After Colby Cave recently knocked out Martin Pospisil during a fight in an AHL game, a conversation between the two after the fact was posted on social media bu Pospisil. In it, Cave reached out via text message and wished Pospisil a speedy recovery, something that seems to be happening more often in hockey today, and was virtually unheard of in the sport during its roughest years. Take a look at the conversation below, which Pospisil posted to Twitter and praised Cave for his actions.
Given that this is a fairly recent phenomenon, The Athletic reached out to some current and former NHLers to get their take on it. As you can imagine, there are some interesting thoughts. Former enforcer Brian McGrattan, who now serves as a member of the Calgary Flames' player development staff, said it's not something he ever would have done in any situation.
“If I ever got beat, I wasn't expecting a phone call or an apology that night,” McGrattan said. “To be honest, I'm not a big fan of it. I don't believe in apologizing for things that happen on the ice and are part of the game. “Even with hits, the game moves at such a high speed, my timing could be a little bit off and I could catch you high or you could catch me high with an elbow … so an awkward play, right? But it's part of the game, man. No apologies for that stuff.”
Michael Frolik has been on both sides of the coin. He sent New Jersey blueliner Mirco Mueller crashing headfirst into the boards last season and says he felt awful about it. He waited a day and then reached out.
“He responded right away,” Frolik recalled. “He said, ‘No worries. Those things happen. Thanks for the text.' It's just respect.”
On the flip side, Frolik received best wishes from San Jose defenseman Brent Burns and the team's head coach after his jaw was broken by a puck to the face from a Burns' slap shot in December of 2017.
“It was nice to get a text from them, for sure,” Frolik said. “We respect each other as opponents and you don't want to see something happen to a guy on the other side. It's a scary thing.”
Brandon Davidson, a defenseman who has played in the NHL and is currently suiting up for Stockton in the AHL, says he believes Cave did the right thing.
“He showed his true colours. I thought he did a great job with the whole situation.”
For Tom Wilson of the Washington Capitals, who has delivered some questionable hits over his career, it wasn't so much that Cave had texted Pospisil to wish him well. It was the fact that Pospisil had made the conversation public. Wilson told The Athletic that he's sent a few of those texts himself (he would not say to whom), but would never want it to be made public.
“If I feel the need to send one out, I'm not glorifying it. I'm sending it because I think it's the right thing to do,” said Wilson. “Obviously in the day of social media, nothing's a secret anymore. Those are two young players. Social media seems to be amplified a little bit, but it's just not my style to talk about it."
You can read more comments from several other players in The Athletic article below:
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