Ov on Briere

[DarkStar50 679]

Just saw the replay of Ov's check from behind into the wall hit on Briere. What led up to this? One of the cheaper shots I've seen this season.

[D3nZ 0]

Very cheap shot and only 5 mins.

[43%burnt 0]

it was a bad hit, but i think ovechkin just wasn't thinking or something. i don't think he went in trying to go after breire. you could tell right after he did it, he knew he screwed up. as much as ove hits, this is the first time he's made a bad hit; cheap or not. ovechkin was tossed and got 20 by the way.

[Allsmokenopancake 0]

This is what I said about it on the caps boards

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That was dirty. Briere got ovey in the last minute or so before that, ovey was looking for a little payback.

If that had been anyone doing that to any cap, or in this case, to one of the highly skilled caps, like ovey or semin, we would all be calling for blood.

Ovey should not have hit him. I don't think he wanted to hurt him, just give him a dig. However, it was completely avoidable, and a judgement used, doesn't make it less dirty, it just makes it dirty and stupid.

I can see ovey getting a couple of games suspension, whether or not you think he deserves it, it was a hit from behind, head hit the boards, risk of injury, and with all the talk of the head shots, they will show that no one is above the law.

3 game suspension I am prediction, probably deserves one of them

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Very cheap shot and only 5 mins.

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Actually, he got the 5 for boarding, but also got a game misconduct, was tossed for the rest of the game

[Cobra2717 0]

I didnt see it, i was at work, but i heard about it. I was pissed, and it took me by surprise when i heard it was Ovey.

[slaw 1]

Kelly Rhudey reported on CBC tonight that he expects to see a 5 game suspension from the league. They had better not give him one or something just because he attracts fans to the game. Every player is equal. It will be interesting to see what the league does with this. Dirty hit though realyl dangerous. If that was Minor Hockey you'd see a fight immediately.

[Chadd 916]

Considering the lack of suspensions for this type of hit in the past, it shouldn't be a long suspension.

[RadioGaGa 162]

  slaw said:

...Every player is equal....

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What NHL are you watching? There is definately a double standard when the league looks at stuff like this...I doubt he'll get 5....maybe 3.

[Allsmokenopancake 0]

  slaw said:

Kelly Rhudey reported on CBC tonight that he expects to see a 5 game suspension from the league. They had better not give him one or something just because he attracts fans to the game. Every player is equal. It will be interesting to see what the league does with this. Dirty hit though realyl dangerous. If that was Minor Hockey you'd see a fight immediately.

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If it was on the other side of the ice, briere would probably have stayed on his feet. It was meant to be a shove type thing, but briere was slowing down for the line change.

I was stupid, and it was dirty in the sense that it shouldn't have happened, but it wasn't and intent to injure type play.

It was a "hey, don't forget me" type play, after briere had given ovey a dig in his own zone.

The results were unfortunate, and it was a stupid stupid move by ovey, but I think no more than a game is deserving.

In the interests of full disclosure, I am a caps fan, however I do not think the play warrants any more than a one game if even that suspension

[JR Boucicaut 3805]

You don't have to be a lip-reader to decipher his reaction after the hit.

[Hidious 0]

  JR Boucicaut said:

You don't have to be a lip-reader to decipher his reaction after the hit.

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We don't all have the replay or even saw the live thing so would you mind telling us?? :lol:

[DarkStar50 679]

He got turned around and I hit him," Ovechkin said, adding that he didn't think the infraction warrants a suspension. "I didn't want to give him some injury. It was an accident."

Gee, Ov understands English better I thought. I liked the "turned around" part. Birere skating away from Ov gets hit in the back. I missed the "turned around" part.

Its a good thing this wasn't Crosby dishing out this dirt. MSH would crash for the second time in a month!

[wickedwrister 0]

Lucky he did not break his neck. Late and dirty.

[D3nZ 0]

  Chadd said:

Considering the lack of suspensions for this type of hit in the past, it shouldn't be a long suspension.

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And If they do suspend him we will hear about the whole "what if it was Crosby who had hit Briere like that".

[slaw 1]

Good for Gaustad steping up there and trying to send a message to Ovechkin. How did the Sabres wind up short there? Ovechkin should have gotten 5 and game and then gaustad and Ovechkin should have gotten rough minors and mair and whoever he fought should have got 5 for fighting? Anyone else seen the video that maybe saw something i didnt see?

[Chadd 916]

  D3nZ said:

  Chadd said:

Considering the lack of suspensions for this type of hit in the past, it shouldn't be a long suspension.

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And If they do suspend him we will hear about the whole "what if it was Crosby who had hit Briere like that".

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There was obviously no intent to hurt Briere on that hit, it's not like Ovechkin really unloaded him. There have been cases where guys (Gauthier comes to mind)obviously intend to cause damage and they have not been suspended. I'd rather not get into the "what if it had been X?" type of stuff.

[D3nZ 0]

I find it more of a last minute cheap shot like the Dale Hunter on Pierre Turgeon and the Tucker hit on Niedermayer. Maybe not as cheap shot as those but it would rank among those.

[troy 12]

When I saw the clip it looked like AO was intending to hit Briere cleanly after the dump and wasn't anticipating Briere pulling up at the bench to change. Regardless he still made contact with him.

[notquitedeadyet 13]

  troy said:

When I saw the clip it looked like AO was intending to hit Briere cleanly after the dump and wasn't anticipating Briere pulling up at the bench to change. Regardless he still made contact with him.

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I don't buy that. It was pretty obvious what Briere was doing.

This wasn't the first line change AO ever witnessed.

[gp3r 0]

It was a cheap shot. Brière didn't turn around to avoid the check, he was simply skating toward the bench to make the line change. AO lined him up and clearly hit him in the back.

When you hit somebody from behind, even the slightest little push can do some real damage. AO should know that, he's been playing long enough. I really hope he gets what he deserves, and in my book, and also as a referee myself, in would be a minimum of 2/3 games. In my mind, there clearly was intent to injure, but since Brière wasn't injured, I don't see the need for 5 games.

What a player says after the event (''I didn't mean to injure the guy'' or a bunch other things like that) doesn't matter. What matters is what happens at that moment, and since AO clearly hit Brière in the back, knowing the board was very close, you can call that intent to injure. That might not have been what Ovey wanted to do (injure Brière), but then again, his hit indacates the contrary. And as Ii said, you don't punish a guy for what he meant to do or not, you punish him for what he did.

[D3nZ 0]

Apparently no suspension, only a fine, should have known, he's a star in the league.

[false_cause 0]

  slaw said:

How did the Sabres wind up short there?

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They weren't short. It was 4-on-4 after the fracas.

Ovechkin got 5 and a game misconduct for the boarding. He also got a fighting, though he never dropped his gloves or threw a punch (Which I assume was the refs trying to make sure that the Caps didn't get a PP from their bad actions). Gausted and Mair got instigators, which put 4 minutes of penalty time on the clock opposite the 5 Ovechkin got, thus causing the 4-on-4 for 4 minutes, followed by 1 of Buffalo PP. Their fighting majors canceled out against AO and Muir. Gausted got an extra misconduct for leaving the bench to fight (Briere never finished his change due to the hit) and he and Mair both got game misconducts which I assume were attached to the instigator penalties.

As an aside, people who found Hanlon to be less than classy in the affair with the Trashers on the 22nd should note that Brashear served Ovechkin's major. Perhaps this was to show Ruff that he wasn't going to try to go after any of the Sabres because he viewed the Sabre's fighting as a fair reaction to the dirty hit.

[McCabe24 0]

It's not like the precedent is for a player to get suspended though. For whatever reason, people seemed to think this was when the example would be set. I won't voice my opinion on what the punishment should be considering it has already been handed down, but how could you honestly expect such a lengthly suspension when the hit could be viewed either way.

[false_cause 0]

  gp3r said:

That might not have been what Ovey wanted to do (injure Brière), but then again, his hit indacates the contrary.

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I think Ovechkin made a bad decision by bumping Briere so late and in a position where the boards present such a danger, but I really don't think he was trying to hurt him. I think that's an important distinction since while both need to be punished, a malicious attempt to hurt another player is far worse.

Why do I doubt intent? I've watched every NHL game Ovechkin has played and I've never seen him try a dirty hit. I think I remember one marginal charging call, but I can't recall any elbows. He's jumped into his checks a little bit (without drawing the charging call that should technically come with that), something that may get him into trouble eventually, but they were otherwise entirely fair hits. He's also toned that down this season. The hit on Briere was a relatively gentle bump that was only dangerous because Briere wasn't braced at all and was off balance. If Ovechkin wanted to plaster him, he could have run him much harder and indeed, probably would have looked angry. Instead, the contact looked like an after-thought and indeed, I think was not thought-through at all. Finally, the game conditions don't add-up to any reason for anger or dirty play. The Caps had a nice lead and were playing great at home and there hadn't been any confrontations. Whatever you may think of the tougher-than-they-are-skilled Caps, they really do not get dirty or chippy with a lead.

If there wasn't intent, how do you handle it? I say suspend him 1 or 2 games, but I doubt that's what the league will do. I think the league should send the message that dangerous plays, even unintentional ones, need to not EVER happen. There's too much at stake when someone is sent head-first into the boards. It's beyond hockey at that point. Players need to be so mindful of the dangers they can cause others that they don't have a thoughtless moment that risks someone's career, mobility or life. Sadly, the league has ignored just about all the hits from behind I've seen this season. Liles' knee-hit on Smyth was another I think was clearly not meant to injure, but it so easily could have. You have to suspend him one game to make clear, to him and to all other players, how important it is to avoid putting others into a position where an injury is no longer just possible, but likely. The league didn't suspend Liles and I don't expect they will Ovechkin, and they will probably cite the same reasons in their decision.

[DarkStar50 679]

Its too bad the league didn't take this opportunity to set the standard for dangerous hits. If nailing a player into the wall head first doesn't get a minimum 1 game suspension, then any of the previous shoulder checks up high should not warrant a second look, either. First line or fourth line, I would hope the league was interested in protecting its assets, the players. Obviously, that was a pretty stupid thought. Its the same as its always been, the players just get chewed up and spit out by the game.