Ryan Smyth of the Colorado Avalanche was taken off the ice on a strecther last night in a match against the Los Angeles Kings.
It happened just after Smitty, scored his second goal of the game, when Kings’ young defenseman, Jack Johnson hit him hard into the boards. Although it was a clean hit, Smyth collided with the post at the end of the players’ bench. Take a look.
After the play, Avalanche enforcer Ian Laperriere approached Johnson wanting to fight him by simply asking him, “Do you want to get it over with?” Johnson knew that he would probably have to fight because he injured one of the other teams stars, and replied, “Sure.”
Rob Blake ended up coming and stepping in, not allowing to the fight to take place, but I give mad props to Jack Johnson. He didn’t do anything wrong when he hit Ryan Smyth, but the fact that he realized that he is going to have to defend himself after it, to me says he has respect for Ryan Smyth.
I think that is the single biggest thing that is missing from the sport today, and that thing is respect. You see young guys coming into the league trying to make impressions and hopefully gain a roster spot. So they come out and try to hurt people to make it appear as though they belong there, prime example was Steve Downie’s hit on Dean McAmmond.
You’ll be happy to hear that Ryan Smyth was conscious and walking afterwards, but was taken to hospital as a precaution.
