I know that this is a wonderful hockey community and a tight knit group of fans, but I must vent a little.

This evening I was getting ready to play in my adult league game and I always love to watch the games before I get out on the ice and tonight it was a couple of the youth travel teams playing. The game was a hard fought back and forth battle and winding down when one of the players on the Dallas based team dumped the puck in to the offensive zone and was completely decked by a guy that had an extra 50 pounds on him easily after he clearly did not have the puck anymore. This young gentleman was also at least 2-3 feet away from the boards, so in my eyes, it was a completely dirty hit. The refs also agreed by calling a five minute major.

Now what really irked me wasn't the hit, since it was called, but it was the parents. After the hit occurred, the opposing teams parents' were heckling the ref saying that wasn't a penalty, he had his head down and he is a pansy and so on and so on. All the while this young man was laying there not moving what so ever and his mom running to the boards to check on her son. Even when the mom approaches the boards they are still arguing the call and I finally was fed up with it and turn around and said the kid is injured, have some respect and understand the game!

It's parents like that, that put way too much pressure on young kids and encourage them to make dirty hits like that, that the NHL is trying to get rid of. Remember, this is a game that is supposed to be fun for kids...yes, the physical aspect is part of the game, but when you have an intent to injure a kid when he I not only in a vulnerable position, but doesn't even have the puck, that's when it crosses the lime.

What I'm asking is, parents, yes games can get heated at times, but ask yourself next time when you are making comments like that, how would you feel? Have you ever played hockey at a competitive level? Did you even get into a higher tier adult league and try to put yourself in that situation? Probably not. You don't see ex-NHL players who have their kids playing in our youth leagues yelling and screaming...do you? So again, please have respect for the game before you make those kinds of comments when a player is injured...or better yet, send your spouse that is hopefully going to be a little bit more mature and level headed.

Sorry for the soap box, but I'm getting tired of parents who don't truly understand the game.