Devastating Hit on Garnet Hathaway Sparks Outrage Among Flyers Fans
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Flyers fans were outraged yesterday after Penguins forward Boko Imama got away with a dirty hit on Garnet Hathaway.
The Pittsburgh Penguins pulled off a major comeback last night, defeating the Flyers 5-4 in overtime after falling behind 3-0.
The bad news did not end there for Flyers fans though as veteran forward Garnet Hathaway had to leave the game early after he took a blindside hit from Penguins forward Boko Imama.
After the game, Flyers head coach John Tortorella sounded off on the refs, exacerbated by the fact that it was only a minor penalty.
Imama spoke about the play himself, saying that he was not trying to hurt Hathaway, saying, "I just wanted to bump him."
"I was pretty confident (that the major would be overturned),» he said. «My intention was never to be dirty or to hurt anyone. I always play clean. Obviously, it's a physical game. Unfortunately, things like this can happen. I didn't get a chance to see the replay. But I knew, deep down, I had the right intention. I just wanted to bump him."
Imama and Hathaway made conflicting statements in their postgame media availabilities, as they both commented on whether or not Imama was looking for a fight.
Hathaway believed that the Penguins enforcer wanted to drop the gloves after he made a legal check on Noel Acciari, but obviously that did not happen.
"Yeah, absolutely,» he said. «I just know what kind of a player he is, too. He said he wanted to engage in a fight and it didn't happen."
Imama on the other hand, claimed that he was not looking to start a fight. He stated that he simply would have squared up and challenged him properly if that were the case.
Look, he didn't want to engage in a fight,» Imama said. «Usually, I would just turn around and challenge him fairly. But that isn't going to happen with him. I just wanted to get in his way.
Considering how many career fights Imama has, he probably is telling the truth here.
Regardless, Flyers fans are not happy with the call or the result of the game.
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