Hockey tough guy slams AHL rookie's head to ice
The season is young, but we have our first nominee for most disgusting fight tactic in a hockey dust-up.
Call it a minor-league move in a minor-league game as Adirondack Flames tough guy Trevor Gillies went after William Carrier of the Amerks in Rochester, N.Y., on Friday and slammed the AHL rookie's head into the ice.
There was 3:09 left in a game won 6-1 by Rochester, and Gillies' career resume reads 696 pro games with just 11 goals but 3,054 penalty minutes -- more than two full seasons of "Law & Order" episodes -- so veteran play-by-play announcer Don Stevens was right on top of the situation in explaining why Gillies was on the ice.
With a minor skirmish already in progress, Gillies grabbed Carrier and began flailing away. Carrier, who averaged just under a point a game a year ago in the Quebec league, didn't go into full turtle mode, but he also didn't put up much of a fight.
So Gillies grabbed Carrier's head and slammed it onto the ice, visor first. Granted, the helmet provided some cushion, but it still had to hurt, right?
Maybe not. Carrier told the Democrat & Chronicle the altercation was no big deal. "That's hockey," he said.
Rochester coach Chadd Cassidy was less forgiving.
"If there's room for that in hockey, I'm not sure I want to coach anymore," he told the newspaper.
