We all know that hockey is one of the more physical sports of the bunch. After all, there aren't many sports where you can just start fisticuffs for the fun of it. In fact, the NHL practically encourages it!
But the Stanley Cup playoffs got a little extra violent during Game 6, and even the coaches said things went "too far." As reported by People, Charlie McAvoy of the Boston Bruins got ejected. This was because he did a pretty crazy thing against Buffalo Sabres' Zach Benson.
Emotions were running high during the game. Sabres coach Lindy Ruff called the game full of "raw emotion". And then, Zach Benson committed an illegal move—he tripped McAvoy with his left leg. This sent him tumbling into the end boards, which looked like it hurt pretty badly.
Slew-footing is decidedly illegal in the NHL, as you'd probably expect. And it normally comes with a match penalty attached. But McAvoy seemed to take things personally. He picked himself up, skated toward Benson, and delivered a shocking swing at his torso.
Benson got a two-minute penalty for his slew-footing, while McAvoy got a five-minute major alongside a game misconduct.
The Sabres coach, Lindy Ruff, seemed to understand the reasons why. He explained, "I think he feels that Benson tripped him on the play or took his feet out from under him." But he did acknowledge that McAvoy had "probably went a little too far, though."
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Boston Seems To Be Having Trouble in More Than Just the NHL
The Boston Bruins don't seem to be doing very well at the moment. But they're not the only ones. Their brother from another mother, the NBA's Boston Celtics, have been having similar troubles.
Both teams have been having trouble winning at home, the TD Garden, especially during their respective playoffs. Both teams are 1-5 in their playoffs. This knockout loss at the TD Garden is part of a seemingly bigger trend.
Fans have been speculating that perhaps the TD Garden may, in fact, just be cursed. And while we definitely can't be sure of that, since fans everywhere claim just that very thing whenever things aren't going too well, one thing remains true. Maybe everyone just needs to take a chill pill—especially Charlie McAvoy!
