OTTAWA, Ontario -- It was the kind of hit players who have competed with and against Ottawa Senators defenseman Dion Phaneuf have seen countless times before. In Game 2 of the Eastern Conference finals, Pittsburgh Penguins forward Bryan Rust was driving to the middle of the ice with the puck, and then -- BOOM! -- he was on his back, courtesy of a heavy Phaneuf shoulder.
One of Phaneuf's former teammates with the Calgary Flames, David Moss, was watching on television and shot a text to another former Flame, Eric Nystrom, admiring the hit.