The former Atlanta Thrashers are in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. They earned the spot with their play, performing well enough to make the current Stanley Cup Champion Kings to eat their dust.
Partial credit for the team reaching the playoffs certainly has to go to Dustin Byfuglien skating as a defenseman. Byfuglien plays a heavy game, players entering his ice know they’re in a hockey game.
It looks like the pressure has finally forced Big Buff to board the crazy train.
Neck Breaker
The end of the season featured a heated battle for the last Western Conference playoff spots. The Jets were being chased by the current Stanley Cup Champion Kings.
On the last day of March, the Jets lost to the President’s Trophy winning New York Rangers.
Near the end of the second period of that game, the Rangers’ J.T. Miller ended up on the ice in front of the Jets net after jumping out of the way of a shot and attempting to jam it under Pavelec’s pads while he was falling.
Byfuglien then delivered a vicious cross check to the back of Miller’s neck already down on the ice with no puck in the area. You can see him lining up Miller’s neck (or head) in the image above.
There are no worse places than the unpadded back of the neck to have a guy in NHL physical condition, listed at 6’5″ and 260 pounds, apply a carbon fiber Warrior Covert stick with enough force to drive one’s head to the ice.
Miraculously, Miller was not injured.
Byuglien wasn’t penalized, but the NHL did suspend him for four games.
Cheap Shot
The Jets lost their third playoff game in a row to the Anaheim Ducks, coming dangerously close to a first round sweep.
The Ducks Corey Perry is an annoying guy, it’s part of his game. Lots of people in and around the NHL would love to throw a shoulder into Perry for almost any reason. Perry scored a go-ahead goal in the second period, celebrated mildly, and was then punched in the back of the head by Byfuglien.
The heat of the moment is one thing, this was a cheap shot in anybody’s book and something a smart player coming off a four game suspension wouldn’t have done.
Buff two minutes, the Ducks didn’t score during the power play, and the NHL announced there would be no supplemental discipline.
Byfuglien got away with another clear cheap shot, in other words.
Beast Mode
This morning (Tuesday), Byfuglien decides to emulate Marshawn Lynch with the same answer to every question fired at him in a press scrum.
Hilarious for some, but derivative. Come on, Dustin, come up with some new schtick if you’re looking for attention.
This is the same guy that tossed Kane’s laundry into the showers to teach him a lesson about teamwork and the same guy that took a four game suspension to help his team reach the playoffs and took a two minute penalty because he was peeved with Perry.
Set An Example, Man
What up with Byfuglien’s brain? He’s not responding well to the pressure of the struggle to reach the playoffs nor actually playing the playoff games.
The guy has clearly lost it, although the cheap shot pass he’s been getting from the NHL will probably expire shortly when the Jets exit the playoffs.
Most of us can agree; living in Winnipeg without those famous Bryz-approved parks must be torture, maybe more so for Buff because the length of time the lakes are frozen cuts down on his boating time.
I used to like this guy, he played hard nosed big boy hockey and can play defense AND offense. Now? Not so much, he’s crossed the line into punk territory.
Is it the “Dustin” first name that contributes to this behavior?