Leafs fans will love how Teemu Selanne called out his former Ducks for not protecting young stars
On Friday, we saw Arizona's Jay Beagle throw a series of entirely unnecessary uppercuts at up-and-coming star, Anaheim Ducks forward Troy Terry. As many fans and reporters across the league called out Beagle for being classless, former Ducks great and Hall of Famer Teemu Selanne called out Ducks management for not having any toughness to protect guys like Terry and Zegras.
Unfortunately for the Ducks, they did have two of them regularly in the lineup until the trade deadline, in Nicolas Deslauriers and Josh Manson. Now that both have been traded, there is little in the way of protection in their lineup, which means other teams can begin to take liberties and throw cheap shots at guys like rookie Trevor Zegras and Terry, the Ducks' leading goal scorer, knowing there will be little to no retaliation.
Selanne did it in the absolutely best way possible, tagging former Winnipeg Jets teammate and revered NHL enforcer Tie Domi. The name Tie Domi certainly strikes a chord with fans of the Toronto Maple Leafs, after Domi spent 11 seasons in the blue and white from 1994-95 through 2005-06, endearing himself to the fanbase with his fear nothing attitude and fierce on ice presence.
Domi is the NHL's 3rd leading collector of penalty minutes, behind only Dale Hunter and Tiger Williams. The Windsor, ON native racked up an astounding 3515 PIMs during an 18-year NHL career.
While the way of the enforcer has, at large, gone by the wayside, there are still a number of "ice guardians" out there who take pride in standing up for their teammates and holding agitators and heavy hitters accountable if they cross the line with a star player. Unfortunately for the Ducks, there were none on the ice for them on Friday when Beagle cross checked Zegras and assaulted Terry.
We saw what happened last offseason when the New York Rangers brought in a couple of legit tough guys in Ryan Reaves and Barclay Goodrow after Washington Capitals roughneck Tom Wilson took liberties on skilled forwards Pavel Buchnevich and Artemi Panarin. Perhaps the Ducks will take a similar approach this summer, having experienced a similar issue with two of their budding young stars.
| POLL | ||
3 AVRIL | 294 ANSWERS Leafs fans will love how Teemu Selanne called out his former Ducks for not protecting young stars Who was the best enforcer of all time? | ||
| Tie Domi | 97 | 33 % |
| Bob Probert | 136 | 46.3 % |
| Tiger Williams | 36 | 12.2 % |
| Other | 25 | 8.5 % |
| List of polls | ||
