Nick Cousins: Maxim Lapierre would have suspended him 20 games for his baton stroke

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On Tuesday night, Ivan Demidov didn’t finish the game against the Senators. The Habs’ forward was the victim of a rather vicious stick from Nick Cousins… and although he briefly remained in the game, he then retreated to the dressing room.The good news is that he’s been back at practice for a few days now. He won’t be playing tonight, but obviously, he was removed from the game very preventively.But clearly, Cousins’ gesture didn’t go down well. When you look at the footage, after all, it’s hard to see it as anything other than a dirty gesture aimed at injuring Demidov.

We know that, unfortunately, it’s not uncommon to see such gestures in a warm-up game. And in reality, it’s to these guys’ advantage to continue… because they’re not really punished.A small fine doesn’t exactly discourage players, you know.And Maxim Lapierre, on La Poche Bleue, talked about all this… and in his eyes, the NHL missed a great opportunity to send a message to the rest of the league:

Cr*sses-y 20 games. Next year, no one’s going to make the move.

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Maxim Lapierre

Our colleagues at HabsolumentFan also reported the news:[content-ads]Lapierre is right: as long as players only get a slap on the wrist, there’s no reason why they shouldn’t continue to make such gestures.Imagine if Demidov had been seriously injured: it would have been a disaster for the Habs… and the Senators’ forward wouldn’t even have been suspended. Harming a direct rival in this way almost makes it worthwhile for the players.20 games obviously sounds pretty drastic, but a lengthy suspension is just the punishment needed to discourage players from committing such acts. It wouldn’t stop everything either, of course (guys with nothing to lose might still do it), but it would calm the ardor of a large number of players.Because, after all, the league has to ask itself whether it’d rather keep its stars healthy or let dirty players have their way with the stars of the circuit. And to me, the answer to that question is pretty simple[spacer title=’Overtime’]- Oliver Kapanen praised by his coach.

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