On Sunday night, San Jose Sharks forward Joe Thornton made headlines for all the wrong.
If getting whooped 6-3 against the Vegas Golden Knights wasn’t enough, Thornton made matters worse for the Sharks when he appeared to make deliberate contact to Tomas Nosek’s head. There appeared to be intent on the play but according to the veteran, he didn’t think too much of the hit. In fact, he insisted that he “barely touched him.”
Regardless of how hard it was Joe, you can’t be making contact to the head like that! Jumbo was allowed to stay in the game, but fans are under the impression he might be missing some time in the future.
You can add Thornton’s hit as just another controversial play from the 2019 postseason. The others have most noticeably come from the Leafs vs. Bruins series, particularly between Nazem Kadri and Jake DeBrusk. After DeBrusk appeared to collide knee-on-knee with Kadri, the Leafs forward later proceeded to cross-check DeBrusk in the face. He’s set to have a hearing on Monday.
Honestly, it might be time for the NHL to start considering using some new refs. They can find two worthy candidates at Maple Leafs Square.
(H/T Sheng Peng)