Voy Por Ustedes

As we speak Boston are 2-0 against Carolina in Carolina. This is good stuff as it means I can still win a teeny tiny amount of monies if Boston win the Cup somehow instead of my boys. Also though, this series has suddenly transformed from a very pleasant cordial affair to a blood and guts slug fest.

Even in hockey there are rules as to how the violence is conducted. For example, if you drop your gloves wishing to fight but the other guy doesn't, you are not supposed to slug him. This occurred in the last game when Scott Walker of the Hurricanes who claims he thought he was involved in a legitimate "altercation," twatted Aaron Ward who had not dropped his gloves.

Now some people have tried to defend young Walker by claiming it was obvious he wanted to fight and Ward should have protected himself. If one is in a bar, Walker's apologists have argued, one doesn't stand there with ones arms at ones sides when getting pumbled just because you don't want to fight - one must protect oneself when heavy blows are anticipated.

Fair enough if you're in a bar, but this was not a bar, it was an NHL play-off game where rules on fighting written and unwritten can be assumed to be adhered to. And therefore Walker's punch was cowardly, cheap and the kind of thing you'd expect from an Italian bitch fighter.

It's unlikely any retribution will be carried out by Boston tonight, as they just can't afford to throw the series away for the sake of some revenge. But when the two meet in the regular season next year, this incident will give that otherwise meaningless game some meaning. One for the diary I'd say.