Good Morning, Islanders Country.
There’s an old idea that floats around psychology, politics, and film school classrooms: Two Movies, One Screen. Two people can sit in the same darkened theatre, watch the exact same frames flicker past, and come away convinced they saw entirely different stories.
On Tuesday night in Dallas - and well into Wednesday - that concept wasn’t theory. It was lived reality.
Everyone saw Alexander Romanov go flying hard into the boards. Everyone saw the impact, the way his body crumpled, the tension that froze the arena. Everyone agrees it was frightening, the kind of moment no one in hockey wants to see.
And that’s roughly where the agreements end.
Stars coach Glen Gulutzan saw an unfortunate accident, a good-natured player in Mikko Rantanen simply losing his footing at the worst imaginable moment.
“If you watch the play, I think Scott Mayfield holds up Rantanen and clips skates,” Gulutzan said. “Rants is off-balance. When you’re off-balance, you put your hands out. I’ve seen Rants play for a decade. It’s just one of those hockey plays. I hope Romanov’s okay. It’s dangerous for everyone.”
Patrick Roy saw something else entirely.
“When you see the number, you have to lay off,” the Islanders coach said. “Everybody knows that. You don’t go through the guy. I know Rantanen — it’s not his style. But that shouldn’t be part of our game.”
Two movies. One screen.
Islanders fans expected an NHL hearing and a suspension. Stars fans wondered why there was even a debate.
The NHL’s Department of Player Safety sided with Dallas. No hearing. No discipline. Islanders fans saw a miscarriage of justice.
What everyone will see — because it’s the part no one can dispute — is that Romanov won’t be on the ice anytime soon. He’s on IR with an upper-body injury.
How did he end up there?
That depends entirely on which movie you were watching.
