Begging for Jonatan Berggren’s villain era for the Grand Rapids Griffins
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Need s’more Carter Mazur-Marco Kasper-Jonatan Berggren line
I love Austin Czarnik. He’s a very competitive, determined player, but he’s no Marco Kasper.
There were times when players ran Jonatan Berggren, but one in particular, Berggren, was sandwiched between an opponent and Czarnik.
#GRvsRFD | Berggren takes this hit from behind and he stays down on the ice in pain. The trainer comes out to take a look at him. Obviously a huge concern for the Griffins seeing their leading scorer down like that pic.twitter.com/1W5Als0igU
— Andrew Rinaldi (@GR_Rinaldi_) April 28, 2024
Berggren stood tall to take the hit and avoid hitting Czarnik. Meanwhile, Czarnik skated away after the puck. Coasting by Berggren, maybe he checked on his teammate; maybe he doesn’t. I’m not sure, but when any teammate is on the ground like that, I would rather see an overreaction than a didn’t underreaction.
Also, I can tell that Kasper wouldn’t have skated after a puck while his teammate was lying on the ice from another cross-check. Heck, he might have made the opponent so mad beforehand that they might not have even tried going after Berggren.
The opponents know they can get away with whatever they want with Berggren. Referees and the AHL don’t seem to care about the rules of the game when it comes to Berggren. He can be cross-checked, tripped, head-locked, interfered with, hooked, and slashed without any repercussions. So, why wouldn’t opponents use this to their advantage?
At times, I think Carter Mazur attempts to alleviate these instances or provide another distraction for the opposition, but it’s not consistent in terms of results.
The only thing the opponent loves more than targeting Berggren?
Going after Kasper after he pokes the hornets’ nest.
He knows how to get under their skin, drive them crazy, and minimize the bully effect in a lot of ways.
Marco seems to be making friends
— X - Hockeytown West Podcast (@HockeytownWpod) April 28, 2024
4 against 1 is the only way they can contain him#GoGRG #LGRW pic.twitter.com/UsqlZiFdun
The way this series is going, if Berggren doesn’t get some help protecting himself, things will go south for Berggren and the Grand Rapids Griffins. I’m not talking “Sweet Home Alabama” south, either.