This NHL pre-season has been filled with big hits and controversial incidents. Pre-season games tend to be a bit stale, but that hasn’t been the case this time around. Earlier this week, the Ottawa Senators’ Tim Stutzle was seemingly hit in the head by defenseman Arber Xhekaj, known for his tough playing style and physical plays.
Fans were initially furious with Canadiens’ Xhekaj over his hit in a pre-season game, but slowing it down and looking at alternate angles made it look less bad. In fact, many have even slammed Stutzle for embellishing the call—and that wouldn’t be the first time.
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Just as Xhekaj has a reputation for laying high hits on his opponents, Stutzle has somewhat of a reputation for embellishment. On Wednesday, Jason Demers, who played 700 games in the NHL from 2009 to 2022, took to social media to call out Stutzle for his behavior.
”If Tim Stutzle keeps and I’ll be nice ’exaggerating’ when he gets hit, he will lose respect fast in the league and draw the ire of not only players but referees,” Demers said.
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There is no doubt that Stutzle is an extremely talented player with a career-high of 90 points. But fans hate diving in hockey, and it seems like people are fed up with Stutzle being in situations where it appears as if he’s doing some sort of embellishment on plays.
