Derek Boogaard was your official Top Star last night when the Wild took on the Oilers. Some might wonder how a guy that had no goals, no assists, and two hits gets a player of the game. Well, watch below:
If you are an advocate of fighting in hockey, you have to love what Boogaard is doing this year. Boogaard even said it earlier this year... he is going to run teams that don't carry an enforcer. He has more than followed through on his words. The 6'7', 270 lb tough guy wreaked havoc on the Oilers last night.
And, sure, the Oilers answered with two and three guys coming at Boogaard twice last night after big hits. But the Boogeyman simply stands there and takes a pop or two to the face and waits for someone to drop the gloves. It doesn't happen... not even the Olier's tough guy, Zack Stortini, would dare drop the gloves with Boogaard. Stortini latched on for dear life when he got within arm's reach of Boogaard. I guess he didn't get the "green light" from his coach to fight the Boogeyman.
So basically, teams do not have a real answer. As you can see from the video, Boogard's clean hits, and the reactions from the Oilers, lead to yet another Wild powerplay. And did you see Torres bounce off of Boogard? It was comical.
Boogaard is, in a way, protecting his job and the role of the enforcer by doing what he is doing. By running teams that don't dress an enforcer, he is making teams call up guys to protect their star players... Calgary calling up Eric Godard is your example. Teams that don't have an answer are paying the price in man games lost.
As Georges Laraque said, look at all the head injuries that have occured in Edmonton since he left. Well Boogaard just added a few more lumps and bruises to Edmonton. And other teams cannot respond appropriately either. Simply put, Steve Staois and Torres are not going to deter Boogaard from running their players. They're simply going to entice him to do it more. Now if only the Wild had some toughness beyond Boogaard...
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