Let’s go to the videotape. The hit itself is at the 1:30 mark or so.

This is getting out of hand. Correction: it’s already out of hand with this team. This is the third time this season (fourth if you count Steve Downie’s preseason attempt to impress his coaches) that a Flyer has been involved in an incident like this…not only that, but the players involved aren’t guys with long rap sheets (though Wings fans would disagree with me about Hartnell, I’m sure).

The team’s gotta be punished, if this garbage is to stop. The only thing that Hartnell didn’t do on that play was leave his feet–and that’s only because Alberts was on his knees (and, as Jack Edwards pointed out in that videoclip, unable to defend himself). Hartnell came from clear across the rink, he didn’t slow down, and he didn’t make any attempt to mitigate the outcome when he saw Alberts on his knees. If that doesn’t scream “intent to injure”, I don’t know what does.

I said before that there is a team-level issue here. I’m more sure of it now than ever. Something or someone is giving the Flyers the impression that it’s OK to be a bunch of cheap-shotting thugs, and that is unacceptable.

Colin Campbell has a chance to take a stand and actually exert the discipline that he’s shied away from. He has a chance to send a message to the Flyers that they had better knock off all their evil…but since we all know that he’s just a giant clownshoe, I am betting Hartnell gets five games at most.

Wednesday night’s game is going to be very interesting. Bad Craziness, Soon Come.