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Interesting Jackets/Stars game last night. Both teams came out and decided to play pretty chippy, with four fights in the first period. The first one, Derek Dorsett went after James Neal with a couple of "cross-checks", but Neal didn't want any part of him, so Trevor Daley takes his place. Likely, Dorsett was challenging Neal for fighting Derick Brassard last year and ending his season with a separated shoulder.
NOTE: I have no problem with Neal at this point. There's nothing really for him to gain by fighting Dorsett.
However, in the 2nd period, Neal strides from pretty far away to take a run at Dorsett and hits him in the numbers and a shoulder to the head. Dorsett is knocked out on the spot. The best comparison is of a boxer who just gets his bell rung and tries to get up, but falls back down. Its quite frightening:
The Jackets took advantage and scored 2 goals on the ensuing 5 min major and won the game 4-1.
Now, here's the million dollar question. How long does Neal get suspended for? How long SHOULD he get suspended for?
I'm biased, but I think 2-3 games is enough in this case. From what I've heard, its pretty comparable to the Ruutu hit earlier in the year (which I haven't seen), and he got 3 games (I think).
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