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The Pat Sieloff Saga


ScottM

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By now, I imagine that most people here have heard about the Pat Sieloff hit on Clarke MacArthur yesterday. Immediately after the hit, Bobby Ryan went after Sieloff and Chris Neil attempted to do the same later, eventually forcing Guy Bouchard to pull Sieloff for his own safety.

 

First, I want to acknowledge the fact that I've been wanting the Sens to trade MacArthur and move on for a while. It's absolutely nothing against MacArthur, because I like him. It's simply because a team with the depth issues that the Senators have can't afford to have a key player miss significant time because of injuries every year. Each season, we end up with a hole on the left side after MacArthur gets hurt. Thus, my wish for him to have been traded was from a business and production standpoint.

 

That said, I can't stand what Sieloff did. Yes, I know that everyone has said that it was a quick thing and that he probably didn't know that he was hitting MacArthur, but there's a bigger problem here in my view. By all accounts, the hit was a questionable at best blow from behind. That's not the kind of thing you want to see at all, but you certainly don't want to see it done to a teammate.

 

I think the anger of the rest of the team is very understandable. As Ryan said on Twitter after someone attacked his actions, he couldn't stand by and watch someone he had known for five minutes hit a teammate of three years from behind and not react. It's a question of the humanity of the players in a lot of respects. MacArthur's career could be over. A guy can only get so many concussions and keep playing. At some point, you have to want to see him call it quits so that he doesn't have problems that affect him for the rest of his life. This action kind of calls Sieloff's character into question. He might have permanently alienated the locker room too.

 

Honestly, while initially, I was glad to have picked up Sieloff in the Chiasson trade to add some depth on the blue line, I don't want him anymore if this is the kind of player he's going to be. Even if I want to see someone else at left wing for the good of the team, he just knocked a guy out of the lineup that was going to have far more impact that he will. Let's trade him. Move on and fill that slot with someone else.

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Pat is never gonna be a puck carrying guy, his skating is questionable, but he does hit like a Mack Truck. That is how he makes the league, as a very tough, punishing 5-6 guy....so I have no problem with him trying show he can do that.

 

edit...I don't condone a dirty hit from behind, but also fair to say....Clarke would have had another concussion with or without Pat...he is prone to them now. The Sens knew the kind of player they were getting, everyone on that ice knew what kind of player Pat was....the Sens knew he was out there to impress them, plant someone, yet let him go out there....so....

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