Ladies and Gentlemen, the Wrath of Danks

We have all heard the term “Nice Guys Finish Last”…especially if you are a nice guy. Well, the Carolina/Boston series proved that the NHL subscribes to this notion. Maybe not so much that “Nice Guys Finish Last”...but certainly that “Punks Finish First”.

Scott Walker is a punk. No matter how many times his teammates defend him.No matter how many times we hear that his cheap shot on Aaron Ward “just wasn’t him.” We all know that once we get to know him we blah blah blah. This is all irrelevant now. Walker will now always be known as a punk…and with good reason. He not only hit a defenseless player, he did it without his gloves on. He then turned around and told the NHL he was expecting a fight. Yes folks, he pretty much lied through his toothless face.

Really, Scott? A fight? A fight with Ward, who at the time was involved with a third-party (Matt Cullen), had his gloves on and hands down by his sides. That sure looked like a fight Scott: if you were about to fight an armless

man.

Nearly the entire hockey world was expecting a suspension of at least one game, maybe the rest of the series, maybe even for the rest of the year. (Some players have been suspended for much longer for doing much less.) Plus, Walker was given enough penalties to automatically force him to sit for a game…per the NHL rulebook.

However, the league overturned the rule, overturned the official’s call, and gave him a slap on the wrist, with a 2,500 dollar fine. Yes, no suspension. And the NHL wonders how they get no respect on how to run a league?

Walker ended up scoring the overtime winner in game 7, and will now move on to play the Pens for a trip to the Finals. Meanwhile, the Bruins are left to wonder what kind of justice was actually served, knowing that there would have been a very good chance of a suspension if they would have laid a hand on Walker.

So listen up boys and girls, because the NHL taught us all a very good lesson. First, hit a defenseless player in the face, then lie about how you were getting into a fight, and then score the winning goal.

There is no karma in the NHL…just a bunch of douche bags who don’t know how to run a league.

It’s a good thing I’m not a Bruins fan or who knows how ugly this column could have gotten.