Tomas Plekanec Called For Embellishment, Kicks Off #Plekanecing Movement On Twitter
BOSTON (CBS) -- Stop the presses, take a deep breath and find yourself a seat. It has finally happened.
The Montreal Canadiens have been penalized for embellishment.
It took a while -- Montreal's 16th postseason game, to be exact -- but it has finally been called. Embellishment. Two minutes, by yourself you know, and you feel shame.
The call on Tuesday night was on Tomas Plekanec, the Czech forward who embarrassed the officiating crew on Sunday night by snapping his head back and grabbing his face in great pain after a high stick caught him in the ... shoulder pad. On this night, he was up to the same tricks, snapping his head back and mouthing "Ooohhhhh!!!" with his pained, goateed face.
This time, the ref crew of Brad Watson and Steve Kozari were not buying it. And they sent him to the box for his misdeed.
Here's a look at Plekanec's acting job from Sunday:
And here's a look at his fakery from Tuesday:
Pretty bad. Martin St. Louis' stick didn't come close to Plekanec's face, and if anything, it was Plekanec's own stick which threatened to end his life. Yet Plekanec looked as if had been sniped from the rafters, the victim in some awesome Jean-Claude Van Damme sequel that we don't even know about yet.
The Rangers scored on the ensuing power play to tie the game at 4-4, but the sting was only temporary for Montreal. P.K. Subban later kicked out his own left skate to draw a slewfoot penalty on Benoit Pouliot, and he sold it well enough to draw the call without getting penalized for his own embellishment (he was guilty of a huge overreaction that sent him in airborne in Sunday's Game 4 after taking a legitimate high stick). The Habs went on to win 7-4 to keep their season alive, with Game 6 on tap for Thursday in New York.
But during that big win, CSNNE's Joe Haggerty presented the following challenge to the Internet at large: "How great would it be if #Plekanecing became a thing on twitter w/people posting photos and videos of themselves w/their heads snapped back?"
And when you offer up a challenge like that to the Internet, the Internet rarely disappoints.
https://twitter.com/TheMaltz/statuses/471474116433031168
https://twitter.com/FlowWitheGo/statuses/471474110737182720
Bravo, Internet. You knocked this one out of the park.
And as for you, Tomas. Maybe knock it off a little. Thank you.
(Here is the part that anticipates any and all angry messages from fans of the Montreal Canadiens. "Your team dives," they will scream, no matter who "your team" may be and regardless of whether you even consider yourself to be someone with a team. Considering this story is coming from Boston, there will be complaints of Brad Marchand and the wrong knee, and of Zdeno Chara going down all too easily at times, and of hypocrisy, and all of that. There will probably be a link to that obnoxious, smarmy Jon Stewart mash-up video, too. To that, I'll just get this out of the way: No kidding. People dive in hockey, for sure. We know this. It just happens more often and more egregiously in Montreal. When Marchand flops on the ice, he has to deal with Cam Neely in his ear telling him to not be such a knucklehead. On the other hand, it's ingrained in the Canadiens' culture, and it's supported and nurtured by the organization. Deal with it. Actually, embrace it, if you don't mind. This whole thing is much more fun that way.)
Read more from Michael Hurley by clicking here, or find him on Twitter @michaelFhurley.
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