He might have been just trying to pound the puck into the opposition's end, as he said. It's almost unheard-of, for players to try and hit other players with the puck, unless they're trying to bounce it off them into the net.
Back in the old days, before goalies wore headgear that could stop a bullet from an elephant gun, it was common practice for a Bobby Hull or Stan Mikita to drill their first couple of shots straight at the goalie's noggin, to give him something to think about. I have a hard time believing good ol' Alfie was trying to maim Niedermayer with that puck.
Posted on Jun 5, 2007, 5:53 AM from IP address 76.215.255.134