One noteworthy aspect of today’s Flyers-Rangers’ matinee in Philly was the shutout pitched by Blueshirt backup netminder Steve Valiquette. The Caps will most assuredly see Henrik Lundqvist tomorrow afternoon at Verizon Center.
But in today’s second period in Philly linesman Pat Dapuzzo suffered a brutal skate-to-face injury that opened him up in slasher-film fashion. Congruent to the incident was a spontaneous outburst of fisticuffs between the clubs — no fewer than three slow dances (Steve Downie using Fedor Tyutin like a punching bag most notable among them). Somehow, Dapuzzo got to his feet and skated through two zones, a robust trail of his blood following (and leading) him, in a remarkable attempt to assist his officiating colleagues in stemming the melee. Arrived at the brawling, he was almost instantly ushered to medical assistance from both teams’ trainers.
Hockey players are often — and rightly — lauded for their courage in competing through pain and savage injury. Dapuzzo today reminded us that the entire ice sheet is staffed with profiles in courage.
7 Comments
Hope he’s not hurt too bad. wow, that’s tough.
I can’t stand Downie. That guy is a maniac I hope somebody else around the league takes him out for the season.
They said later in the telecast that Dapuzzo suffered a broken nose and had to get 20 stitches. No laughing matter, but not as bad as it could have been.
I agree with the original post - I think fans ought to have more respect for the officials in game and I cringe a little when the crowds cheers if an official is hit by a puck.
@dmg
What do you expect from Philly fans? These are the same people who booed Santa Clause!
I’ve watched Pat for so many years. He’s tough, fair, effective and a great guy. Hope he’s OK…so close to retiring.
Finally someone gives props to the officials!! Hooray for you! These guys give it their all every night so it’s nice that someone sees that out there. I don’t think anyone realizes how often these guys get hurt and keep right on going.
With one year left - imagine. This guy is tough as nails.
As a youth hockey official I tend to watch the officials as much as the game itself. I happened to have watched this game and saw the incident as it happened. Seeing him get up and still try to get in with his partner to break up fights was great. Thank you for highlighting this.
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