Hartnell, the bastard offspring of Little Orphan Annie and a blowfish, was acquired and signed by the Flyers two seasons ago. No one will deny he plays a physical game, but he also makes questionable and dirty plays, not to mention some which are outright stupid.

The Penguins submitted a complaint to the league who, due to lack of video evidence were unable to substantiate the act. Since a he said-she said issues aren’t really valid, Hartnell was not punished in any way, a sentiment I would agree with.

Flyers fans to no surprise are crying over it saying it’s false. Here is the thing though: the reason this matter has weight and wasn’t just blown off was that it was believable. Hartnell is known for being stupid so when a person hears he may have bit someone, they’re not going to cast it aside. If you heard Mike Modano bit someone people are going to call BS. That’s not the case with Hartnell which is probably the most disturbing thing about the incident. Everyone can believe he did it.

Only Hartnell can say for sure on this, but he’s denying he ever bit Letang. This is what he had to say on the matter.

"[Letang] had me in a headlock, and his free hand was in there," Hartnell said. "I can't really tell you what happened, but I definitely didn't bite him.

"I know he was complaining like I did, but his bare hand scratched my face, and that's about it. . . . We were rolling around on the ice, and I think we did a couple of somersaults there, and I ended up coming down on the ground last. I was out there the last minute and 45 seconds, so I could hardly breathe."

Hartnell was upset with Letang's accusation.

"I'm a pretty honest player. I play the game hard. I play the game the right way. . . . Ask the guys around the league. I like to trip a little bit, I like to get in the mix a little bit after the whistles, but that's part of my game, and that's how I play and how I have to play to be effective."

Added Hartnell: "Anybody who knows me personally knows I'm definitely not a savage. I just play the game hard."

Of course you expect the denial, but there is something wrong with Hartnell’s statement, namely that he plays the game the right way. Hartnell is known for running goalies, players and throwing his gear to prevent breakaways and other scoring chances. Behavior like this is not playing the game the right way. He’ll hit, he’ll fight some and yes he plays physical, but there is a line. The Flyers are known for doing quite a bit of dirty things and constantly stepping over the line. As Charlie Murphy would say, they are habitual line steppers. But resorting to biting? Really? That’s just ridiculous.

So congratulations to Scott Hartnell on digging back to a tactic he used as a five year of biting the other guy to continue his legacy. I didn’t think he could make himself more ridiculous after sporting a woman’s haircut, but I guess I shouldn’t underestimate him.

Comments (0)

Subscribe to this comment's feed

Name

Email

Website

Title

Comment

smaller | bigger

Subscribe via email (registered users only)

Add Comment