When Matt Dumba legally, albeit brutally, rammed his right shoulder into the upper body of Joe Pavelski, little did he know that Pavelski would fall hard onto the ice and hit his head, knocking him out of Game 1 of the best-of-seven series between the Wild and Stars and leaving his status for Games 2 and beyond in doubt.
Less than 12 hours after the big hit and Minnesota’s 3-2 win in double overtime, Fort Worth Star-Telegram columnist Mac Engel wrote about wanting the Stars to get revenge on the Wild defenseman.
“It needs to be handled. On the ice,” Engel wrote, harkening back to 1998 when the late Bryan Marchment checked then Stars center Joe Niewendyk hard into the boards, ultimately resulting in Niewendyk suffering a torn ACL.
He called Marchment, whose son Mason plays for the Stars, a notoriously dirty player and then said Marchment would “know what to do” with Dumba.
“If it was the regular season, the first minute of the next game between the Stars and Wild would feature a Stars player, or players, going after Dumba. On ice justice remains one of hockey’s greatest strengths. This is the playoffs, and such decisions will be weighed accordingly. There are priorities. And then there are priorities. What Dumba did to Pavelski wasn’t old school, playoff hockey. It was dirty. It needs to be handled. On the ice. Bryan Marchment would know what to do.”
Bryan Marchment was suspended 13 times during his 12-year NHL career and his hits resulted in numerous player injuries, some of them serious. Michael Russo, who covers the Wild for The Athletic, took exception to Engel’s column, calling it “disgraceful and beyond unprofessional.”
A credentialed media member campaigning for this type of vengeance is disgraceful and beyond unprofessional. And video reviews are done in concert with the NHL Situation Room in Toronto not Dept of Player Safety in NYC, fyi https://t.co/LEoOZgoeO8
— Michael Russo (@RussoHockey) April 18, 2023
Immediately after the hit, Dallas’s Max Domi rushed Dumba and starting punching. He continued punching when Dumba was on the ice and the officials were trying to pull them apart.
“Just because Domi got a few pops in on Dumba means this is over,” Engel puffed (note: we assume a “doesn’t” is missing from that sentence). “This requires the type of old school, hockey justice that Marchment made famous, as did former Dallas Stars defenseman Derian Hatcher.”
What’s lacking in Engel’s column is context about what would happen if Dallas attempted to harm Dumba. Minnesota has one of the toughest lineups in the league, highlighted by the ultimate enforcer in Ryan Reaves and then very tough customers like Marcus Foligno and Brandon Duhaime.
As for being Public Enemy No. 1 in Dallas?
“So be it,” Dumba said.
