Some guys make this gig so easy.

Unless you've been paying attention to the NHL preseason where the Los Angeles Kings are concerned - allow yourself a chuckle at the prospect - you might not have heard that the other night, Jeremy Roenick was concussed for the 11th time in his career by a hit from Coyotes' defenceman Denis Gauthier. By all accounts, it was a clean hit, and a hard one. But according to JR, it was unwarranted, indicated that "there is no respect for people in this league."

What?

Roenick isn't a small player, and isn't a player who's shied away from physical contact in the past; Gauthier wasn't hitting a Wayne Gretzky or a Paul Kariya. He's a defenceman entering his prime, playing with a new team - coached by Gretzky himself, no less - and is trying to make an impact, and one of the best ways to do that is throw the body cleanly. If Roenick thinks that veteran status is enough to make him untouchable by someone younger than himself, he should think again...maybe all those concussions have scrambled his brain.

But wait, it gets better.

Sean Avery, another Kings forward famous for running his mouth, told a TSN reporter today that the hit "was typical of most French guys in our league with a visor on, running around and playing tough and not back anything up." Good thing there are no French-Canadian players who wear visors on Avery's own team who might be offended by his comments. What? Luc who? "Robitaille?" Never heard of him. (And no, saying "most French guys" instead of "all French guys" doesn't absolve him of being both a bigot and a moron; sorry to close that loophole.)

Avery continued, "I'd think if a guy like Brett Hull was coming up the middle, somebody probably wouldn't have stepped up and hit him, but like I said, a typical move from a guy wearing a visor that certainly doesn't like to get scratched at all." Does anyone remember Scott Stevens positively ruining Paul Kariya with a massive hit in the 2003 playoffs? Being a superstar doesn't make you untouchable.

On the other hand, let's look at Sean Avery's scouting report, shall we? TSN.ca has his career potential listed as a "fourth line agitator." He has played 163 NHL games, totalling 47 points including 17 goals, and 482 penalty minutes...and I'm willing to bet that all those PIMs aren't for Delay Of Game. He's also still young - 25 years old - and there are two reasons to take note of that: 1) we're probably going to have to listen to this crap for another ten years or so, and 2) he's more than likely done his share of roughing up veterans himself, being that the vast majority of NHLers are older than he is. But for Denis Gauthier, if you're reading this, there's an upside: he's three years younger than you are. You've got his permission to let him have it. And apparently not playing dirty means you don't "like to get scratched at all," so throw a couple elbows while you're at it...for Québec. And for this Robitaille fellow.