samuelsson. (See the
Ulf Samuelsson thread for video).
2) Decemeber 21, 2005
Jordin Tootoo is up to his usual tricks in a game at Chicago. Now, with a first name of questionable gender and a last name phonetically equivalent to the skirt a ballerina wears, I'd imagine you'd have to learn to get in your shots when you can. Anyway, midway through the third period, Tootoo starts hacking away at
Todd Simpson behind the play as they skate down the ice. Finally, Simpson has had enough. Without issuing a challenge, he proceeds to drop the gloves and pound Tootoo with 6 or 7 good punches that splatter his nose and leaves him losing more blood than my sister the first time she shaved her legs. The crowd went crazy. Simpson picked up 27 minutes of penalties. Judging by the smile on his face as he skated off, I'm guessing it was worth it.
3) Stanley Cup Playoffs, 1995. The series between the
Quebec Nordiques and the
New York Rangers.
Jeff Beukeboom, the Rangers resident cheapshot man at the time, has had his usual game. At some point during the game, He lines up
Owen Nolan, who is charging down the ice with the puck, for an open-ice, flip-over-the-shoulder hit right at center ice. However, Nolan sees Beukeboom put his head down. Nolan sidesteps the hit and catches Beukeboom in the melon with an elbow on the way by, laying Beukeboom out like a corpse. In the confusion that follows, Nolan doesn't even get called for a penalty. There's a faceoff and play continues. Beukeboom missed the rest of the series with a concussion.
These are some of my favorites. If anyone has video of the last two, please post it. I couldn't find it anywhere. Anybody else got any?