Once Upon a Time

Once upon a time back when hockey players knew there were certain unwritten rules that had to be obeyed; players rarely ever touched another team's goalie. If they did then there was an immediate response that was did not care about an instigator penalty just protecting their goalie.

I bring it up after watching Henrik Lundqvist get run over not once but twice in the same game and no response from a New York Ranger. Now while the second "hit" was not the fault of the Los Angeles King as he was driven into Henrik by Christopher Higgins the first one when Peter Harrold hit Henrik was.

It is a growing trend to watch Lundqvist in his crease getting knocked down but it should be an unacceptable one to any of those wearing a Ranger uniform. If Lundqvist was a wandering goalie who got hit away from his crease then it would be hard to complain about Henrik getting hit.

Let us not kid ourselves people; the Ranger season begins and ends with Henrik Lundqvist. Anything happens to Henrik and you might as well kiss the Ranger season good-bye.

Forget saying it is Donald Brashear's job to be the team enforcer as when it comes to Lundqvist it is every single Ranger's job to protect him. Even more surprising is that of all the things one would be expecting from John Tortorella to get upset about; wouldn't running his star goalie be at the top of his list?

Yet the Rangers for the most part have been quiet and that is also a disappointment because one of these times Henrik is going to get run over and he will not be getting right back up. Complaining about Henrik getting injured will not do the Rangers any good as they could done something about it beforehand.

The next time someone even tries to knock Henrik over then that player should have every Ranger on the ice on his butt. So what if the Rangers have to kill off a penalty; better to kill off a power play than risk losing your star goalie.

Or should we simply wait until Henrik is helped off the ice with an injury?

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Mitch Gaulton (2008 6th) returned to action on Wednesday after missing 3 games due to a case of Bronchitis not the upper body injury that was originally reported. It may sound crazy but given Gaulton's injury issues that getting sick is much better news than another injury.

Even Gaulton's return to the Erie Otter lineup could not prevent the Otters from extending their winless streak to 5 games after they lost to the Kitchener Rangers 3-1. Gaulton had a quiet night in his return not much of a factor at either end of the ice.

Roman Horak (2009 5th) did not score but his Chilliwack Bruins got a 5 game road trip off to a good start with a 1-0 win over the Lethbridge Hurricanes. Horak is still off to a good start at 1-7-8 in 10 games.

(Henrik Lundqvist courtesy of the Rangers)