Lovely stuff
@macmaroon
I must admit - a cup has been uppermost in my mind since watching Morrissey hobble off the ice. (Double entendre: Lord Stanley, we'll deal with you later).
The bigger question may be, how would a mighty coelacanth respond with a puck to the berries? WIthout going out on a limb I'm going to say that extrinsic mechanical damage will be dealt with later, as the self-modulating notochord will, like most decent primitive species, shuttle and shunt the pain and damage aside, preserving vital functions, and yes, inflaming the central neural systems to utterly destroy anything organic in the vicinity.
This response includes sundry organisms that self-identify as leaves.
Figure 1.
Defensive posture, Coelacanthiformes. A mighty coelacanth shown at the rink, just having taken a shot to the berries, but simultaneously having cleared away all attackers in the crease. Coelacanths possess impressive self healing powers.
The proof's in the pudding, yes? JoMo's interview yesterday post-practice will go down in the annals of history as the greatest feat of self-healing cellular repair in the history of biomedical sciences. Mere coincidence? I think not.
Go Jets go, rake the leaves, tidy them up, bag them, incinerate them if ye must.