David Booth’s Payback on Richards

Before the Olympic break, Mike Richards laid a huge hit on Panthers forward David Booth – a hit that would take him out of the lineup for three months. Last night against the Flyers, Booth tried to settle the score.

Ugly fight or not, Booth had his “Erik Cole moment.” You’ll remember Cole had his neck broken in 2006 by Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Brooks Orpik(notes) and the Carolina Hurricanes forward got his frustrations out and fought Orpik two seasons later. Like the Orpik-Cole scrap, this one wasn’t much of a fight and right from the start you can see Richards was hesitant at first, but realized that it needed to happen, almost as part of Booth’s on-ice rehabilitation.

After the game, Booth said the hit is now in the past telling Gorten, “That’s behind me now. I don’t have to worry about that … and be free of this.”{Puck Daddy}

Good for Booth. It’s better for them to settle the matter on the ice, and leave it at that. I was of the opinion (when the hit first happened) that it was a dirty check by Richards, and that he should have been suspended by the league – but it’s encouraging to see players take issues into their own hands without anyone else ending up in the hospital.