Geoff Paukovich is a scumbag
Dear Mr. Paukovich, please get out of hockey.
That hit last night on Kyle Greentree of the Calgary Flames was, by all accounts, disgusting. I’ve read most of the writeups of that Edmonton vs. Calgary prospects game, and the one thing that seems universally mentioned is that Paukovich got drilled and came up looking to crush the first guy he saw. That first guy was Kyle Greentree, who had his back to the ice behind the net.
So Paukovich obviously put him into the boards headfirst, and Greentree had to be taken out on a stretcher. When not even the Edmonton media is rushing to your defense, you must have done something that’s indefensible.
“Things happen pretty fast, I was just trying to be physical down low which is what I have to do to be successful,” Paukovich said. “I have to make guys not want to play in their defensive zone.
“All I can say is I hope he’s OK and he can come back and have a good camp with Calgary. There was no intent, I don’t play the game trying to hurt people. I was just trying to play physical and it was just something that happened.”
Which would all be fine, things happen in hockey and I understand that. But this isn’t the first time Paukovich has drilled someone headfirst into the boards.
Three years ago, when Paukovich was playing for the University of Denver, he dropped North Dakota’s Robbie Bina on a similar play, and broke his neck. Bina missed the entirety of the season, Paukovich was suspended by the league for a game, and by his coach for another.
Both players, ironically, are in the Edmonton system now.
I’m not saying Paukovich is out there trying to hurt people, but he’s certainly not thinking about the safety of his opponents.
“That was three years ago, that was a different situation, a different set of circumstances and a different place,” Paukovich said. “I know Rob and I have both put it behind us.”
I would like to know why, exactly, this is a different situation? It seems pretty similar to me. Guy’s got his head down along the boards, and Paukovich lines him up and just crushes him. Greentree, like Bina, is going to be fine, but there’s no place in hockey for crap like this.
September 15th, 2008 at 1:39 pm
Hey there,
Fantastic site, great writing. I bounced here through the yahoo article on the womens blowout game, and just spent like 4 hours reading. Im going to be here all season, thats for sure. Keep up the good work! And yeah, that guy geoff seems like a douchebag.
April 3rd, 2009 at 10:36 pm
My goodness!! Hittng people is part of hockey!!! When he hit Bina he felt HORRRIBLE plus it was partialy Bina’s fault he was in a wierd position.
And by the way Seth he is my cousin so shut the HELL UP!!!!!!!!!!!
EVERYONE NEEDS TO SHUT THE HELL UP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
IT IS NOT HIS FAULT HIS IS JUST PLAYING THE GAME
June 29th, 2009 at 4:17 pm
Punkovich is a cheap shot; he never faced a back he didn’t want to hit. The difference in the hit on Bina (not sure it’s different, didn’t see the hit on Greentree) is it came AFTER the whistle. The punk’s a real tough guy.
April 9th, 2010 at 6:14 pm
Geoff Paukovich HAPPENS to be related to me. Fine if you don’t believe me. I love that dude and I bet he can play hockey better than you! Wanna say anything more? See what happens. :\
May 19th, 2010 at 5:16 pm
he is always the las one in the corner and always willing to hit from behing and give you a elbow to the head grew up play ing hockey with this jerk and took one of his nasty elbows to the head
July 8th, 2010 at 11:37 am
if you knew geoff you would know he is one of the nicest guys out there and is nothing like what you perceive him to be. so please lay off him. you know nothing of his life. you are just a bad superfan
December 20th, 2010 at 10:10 pm
You bunch of douchebags need to stfu, Pauk’s a great player and can kick your ass, he and i are great friends and there’s way more people that like him than hate him, so if you wanna do something about it get off your chair-writing your wimpy blogs and tell it to his face-then see what happens