Hockey Analyst Stands Up for HNIC's Jennifer Botterill, Calling Out the Keyboard Warriors

PUBLICATION

Tom Banks
November 5, 2024 (10:04)

SHARE THIS STORY

The sport of hockey has always been violent, and after suggesting there's another way to retaliate to a dirty hit, Jennifer Botterill has faced immense backlash.

Over the past few years, Sportsnet has faced plenty of criticism for the product they've put on television as well as the personnel decisions that they've made, and now, another Sportsnet analyst finds themselves in the middle of drama. This time, it's former Canadian Olympic Gold Medallist turned analyst Jennifer Botterill, who disagreed with Kevin Bieksa's take on the situation involving Juraj Slafkovsky, Arber Xhekaj and Noel Acciari.

Late in the Canadiens-Penguins showdown, Acciari hit the young star forward in the head, and unsurprisingly, this led to the man known as The Sheriff attempting to extract revenge, to which Bieksa whole heartedly agreed with.

'The game is over... I think right there is the right time for Xhekaj to go at a guy who took out your star player earlier in the game. That for me is the right time to go at a guy. It's an eye for an eye. I don't think he's too apologetic about that, I wouldn't care. I wouldn't care if it's clean or not, you get my guy I'm getting you back at some point.'

Botterill, who would like to see the game go in another direction disagreed, and went straight back at the former NHLer, who many agreed with.

'Then you get players with potential suspensions or fines and you guys are just fine. Guess what the game is changing and there is other solutions. Maybe it's changing, maybe it can change. It has changed, it doesn't always have to be an eye for an eye.'

This has raised many questions about the direction that hockey is heading, but for the majority out there that still enjoy the fighting and physical aspect of the game where incidents like this are policed on the ice, Botterill has taken it too far with her latest comments.

However, not everyone was against her, as Ken Campbell of The Hockey News put his support clearly behind Botterill, going after the 'keyboard warriors' that have expressed their opinions in less than nice ways.

But the keyboard warriors who got all triggered were in full force. And it was pathetic. It's a panel, which is a free-flowing exchange of ideas and opinions. Be better, people.

Ultimately, fighting and the aggressive style in hockey has become an increasingly contentious issue in recent years, and with Botterill being so anti-violence in the NHL has brought out the worst in some people. However, this isn't the first time that Botterill has drawn plenty of criticism online for her attitude towards the modern day NHL, so don't expect it to be the last either.