Dineen: Hit that injured him a ‘cheap shot’ from Zucker

When the news of the Rau hit on Zucker first broke last weekend, someone from the Tigers fan base brought up a questionable hit that Zucker had put on Colorado College Tigers forward Nick Dineen, during a recent Gold Pan game between C.C. and DU.

Interesting that this article came out today, it's good that this is being brought up.

Brian Gomez, Eye of the Tigers --- Colorado College center Nick Dineen (above) maintains he was the victim of a “cheap shot” from Denver left wing Jason Zucker in a Feb. 4 game in which he endured a concussion, and in a strange twist, if Zucker had been suspended, he too wouldn’t have been injured.

Dineen was knocked out in the first period of a 2-2 tie at World Arena that gave CC the Gold Pan, crushed so hard by Zucker that he admitted he doesn’t remember grimacing in pain on the ice, talking to Tigers trainer Jason Bushie or skating to the locker room. After Dineen was demolished by Zucker, he lost track of pretty much everything until Bushie was doing a concussion test on him. Even then, his head felt like an indescribable haze.

CC was on the penalty kill when Dineen headed toward the corner with Zucker in pursuit. “I went to get the puck, and I was kind of turned toward the boards, and Zucker came in, and left his feet, and elbowed me right in the back of the head,” said Dineen, whose head struck the boards as he crumbled to the ice. Zucker didn’t draw a penalty for the blow.

Someone also suggested it was a “karma” thing for Zucker as well.

This brings up the argument and has the potential to open up a whole new can of worms. Don Lucia asked the question earlier in the week. "You can go back to incidents -- what deserves extra and what doesn't?” Lucia has a point.

The problem is that there is no transparency in this league. It would be interesting to know why one hit was worthy of a suspension and another hit was not. I would be nice to see the WCHA communicate like the NHL does.

Whether it’s fair or not, these kinds of decisions also makes the league look like a bunch of bumbling buffoons that make decision in a smoke filled room. It also gives the impression that the refs call games and hand out suspension based on the team uniforms involved in the incident.

So why is one hit worthy of a suspension, while an equally questionable hit, that appears to be just as bad, is not worthy of a suspension or even a five minute major and a game misconduct?

This isn’t the first time I have seen it suggested that Zucker should have been suspended for his hit on Nick Dineen… I seen people suggest that the only reason that the league suspended Rau was the game was on National TV and it would have been an embarrassment to the WCHA if they had failed to act in this instance. I don’t know. Others have suggested that the suspension was because Bruce McLeod’s office is in Denver.