Predators Outshine Stars, May Outshines Us All

Saturday night's win in Dallas was noteworthy on a number of levels; the Preds went toe-to-toe with the hottest team in the NHL and dominated the 3rd period on the way to a 3-1 victory. A great win, all-around.

Along the way, however, there was a play that was a guaranteed highlight, and drew some rather interesting commentary afterward. Stars captain Brenden Morrow ran the Preds goalie Dan Ellis as Ellis was playing a puck behind his net. Morrow caught Ellis in the jaw, spun him around to the ground, then wrestled with Ryan Suter who came to his goaltender's defense. Now Morrow's an honest, tough hockey player, and to me it didn't look like he meant to catch Ellis that hard. But a commentator later on didn't just discuss this hit, he lauded it.

On the Preds/Stars recap on the NHL Network, they had Alan May as an analyst, and his description of Morrow's hit on Ellis ranks as possibly the most imbecilic minute of television I've ever seen.

May's take, as they showed the replay, started with "here's where you see why Brenden Morrow's a Captain." He goes on to say that Morrow was trying to inspire his team and enliven the home crowd by rattling Ellis and that crease-crashing is sometimes what you have to do to win hockey games.

Crease Crashing? This was behind the net!
"Inspiring his team" by running a goalie with his head down? What kind of team needs that kind of inspiration?

If it was someone with a triple-digit IQ, I would have passed it off as brilliant satire, but May's glassy-eyed stare into the camera and tenuous grasp of the English language had me leaning towards sincere, profound stupidity. Perhaps his 1,333 career NHL penalty minutes involved one too many sticks to the head.