OH, IT WAS SAWADA'S FAULT WAS IT

One by-product of the league "opening up the game for the skilled players" has been a more unfettered, faster game utilizing the middle of the ice surface more.

What it has also done though is put the deer in the middle of the field with, in this case, a bear (Bruin) lurking in the treeline.

But unlike the flee or flight response of wild animals, you'd think upright walking humans would have a more cerebral approach. Daniel Paille didn't, and now it seems neither does his coach.

Here is Claude Julien's twisted view of the hit:

While Boston Bruins head coach Claude Julien accepts the four-game suspension that was handed down to forward Dan Paille for his blind-side hit on Dallas Stars forward Raymond Sawada, he's not terribly happy with the circumstances of the incident.

Julien told ESPNBoston that he feels as though a great deal of the responsibility should fall on the shoulders of the player getting hit to avoid putting themselves in a dangerous situation as they attempt to draw a penalty.

"Until the players themselves in their minds think about stopping putting themselves in vulnerable positions, whether it's playing with your head down or whether it's playing by the boards and seeing you're going to get hit and turning your back, or whatever the case may be," Julien told ESNPBoston. "I think if the players start taking that responsibility it's going to minimize a lot of these things."

Julien went further, stating that the ability for a player to protect themselves from danger should be engrained a long time before reaching the professional ranks.

"Once you're in the pros, you've been told for many, many years never to play with your head down, so if he hasn't learned by now, he shouldn't be in the pros."

Julien is certainly familiar with the dangers of headshots in the NHL after recently losing playmaking centre Marc Savard to his second major concussion suffered in the past 10 months. Savard remains sidelined indefinitely and there is plenty of talk that he may be forced to retire due to concussion issues.

Blame the victim?

I'd be curious to hear his views on date-rape.