NHL Playoffs

[Asher]

Canuck Fans

So where is the justification for a 4-game suspension? Is it because Horton will be out? Is it because the NHL is determined to have the Cup in the U.S.? More revenue to be made south of the border for a Canadian game???? HMMMM ...

Horton had his head down moving into the offensive zone, knowing that Rome was right there. Late hit or not, he got caught sleeping.

And thus it has begun, just as Bettman wanted!

What do you expect when the Bruins owner controls Bettman, a players Dad is the disciplinarian and in charge of officiating and all the media is chalked full of ex_Bruin homers. Joke of a league.

[Asher]

http://nhl-red-light.si.com/2011/06/07/nhl-unlikely-to-tame-angry-stanley-cup-final/?sct=hp_t11_a2&eref=sihp

NHL unlikely to tame angry Stanley Cup Final

We’re thinking about Nathan Horton this morning and hope the words we hear about his condition allay the fears caused by the sight of him staring blankly at the ceiling, arm extended upward, and eventually writhing at center ice during the first period of Game 3 in Boston.

After a morning hearing, Mike Murphy of the NHL will rule today on the hit by Canucks defenseman Aaron Rome that sent the Bruins winger to Massachusetts General Hospital. It certainly deserves a suspension. It was clearly a late hit, well after Horton passed the puck, and Rome was given an interference major and a game misconduct. That his hit resulted in a serious injury should be enough to keep Rome in street clothes for at least Game 4.

But — as we’ve seen repeatedly this season — you never know.

[UPDATE - Rome was given a four game suspension by the NHL. Yep, you never know.]

Of course, even during the regular season, this kind of incident can sometimes result in a mystifying exoneration, as when the Bruins Zdeno Chara escaped further punishment after his interference major and game misconduct for a dangerous hit on Montreal’s Max Pacioretty, one that left the Canadiens’ winger concussed and with a fractured vertebra. Murphy called that a hockey play gone wrong in excusing Chara.

But you certainly never know in the playoffs. A Yuletide generosity of spirit descends upon the NHL’s Hockey Operations Department and almost every infraction that would earn a few games worth of unpaid leave between October and mid-April is magically reduced to a single game or even dismissed entirely. The Burrows Bite at the start of the Cup final, which would have earned a couple of games had it happened during the season, was pardoned by Murphy for lacking conclusive evidence, much to the astonishment of any hockey fan with a television.

That not only prompted an outcry from many, but also helped jack up the ill will between two teams who don’t play nicely with others under normal circumstances. Alex Burrows later emerging as the hero of Game 2 for the Canucks only made things worse.

We’ve made the point a few times this season that when NHL Hockey Operations declines to take a meaningful stand on conduct that should not be in the game, it invites an escalation of bad behavior. And sure enough, Game 3 was filled with nastiness, and the hit by Rome on Horton was the worst of it.

Other bad moments followed. In Game 2, the irritating Canuck Maxim Lapierre taunted Boston’s Patrice Bergeron, whose finger Burrows had snacked upon in Game 1, by inviting Bergeron to bite his (video). That deserved some sort of penalty (an unsportsmanlike conduct minor or a 10 minute misconduct), but nothing came of it. So the offended B’s responded twice last night, first when Mark Recchi (video) and then Milan Lucic tried to thrust their fingers in Lapierre’s mouth.

These incidents don’t seem like serious offenses taken on their own. They’re more comical than anything. But they anger the opposition, cause inflammatory words to fly, and put a sharper edge on the game’s physical element. In the context of an extremely hard-fought Stanley Cup Final between two oft-intemperate clubs, they only serve to escalate tensions to the point where bad things are inevitable.

This train of events could have been prevented had the NHL given Burrows an appropriate suspension. And that leads to a second point we’ve made before. Lessening the severity of punishment during the playoffs is a senseless policy. The rationale is that at the most important time of the season, Hockey Ops (and by extension the GMs) don’t want to be in a position of influencing the outcome of a series by taking players out of the lineup for any but the most severe violations.

The exact opposite should be in effect. Because it is the most important time of year, committing a foul that injures an opponent should probably result in a more severe punishment than during the regular season because the impact on the victim’s team is more significant.

We’re not expecting things to change, however. Not now, anyway. After letting this stuff build up, you have to wonder if even the four-game suspension to Aaron Rome will tame this angry Stanley Cup Final.

[Ben Kenobi]

The suspension is by far the longest in NHL SCF history. All prior ones were 1 game

So what they are saying is that the Rome hit is 4x as bad as anything they've ever seen? Sorry, I don't buy that.

Glad to see Bettman intervention. Why am I not surprised to see them do this to the Canucks?

[Koyaanisqatsi]

Oh please. It was gratuitous. If it were the regular season I'd expect at least 10.

[Guynemer]

You are so ****ing adorable, Ben.

[Asher]

[Asher]

For the record, only 3 other players have ever been suspended in the SCF.

Jiri Fischer, Wings 	June 10, 2002 	Cross check on Carolina's Tommy Westlund 	One game
Ville Nieminen, Flames 	May 31, 2004 	Hit from behind on Tampa's Vincent Lecavalier 	One game
Chris Pronger, Ducks 	June 4, 2007 	Blow to the head on Ottawa's Dean McAmmond 	One game

I supported the Nieminen suspension when it was handed out, back in the day.

[Ben Kenobi]

Oh please. It was gratuitous. If it were the regular season I'd expect at least 10.

Jiri Fischer Detroit June 10, 2002 1 playoff game cross check (Car's Tommy Westlund)
Ville Nieminen Calgary May 31, 2004 1 playoff game hit from behind (TB's Vincent Lecavalier)
Chris Pronger Anaheim June 4, 2007 1 playoff game blow to the head (Ott's Dean McAmmond)

So I'm to believe that all the finals prior to 2002 were clean as well?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4bJXgDCbICM

There's the Pronger hit.

[Ben Kenobi]

I supported the Nieminen suspension when it was handed out, back in the day.

Do you believe that this hit is 4x as bad?

[Asher]

Do you believe that this hit is 4x as bad?

At least. It was a far more devastating hit in an era where players have been told to ****ing knock it off. The fact that it was a worthless goon taking out one of Boston's top players doesn't help the optics.

Keep in mind, Vancouver is the team that called for Steve Moore's head.

[Ben Kenobi]

At least. It was a far more devastating hit in an era where players have been told to ****ing knock it off.

Why am I not surprised? Anyways, I can't wait to see who Bettman suspends next.

Can't win on the ice so you suspend till they can compete.

[Asher]

Why am I not surprised? Anyways, I can't wait to see who Bettman suspends next.

How many games did Lecavalier miss as a result of that hit? IIRC he didn't even miss a shift.

Can't win on the ice so you suspend till they can compete.

Boston kinda won...decisively.

Rome isn't a big loss. Horton is a huge loss.

[Ben Kenobi]

If it were the regular season I'd expect at least 10.

Then this hit was worth 2 since SCF games are worth 4x as much as regular season games. Giving him 4 games means that this hit was worth 16-20 games.

There have been only 9 such suspensions in NHL history, plus the Shore hit which nearly killed Bailey. I'm sorry, I just don't see 4 games. I can see 1 or 2, but 4? No.

[Asher]

Good God you are stupid.

Burrows didn't get suspended for biting a finger and drawing blood, and you have no comment.
Rome gets suspended for giving a guy a serious concussion on a very late hit to the head when the NHL is trying to eliminate headshots in the game, and you start talking about a Bettman conspiracy against the Canucks.

You are ****ing pathetic, as is virtually every Canucks fan I've ever talked to (save Joncha )

[Ben Kenobi]

Rome isn't a big loss. Horton is a huge loss.

So we should be expecting a suspension for the cross check on Hamhuis?

Funny how silent you were on that one. Guess stuff only matters when it's Boston whining.