Rat PIM Update – Rats Then & Now

It’s time for another Rat PIM update, where we look at the dangerous or cheap shot type penalties taken by teams and see if there is any correlation to fighting.   A recent article by Liam Maguire on the Cooke – Karlsson skate slicing incident also prompted me to take a close look at some previous Rats in the game.   In my opinion, history isn’t very kind to Liam’s argument.

Carkner’s Response To Brian Boyle

My last post, A Superficial Look At UFAFs, was retweeted a couple of times and prompted a response citing an incident from this year’s playoffs.   Matt Carkner went after Brian Boyle in retaliation and the tweeter, based on my understanding, was using it as an example of why fighting is a necessary part of the game.  So let’s dive into this example and analyze it from my point of view.