Last night’s final two games featured field hockey “just like in the old days”.

Wow.

That’s exactly the reaction I had when I saw the end of the game between the Leafs and the Panthers last night.

It has to be said that since the start of the series, there’s been a lot of shuffling going on. The players don’t hesitate to hit each other, and sometimes that’s just too much.

Sam Bennett’s hit on Matthew Knies in Game 2 is a case in point:

Clearly, Sam Bennett is in every fight in this series.

Last night, he was one of the main players in the near brawl at the end of the match. You can see him standing over Jake McCabe, who’s sprawled out on the ice, helpless against the Florida players’ attacks…

And Bennett took advantage of his position to hit his rival directly in the head with point shots.

The end of the game was truly tumultuous:

Things got chippy between the Leafs and Panthers at the end of the game 😬#TimeToHunt #LeafsForever pic.twitter.com/avgDNBMhL8

– WynnBET (@WynnBET) May 11, 2023

Looks like playoff field hockey. Actually…

Sounds more like “old time” field hockey, when fights like this were even more popular. I don’t know what got into all the guys playing last night, both in Florida and Edmonton. But it was like a full moon, and the players were going crazy.

In the game between the Oilers and Golden Knights, it looked like everyone was looking for someone to fight.

Like Bennett, it was Alex Pietrangelo who played the role of villain last night.

In the following video, we see him take a violent, violent swing at Leon Draisaitl…

Things got chippy in the final few minutes of Game 4👀

🎥: @BR_OpenIce

pic.twitter.com/hUd8yGmktF

– BarDown (@BarDown) May 11, 2023

I love it when we’re treated to intense games… But, Pietrangelo’s gesture has no place on a field hockey rink. Neither does Bennett’s, in the sense that McCabe simply couldn’t defend himself.

Me, I call them cheapshots.

But hey. Once again, we know that the players’ emotions are on the line in the playoffs, and that’s what gives us good field hockey.

We often talk about the code in the NHL, but things are a bit different in the playoffs. Guys don’t want to fight on purpose to avoid injury and to avoid hurting their respective line-ups, which makes sense.

But…

We can expect the first game between the Oilers and Golden Knights to be a violent one next season, and the same applies to the first match-up between the Panthers and Leafs.

Promising, at least.

Breaking news

– Claude Giroux has always been a special player.

Of all the NHL players he’s had under his wing in his career, Benoît Groulx seems to have stopped his finger on Claude Giroux! 🏒

To listen again to his appearance on Premier conteur with @JiCLajoie ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/2qqI6xRMGG

– BPM Sports (@BPMSportsRadio) May 11, 2023

– Adam Fantilli is going to be good.

Live from Riga, Latvia, for the World Hockey Championships, Alex Tanguay took the time to chat with us.

He’s one of Canada’s assistant coaches for the tournament, which starts tomorrow.

His interview with @JiCLajoie ➡️ https://t.co/eOTKZjkQax pic.twitter.com/nYYjPrnef7

– BPM Sports (@BPMSportsRadio) May 11, 2023

– Let’s calm down.

– This is out of the ordinary.

À VOIR | Who won the game?🙃https://t.co/Em6qpQjN4s

– TVA Sports (@TVASports) May 11, 2023

– Congratulations to all!

– Notice to interested parties:

With guests @100_Soccer, @patleduc15, @RoccoPlacentino, @HassCamara6 and of course our describer and analyst @maxvanhoutte and @_sydfw https://t.co/6dehIBkSdd

– Maxime Truman (@MaximeTruman) May 11, 2023