Marc Savard: Classless Hypocrite (UPDATED WITH VIDEO)

Seeing as I work tomorrow and won't be around until the night, I want to get this up as soon as possible, even if it is without the video that I would love.

So here is what happened: Mike Richards hit Savard with a borderline cross check against the boards. The refs could have called a minor penalty and no one would have complained. Instead of trying to further draw the penalty, Savard gets up and proceeds to cross check Mike Richards in the face and then continue to beat on him while Milan Lucic joins the beatdown of Richards. Thankfully Gagne arrived a few seconds later to put an end to the madness. Savard, Lucic, and Richards all got roughing penalties and the Flyers were given a PP.

After the game, Savard gave this quote.

“I just got fired up. I got one the other night in Philly from behind [which was called boarding against Darroll Powe], and then I was facing the glass again in the same situation and then I look back at [David] Booth, [David] Krejci, those guys … I mean, enough’s enough. I mean, I don’t know. That’s all,” said Savard after the loss, which sends the series back to Philly for Game 6 Wednesday night.

Savard was then asked if he was accusing Richards of trying to injure players by referring back to the concussion-causing hit on Booth earlier this season and the hit that broke Krejci’s wrist in Game 3 of this series. Of course, Savard had a similar beef with Matt Cooke of Pittsburgh for a hit that caused a concussion March 7.

“I mean, I don’t know. That’s the way he plays. It’s part of his demeanor. He’ll never change. So I don’t know,” said Savard.

Wait a minute? You are going to play the sympathy card for dangerous plays and head shots all the while delivering a head shot to Richards on your own? What the fuck is this?

I understand the guy wants to protect himself as he is coming back from his nasty concussion, but cross checking someone on the face and ganging up on Mike Richards is not going to accomplish anything. The only message it sends is that you are scum and are willing to stoop to dirty levels, thus, inviting the Flyers to do the same. Was Richards hit on Savard questionable? Absolutely. Should his 2-minute minor have been for that and not a phantom roughing penalty from that scrum? Yes. Is it classy to retaliate a minor penalty questionable hit with suspension worthy actions? Hell no.

No video is up on YouTube and NHL.com conveniently has nothing posted on this (gee....I wonder why), but if something is up tomorrow night when I get home, I will post it and you can judge Richards' initial hit and Savard's retaliation and subsequent hypocrisy for yourself.

Update: Here's the video.