I’m not a hockey guy – first and foremost, just have to get that out in the open. But, I do try. It’s hard, being a southern dude and not growing up in a traditional hockey market, I didn’t have easy access to hockey growing up. I love my Nashville Predators, and I’ve tried to pick up the game in the six years I’ve been watching. Really, though, six years isn’t long enough to learn much of anything. Give me at least 14 more, and I’ll have mastered it.
So, I surround myself with hockey guys. Some of my closest friends are hockey guys, and have helped my toddler-level brain comprehend skating ice hockey. One of said friends is a huge Tampa Bay fan, and we have this awesome tradition of going to the Preds-Bolts game in Nashville every year (Preds are 3-0 over the course of this tradition).
Now, that the scene is set – I have to say, my girlfriend bought me one of those sweet ‘salute to service’ Tennessee Titans hat, and without thinking, I wore it to a hockey game. So, you can imagine how nervous I was when PK Subban scored goal #2 with plenty of time left in the game. Gross.
The Preds went up 3-0, and I was just thinking, “don’t make me throw this hat, PK.” I didn’t know what to do. I love this hat, and I love my girlfriend, but could I really let PK down by keeping it on my head after his third goal? And, yes, I believe I would personally let PK down by not throwing that hat. He would be disgusted by me.
Nonetheless, I thought things were going pretty smoothly. Then, the third period happened.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FiZaYeg46MM]
I’m not quite sure why that was so bad. Blindsided hit? I don’t know. But, admittedly, I could watch hockey alongside a dog and the dog would understand why that was bad just as well as I could.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yvXgkvMEMSE]
Yeah, so that happened. I felt a bit of intensity in that scrap – somewhat entranced and amazed by how quickly Brown was able to bolt up and deliver some serious haymakers. It was like watching Stone Cold Steve Austin barreling off the top of a zamboni and punching Vince McMahon.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gCDTD8nBsnw]
Now, a day later, video has surfaced of Brown smashing a fan’s phone!
Courtesy of The Tennessean – “Lightning forward J.T. Brown was not well-received at Bridgestone Arena on Monday, first delivering a hard check to Predators defenseman Roman Josi, which later led to a violent collision and confrontation with Predators defenseman Ryan Ellis.
TMZ Sports acquired cellphone video from a Predators fan seated near the Lightning bench, which appears to show Brown reaching for the phone and smashing it in the final minutes of Nashville’s 3-1 win.
The fan who submitted the video, Brendan Johansen, told TMZ that he began to heckle Brown as he left the ice. He said he won’t seek legal action, but is hoping that the Lightning will reimburse him for the phone.
According to The Tampa Bay Times, the Lightning have not commented on the incident. Brown did not address reporters after Monday’s game.
The NHL will not hand down supplementary discipline for any of the hits during Monday’s game.”
You’ll have to click the link to watch the video. Sorry, we don’t have cutting edge technology here at the SoBros Network. But, seriously? That’s assaulting a fan and smashing his phone? It looked like a cat trying to swipe at a butterfly.
In my eyes, this just seems like hockey shit. Hockey players doing hockey player things, but whatever – Twitter was outraged, and now Preds fans are threatening to fly to Tampa Bay to fight Brown and have diagnosed Roman Josi with a concussion, citing he’ll miss a few games. Unbelievable.
I like to think these are the same Prednecks screaming “SHOOT” every time a Predator possesses the puck for longer than .08 seconds at the games. The fans that only show up to games to be assholes and yell “FIGHT HIM” after every play.
How about just acknowledging the fine performance from Brown in this scenario? Hats off, sir. Just not my Titans ‘salute to service’ hat.
Stoney Keeley is the editor of the SoBros Network, Tennessee Titans Featured Analyst for Pro Football Spot, Contributor to FanSided’s Bama Hammer, and covers the WWE for WrestlingNews.co. Follow on Twitter @StoneyKeeley, @PFSpot, @WrestlingNewsCo, @Bama_Hammer
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