The 2009-2010 Suspension Thread

[eric42434224 1]

The first thing I thought of when I saw the hit was...."why?"

Just because it is technically legal, doesnt mean you have to do it. It just seemed outside the spirit of the game of Hockey.

[Sed27 0]

The fact that Anssi appeared to be fascinated with his skate laces might have had something to do with that. I quote Tree: "Head was down".

Pause the video at about the :36 second mark and look a postions of the players involved.

Salmela's back is clearly visible to both Philly players as he drives to the net. How is he supposed to see Carter cutting in from behind?

[LkptTiger 1]

So now it's Carter's fault that Salmela wasn't fast enough to avoid being caught from behind?

[RiSeOnFiRe 0]

This argument is beyond ludicrous. If you can't see Carter was in the wrong... i don't know. There's no help for you. Its not even carter we are blaming. Its that TYPE of hit. Just no place for that in sports. If you want KOs watch Boxing or UFC.

[Sed27 0]

This argument is beyond ludicrous. If you can't see Carter was in the wrong... i don't know. There's no help for you. Its not even carter we are blaming. Its that TYPE of hit. Just no place for that in sports. If you want KOs watch Boxing or UFC.

RiSeOnFiRe,

Thanks. This is exactly the point I was attempting to convey.

[Chadd 916]

It has been a couple days now and everyone has made their position pretty clear, no reason to keep beating this to death. I do commend LkptTiger for not being a homer, not often a fan of one team defends the guy on the other team.

[LkptTiger 1]

I do commend LkptTiger for not being a homer, not often a fan of one team defends the guy on the other team.

I'm a hockey player/fan first, a Devils fan second. I'll keep a discussion going here, but try to move away from a specific hit. While I have defended Jeff, I do have an issue with an element of the hit (and others of it's type - it seems to be a bit of an epidemic) that I'll talk about here...but I also want to explain where I'm coming from while expressing a concern of mine that has been growing for a little while.

Ultimately, I've been on the ice since I was about 3 years old and, through all the differnent levels I've played at, have been on both sides of just about every kind of hit imaginable - from the "clean" to the "borderline" to the "pretty dirty" to the "justifiable suspension"...from the "practical love tap" to the "shake it off" to the "devastating". I've been playing hockey for pretty much my whole life and have done so at a relatively high level - I'm not just some casual observer or some guy who only watches hockey to watch guys get knocked stupid (as has been suggested above). I've experienced all of this. At the end of the day, I just want to see the game played and played hard.

Having said that, I have to say that I'm a little alarmed with the ease with which some in hockey circles have become ready to "throw the book" at guys for throwing, at worst, quasi-questionable hits at (what used to be) hockey-appropriate times. It seems a vast majority of "noteworthy" hits in today's NHL result in some sort of outcry from one group or another. I'm a little shocked by the way we've begun to villify players for hitting guys who have committed cardinal sins of the game and put themselves in "vulnerable postitions". Why would "skating with head down" and "cutting through the middle" be cardinal sins? Because they make you VULNERABLE to get HIT. Salmela and Booth and Kariya and Kozlov et al. got smoked because THEY DESERVED TO. Some of these hits might not have been the cleanest and I do wish some of the guys who did the teeing-off would have handled it differently (I'll get into that in a minute)...but these guys put themselves in those positions and had to pay a price. I have no sympathy for a guy who gets pumped with his head down in open ice. Take the TIMING of the Carter/Salmela hit out of the game and we're dealing with a game closer to *shudders* roller hockey.

NOW the issue that I do have with a lot of the body-checks lately is simply in the fact that they're missing the "body". Now, as an elementary rule (it's becoming increasingly complicated), The Book tells us that a "shoulder-to-shoulder" hit is a clean one (and it's VERY difficult to suspend a player for a hit thrown within the rules) and it seems that more and more players nowadays are taking advantage of that to inflict as much dammage as possible - while also trying to avoid the shock of a full-body blow themselves. While I have ABSOLUTELY ZERO issue with the timing/placement of the hits thrown by Carter and Richards (as examples), I do wish that Carter would have taken more body (and 'stand Salmela up,' so-to-speak)...and I am absolutely disgusted by the way Richards cut across Booth's shoulders. Given the game's nature, I think it would be difficult to outlaw (and call) head-contact entirely - I've seen a LOT of penalties called in minor hockey lately that, I'm sorry, just aren't penalties. But I certainly see it being possible to institute a rule penalizing players for throwing such hits from only "the nipples-up". Call it the "gutless rule".

Class is over...looks like my little rant must come to an end.

[Law Goalie 147]

It's funny - we happened to end up disagreeing about the decision on Carter/Salmella, but I completely agree with the way you've broken down those trends in the game.

I am in total and utter agreement that players need to bear responsibility for putting themselves in vulnerable positions. The worst examples of this are the players who use the stop-signs Hockey Canada has stitched on the back of their sweaters to shield the puck and create space for themselves, or otherwise exploit the hitting-from-being and boarding paranoia.

Salmella needed hitting. The way he cut in deserves to be punished - ditto Kozlov, Booth, and yes, even Kariya. (In fact, despite its notoriety, I would put the Kariya hit on the same level as the Weight-on-Sutter hit from last year - the player who takes the hit not only has his head down but out in front, so it's almost impossible to hit him without hitting the head.) Punished with a brutal hit - not with a head injury.

Hitting a vulnerable player is not the problem. The problem is exploiting that vulnerability. If Carter obliterates Salmella shoulder-to-shoulder (or shoulder-to-chest, or hip-to-hip, as the case might be), no problem; going for his head is, as I've said, exactly like cutting his knees.

[slaw 1]

Campbell will be speaking about the Auger-Burrows situation at noon. There will be a live feed on NHL.com

I know this is basically over but in regards to things happening quietly and out of sight, the NHL has done something to cover its own rear in a way and I noticed that in the Toronto Star they no longer post the officials names from the games.

Seems miniscule but maybe a little something that resulted because of the Auger-Burrows incident

[Judge Smails 4]

Cam Janssen gets 5 games for his late hit on Matt Bradley during the Feb 13th game against Washington in STL

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vUZ74hKUsE4

[RiSeOnFiRe 0]

Cam Janssen gets 5 games for his late hit on Matt Bradley during the Feb 13th game against Washington in STL

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vUZ74hKUsE4

Justified. The puck was in the glove of Mason when Bradley got rocked.

[westcoastsniper 0]

Janssen deserves it... christ I don't guys... I'm all for tough hockey, I love big hits, fights, rivalries messing it up in the corners in front of the net and all that great stuff but seriously if I see another guy go knee/head/back first into the boards chasing after an iced puck or some poor schmuck getting ram-rodded cause he's looking at the play four or more seconds after the puck has left his stick; that stuff makes me sick; but then again I'm probably still going to watch NHL hockey till I'm in the ground... oh well I suppose.

[RiSeOnFiRe 0]

Lappy's hit on Nichol. Good job Lapp. <_<

[Fire0nIce228 1]

How does Lee not make the call on that? WTF

[hamstercaster 2]

I'm a mega Habs fan but damn I hate Lapierre.

[RadioGaGa 162]

I fell alseep at 2-1...woke up at 3-2...and Ray was still giving it to Max for something...but I never saw the replay. That's pretty horseshit if you ask me. And, they could've had him on the slash BEFORE the push as well.

Gotta call that...they won't suspend him though. Nichol has a history of cheap shots himself...and didn't appear to be injured. Refer to the NHL suspension guide posted earlier.

SHOULD be about a 5 gamer though.

[Habs21 0]

Same here, huge habs fan and Lapierre bugs the shit out of me...BUT come on...the guy goes into the boards like that, he looks like he's almost dying and then gets back up with no problem to fight haha. At least stay the hell down if you're gonna fake it.

I think Chris Lee is the absolute worst official in the NHL. Everytime I see him at the start of a game, I know how it's gonna turn out...

PS - I do agree that Lapierre should've gotten a 5 minute penalty on that one for sure.

[goaliemanshark 6]

He was holding his arm like it was in a sling. He was definitely injured, and before he got up he was writhing in pain on the ice. I think everyone knew he was injured, he is just the kind of player that will fight through anything. He felt like it was a cheap shot and wanted to tell everyone about it becasue apparently the refs missed the entire thing, was it the right thing to do? Heck no but it is consistent with how Nichol plays.

I was at the game last night and it was easily one of the worst officiated games i have ever seen in my life, for both teams. The sharks got a couple of blatant calls ignored and so did the habs. Video replay or coaches challenges need to be implemented. Make the goal judge have a purpose! Did anyone see that penalty on the habs for hip checking and tripping Marleau? God what a bullshit call!

[Fire0nIce228 1]

Ya that was a horrible call on that hipcheck. What a beauty of a hit it was too.

[Habs21 0]

Yeah Exactly, Plekanec was wondering what the hell was going on when he got the box for that hipcheck. BUT, as I said, that's what happens when Chris Lee officiates a game. The games get out of hand.

I'm guessing Lapierre will get 3 games for that dumb play.

[furlanitalia 1]

A dirty play directly on the back. Disgusting.

I love the commentators though.

"Now it's safe Max, get in there, the linesman is there"

[Chadd 916]

How does Lee not make the call on that? WTF

My guess is that he was following the puck and was down so far on the play he didn't see the contact. It should be at least five games, but no stretcher was involved so I would be surprised to see more than two. If he gets anything.

[tro 4]

A dirty play directly on the back. Disgusting.

I love the commentators though.

"Now it's safe Max, get in there, the linesman is there"

Yeah Ray Ferraro was pissed, he had to calm himself down because he almost lost his head! I don't think I have heard a non-homer announcer get so mad at a player. Loved it!

[furlanitalia 1]

My guess is that he was following the puck and was down so far on the play he didn't see the contact. It should be at least five games, but no stretcher was involved so I would be surprised to see more than two. If he gets anything.

Yah, considering he was almost behind the net and it was beside him I'm sure he missed it. And if the back official was watching the other 7 players behind the play he could have missed it too. Still feel that one of them should have seen it though.

[RadioGaGa 162]

Four Games:

http://tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=312523

Can't say I disagree...but it does call into question how they arrive at some decisions...I've seen worse get less...and less get more.

Ben Maxwell called up from Hamilton. I guess I know why now.