Don't forget the additional asterisk here that Lecavalier gets to keep his "gentleman" reputation intact both in the abstract sense and in the sense that he won't be a "repeat offender" if he does it again and someone gets hurt.

I remember a few years ago he was bemoaning something we had done -- I think it was actually Sid he was talking dirt on when Sid started a fight to try and spark the team during a slump -- and I remember some commentary from media types outside of Pittsburgh to the effect of "well when such a clean player as Vinnie says that, you've got to think about it..."

It's garbage. He's as dirty as anyone when his team is losing and he's frustrated. That's just the nature of the beast.

Guy got a free pass to get dirty with another star player because of his rep and he gets to keep that rep without everyone outside of Pittsburgh.

He really is one of my least favorite players in the league -- even well before this particular incident -- because I think he's the equivelent of a politician. He looks good in general, he says the right things, but he's an obsequeous jerk hiding behind some trumped up image of being one of the league's standup guys.