Some might claim that this on-ice quote from Zac Rinaldo tonight is everything that’s wrong with the NHL these days. No respect amongst players, no regard for head injuries, etc.
I’m as sensitive to concussions and head injuries as the next person, but this trash talk from Rinaldo to Phil Kessel off the opening draw is nothing to fret about. Unless you’re Phil Kessel.
“I’m gonna catch you with your head down tonight. Gonna take it off.”
Can’t hear with Kessel said in response to Rinaldo, but it’s just an awesome line from Rinaldo. There’s no secret that Zac is one of the hardest hitters, if not the hardest hitter, in the NHL, and a simple thing like this off the opening draw just works to get under the skin of the other team’s best player.
Later in the first period, it was pretty evident that the Flyers as a whole were trying to work Kessel up. Max Talbot rode him pretty hard and tried to pull him into a fight. It didn’t work, but it’s pretty clear that it’s part of the Flyers game plan tonight against Toronto.
