Erik Karlsson Wished Health Upon Sidney Crosby In The Handshake Line, Annnnnd The NHL Edited It Out

​Actual conversation:

Revised NHL version from their Facebook page (occurs at end of video):

You know, you really have to give it to the NHL. The people running the league might be some of the shadiest people on the planet, but at least they stay true to themselves. Sure, they ignore the inherent dangers that their product presents, and they go out of their way to pull the wool over their fans eyes despite that wool having so many holes that you might mistake it for whatever flawed list of rules and regulations govern the concussion protocol. However - with everyone begging for consistency after watching the officials turn the first game of the Stanley Cup Final into their very own "Choose Your Own Adventure" - I think we can give the league credit for their stringency in covering up any and every admission that playing a contact sport at high speeds on razor sharp pieces of steel is hazardous to the health of the participants. 

Just consider what was muted from that conversation. One guy, who played on basically half of a foot for well over a month, checking up on a guy that had to sit out a game during a tightly contested series against a rival two weeks earlier due to a brain injury. THAT is what we - as fans - were so at risk of hearing that someone had to go in and carefully edit it out. A professional athlete wishing another professional athlete health and happiness in his up-and-down marriage to the unpredictable game of hockey. Intentionally masking the fact that the players care more about each other than the league that employees them certainly makes it seem like Gary Bettman and the gang have a guilty conscience, but I'll be damned if they won't go to impressive - albeit easily unearthed - lengths to paint themselves as innocent bystanders. They may treat the fans like they have the short term memory of a mid-50's Sidney Crosby, but it's for our own good. After all, how could we ever take pleasure in watching if we knew the aches and pains of the guys that damn near wear them across their faces as a badge of honor during this time of year?