Leafs beat Sens, does life get better?

OK, so life does get better, but you have to agree that the Leafs beating the hated Sens on a Saturday night is pretty awesome. Not only did they beat them with newer, younger and much less experienced team, they beat them with speed and, as always, with class.

The Sens, with the likes of Chris Neil(and the other unnamed neanderthals) swarming around trying to kneecap anyone in blue, has to be an embarrassment to not only the Sens, but also to the league. In my humble opinion, this man is offensive but not in the sense of the word that means scoring goals. He plays to hurt people, you can see it in his approach. When did they allow assault in the game anyway?

My young lad suggests that I spent too much time administrating a minor hockey association and look at the game with those blinders on. I disagree, I (and many think the same as I do) think the purpose of the body check is to separate the player from the puck. The purpose is not to separate him from his fillings and mental capacity. 

Don't get me wrong, I love a good physical hockey game, in fact one of the best "hits" I ever saw was doled out by a minor hockey player whose Dad is a Pastor and good friend of mine. What made me proud of my young friend (Caleb R.) was not the hit (a beautiful clean open ice hit that separated the young player from the puck and his between period gatorades, that was a mess), but rather the thing that impressed me most was that after the young man finally made it to his skates, Caleb skated over to him and patted him on the head as if to say "are you ok?"

Never will you see the likes of Chris Neil or the other idiot Avery go to another player to check on their well being. They can only stay in the game because of their brute nature. Their time in the game will never add up to the time that someone like Luke Schenn should be able to. Their game is to annihilate and dole out pain. There should be no place for intentional pain in this game. It will happen automatically due to the physical nature of the game.   

Is there anything better than a win over the hated Sens? Sure, hockey, plain and simple, is just a game. Life brings many more important things than a win or loss on a Saturday. Life brings love and laughter it brings community and faith and it brings another day to enjoy the simple and complex things that we call family.