Calgary Coach, Media Too Soft On Misdeeds Of Flames' Pospisil

The muted response from Calgary on winger Martin Pospisil's dangerous hits on two members of the Seattle Kraken Monday has been almost as outrageous as the hits themselves.

As pointed out in our earlier post , Flames social media actually celebrated the 1st period hit by Pospisil ramming Adam Larsson's head into the side boards. "Welcome to the Marty Party" read the caption, along with a flexing bicep emoji.

About an even more egregious 3rd period hit on Vince Dunn that got Pospisil ejected, Calgary radio host Logan Gordon opined, "I didn't love the hit."

How charitable of you, Logan. The Sportsnet 960 yakker went on to place some of the blame on Dunn.

"I don't think it's a hit that intends to injure. Vince Dunn also needs to take a portion of the onus to not put himself in that spot. Or at least be aware that somebody's going to come down on  you like that."

The NHL Department of Player Safety thought the hit was worthy of a hearing, to be held Wednesday. Gordon spent more time whining about how long a Pospisil suspension might be than discussing the hit itself.

He wasn't alone.

Asked about Pospisil's recklessness, Flames coach Ryan Huska said, "He has impact every time he plays the game. For most of the year, he's been walking the line on the right side of it."

Really?

Props to our THN Calgary colleague Randy Sportak, who pointed out , "He received a match penalty for a chicken-wing hit on Winnipeg’s Cole Perfetti in the pre-season, and was ejected for a cross-checking major on Boston’s Brad Marchand Feb. 6. Pospisil was not suspended for either of those incidents."

However, the Flames TV postgame show hosts had their blinders firmly on. As the highlights rolled, Cory Sarich, a veteran of almost 1,000 NHL games, offered nothing but platitudes.

"Pospisil threw a nice hit early on Larsson. He had quite a few big body checks out there. I think he's done a phenomenal job. I don't think he can shy away from that."

Sarich's only words of caution? That with Pospisil's own concussion history, he must be prepared for retaliation.

Maybe he's just "rambunctious." The Calgary Herald pulled out that euphomism in a 2019 column, detailing a Pospisil incident while in the USHL.

Let's hope the NHL DoPS gives Flames fans and media more to whine about on Wednesday.