The Goon Factory. That’s what the NHL has become. This years Stanley cup Playoffs are the most violent, pentalty scarred playoffs in the leagues history. When will it stop? When it’s too late. From the New Jersey Star Ledger: USA Today reports the 2012 playoffs are the NHL’s chippiest in the past six years, with 724 penalty minutes called through the first 19 games Some would argue that Game 3 of the Penguins-Flyers series and Game 2 of the Rangers-Senators series resembled more of a circus-like atmosphere that you would see in Slapshot instead of an NHL playoff game. During Sunday’s Pittsburgh-Philadelphia game, there were 158 penalty minutes, including 72 in the first period. Stars such as Sidney Crosby and Claude Giroux fought each other. Pittsburgh’s Arron Asham took his stick and cross-checked Brayden Schenn in the throat and then followed it up with a punch to the back of the head while the Flyers’ forward was laying face down on the ice. Later in the game, Pittsburgh’s James Neal delivered a late hit on Sean Couturier and went head-hunting on Giroux. Asham and Neal now have disciplinary hearings with the league.
