Ryan Reaves deserves to be suspended for the hit on Filip Hronek.

Hockey as you know, is a physical sport. Hits and crosschecks are common. With that, came the role of the “goon” or the “enforcer”. What exactly is a goon? According to SportsLogo.com, here’s the definition.

“This refers to the ice hockey player on a team who is known as the enforcer. This player is also known as the tough guy or the fighter of the team. The main role of the goon is to act aggressively towards the opposition’s star player or goalie or to also respond to an opponent who performed a dirty play against someone on their team. A team may also use this player to help protect the star player on their own team.”

The role of the goon has been largely minimized throughout the years in the NHL but there is one who still is out there. Ryan Reaves. His sole purpose? To protect superstars like Kirill Kaprizov and former teammate Mats Zuccarello.  After Reaves and Hronek got into it earlier in the 1st period, Reaves decided to deliver his version of “justice”.

There was some people on Twitter who thought it was clean. What? Take away the fact I cover the Red Wings and the potential bias that I may seem to have but come on, that was just straight dirty.  There was no penalty called on the hit either. Not sure what the hell the refs saw but they did not consider the safety of the player.

It will be interesting to see if he will be suspended for the hit but you think Reaves really cares about that? Nah, doubt it. He’s a goon with no real skill set. Period.