During the “Hockey in Canada” segment on Saturday night, former NHLer star Kevin Bieksa went off on Florida Panthers’ forward Nick Cousins . The analyst was not at all impressed with the recent behavior of Cousins and brutally blasted him.
Cousins has been in the spotlight for his controversial hits on opponents this season. In a recent game against the Arizona Coyotes, he got involved in a hit on Jusso Valimaki. While the sport of hockey is known for its intense fights, Bieksa thinks the 30-year-old has gone off the chart.
After the hit on Valimaki, Cousins got into a tangle with Jason Zucker. The Coyotes defenceman delivered a massive hit on him which saw him get suspended for three games.
Surprisingly there was no action taken by the NHL Player Safety on Cousins for his involvement in this shuffle and hit on Valimaki. Bieksa would go on an all-out rant and did not shy away from attacking Cousins. In his breakdown of the situation, he would label the forward as a ‘rat‘ for his attacks on others.
Nick Cousins gets slammed by Kevin Bieksa in furious rant
Hitting, cross-checking, and throwing punches at opponents in the NHL is pretty common. In almost every game there is one incident where two players take off their gloves and engage in a brawl. However, some hits are sometimes deemed dangerous and the one Nick Cousins has delivered could be classified in that category.
While this attacking style of play has earned praise from the crowd, his teammates, and others, his hits on opponents are something that has not gone down with fans including Kevin Bieska. He has now slammed him in a furious rant.
During the segment on Saturday, Bieksa said:
This is a trend with this player. And he’s done this numerous amount of times, ramming a guy’s head into the boards…. There is no place in the game for this… I’m told he’s a good guy. I’m told he’s liked by his teammates. And he’s actually a pretty good hockey player. But somebody in that organization, or somebody that he respects, has to sit down and say, Enough of this … like, that’s a rat to me. I’m sorry, it is.
Kevin Bieksa on Nick Cousins on Hockey in Canada.
The 42-year-old analyst claimed that the NHL or the NHL DoPS has to come down themselves and hammer Cousins for his hits. The former Vancouver Canucks star would take an example of his teammate Raffi Torres, who was handed 25-games and 41-games suspension for hitting opposition player on the head.
While Cousins did not get any sort of suspension for this hit, he is currently not playing. This is because of the injury he has suffered which has landed him on the injured list. The spotlight will now be on him and how he plays during his return after this attack by Bieksa.
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