Jordan Schmaltz hit on Drew Leblanc

I have had a few requests from readers to put video on-line so why not... I personally can see how the call on UND freshman defenseman Jordan Schmaltz was given a five minute major and a game missconduct. That being said, the refs aren't calling this equally. I don't know how many times this season already a UND player was crunched into boards from behind and the hit was worse than the one on the video and the offending player only got a two minute penalty.

Some fans are wondering why wasn't the Huskies forward Joey Holka given a major penalty for checking Dillon Simpson from behind at the 16:56 mark of the second period? I think both hits are very similar... That's what I have a problem with, there is no consistency in the referee's calls.  I think that is all the fans ask.

Related articles

• UND vs. SCSU Series Notes (11/9-11/10) (thehockeywriters.com)

11/10 Post Game Wrapup: SCSU 5, UND 2 (RW77)

This was night and day from yesterday.  The Huskies looked pretty good but fairly flat on Friday.  Tonight, they came out roaring in the first period and UND, honestly, was lucky to escape the first period knotted at one.

The big calls in the first period were the no-goal on Stephane Pattyn and the Checking from Behind on Schmaltz.  First, the no-goal.  I actually got the webcast tonight and I saw it.  What I saw was one of the most incredible saves I've ever seen.  No one could believe that Pattyn's open net shot didn't go in except Farragher and the goal judge.  They did a lengthy review and judged it no goal.  I saw the replays and the call was 100% correct.

13 seconds from the end of the period, UND Freshman Jordan Schmaltz checked Drew Leblanc from behind into the sideboards.  The hit was not very violent and Leblanc's head did not hit the boards very hard (it appeared to hit forearm first).  Nevertheless, the refs HAD to call it as checking from behind.  The ironic part is that Don Adam called the penalty that he played a key role in creating.

Second Period and Third Period

The second period saw one of the worst periods of UND hockey this season.  It started out well, with UND killing off the five minute major.  However, after that, Drew Leblanc scored two straight goals and UND started a parade to the box culminating with Coach Hakstol getting a 2 minute minor for misconduct for trying to talk to Don Adam after the period had ended.  This probably resulted from a rather dubious embellishment call on Danny Kristo after being tripped.

The Third period only differed from the second period by the fact that the scoreboard said the number "3" where the number "2" was in the second period.  SCSU was all over the ice with crisp passing and just unlucky bounces and some timely saves by Saunders preventing it becoming a laugher.  It was even close until 6 minutes into the third when Garrett Milan (SCSU) got a rather weak goal on Saunders.  We did try a little bit but no good came of it. With 2:30 left in the game, Saunders let a point shot get past him and that's all she wrote.

The Goaltending

Again, Roller Coaster... sortof.  If you are Ryan Farragher, then it was a roller coaster that never seemed to go down the slope.  It just climbed the hill and stayed at the top.  Saunders really had a bad night for the most part..  The first goal SCSU scored he didn't see.  The third goal was a tic tac toe Power Play goal.  The final goal was a point shot.  Can't blame him much for those.  However, the second and the fourth goals were WEAK.  On the second goal, the puck came right to him after making two great saves and he paddled the puck right to Leblanc's stick blade.  Goal.  The fourth went five hole and just seemed to slowly inch past the red line.

 I'm also not sure if Gothberg would have done any better.  I don't blame Hakstol for going with the hot hand, but just like Saturday vs. BU, UND lost this game because they didn't play solid fundamental hockey for 60 minutes.  The thing that made it worse than the BU loss is that UND never even had one solid period of good hockey tonight.  They played ok in the first and got worse and worse as the game progressed.

So I guess Saunders played pretty well, and even Saunders at his best wouldn't have prevented UND from losing, but a game going into the end of the 3rd period down 3-2 looks much differently than entering the final minute down 5-2. 

The officiating

Roller coaster city.  They actually were doing a pretty decent job until the second period when they started missing calls and making bad calls.  The first call I recall was when they missed a pretty overt slashing call that Corbin Knight committed on Ethan Prow.  They made up for it by calling a weak version of it on Mark MacMillan.  He stick checked an SCSU player and the player waited a full second before dropping the stick.  No matter.  The next thing you know, Danny Kristo gets tripped and gets called for embellishment when he did not act like he was shot.  He slid along the ice before getting up and finding out he's sitting two.  The third period starts and UND actually does legitimately slash an SCSU stick and no call.  What awful calling.

Why UND lost

Top 3 reasons:
1.  Sloppy passing.  UND cannot pass even to open guys.  SCSU can.  It was AMAZING to watch.  It got to the point where SCSU didn't even have to clog the lanes, UND did it for them!  I cannot remember worse passing.  They couldn't set anything up because UND kept missing the puck. 
2.  Races to the puck.  UND was out skated all night long.
3.  Corners.  SCSU won almost ALL the battles along the boards.

This was one of the worst played games UND has played this season.  I'm glad this seems anomalous because if it wasn't, UND is going to lose... A LOT.

The America One Webcast

This is the Webcast company SCSU went through for the game.  I'm not sure if it is NESN camera work or what but this webcast's quality was FAR FAR superior to that of the UND Webcast.  The oddity?  SCSU's commentators weren't as big of a homer than I thought they would.  The only negative is that they didn't do their legwork.  They never figured out how to pronounce our players' names (like Rowney's for example). 

My 3 stars:

Third Star:  Joe Rehkamp (SCSU) - He wasn't talked about much during the game on the SCSU broadcast but he is credited with 3 assists on the night.  Not too shabby.

Second Star:  Ryan Farragher (SCSU) - Hard not to give him the first star.  He probably is 1a in this list.  He made some great saves including the best save of the season off of Pattyn's shot in the first period, but despite it looking otherwise, he wasn't really overtaxed in net tonight.

First Star:  Drew Leblanc (SCSU) - 2 goals 1 assist.  He was all over the place tonight.

Honorable Mentions:  Derek Forbort and Drake Caggiula (both acquitted themselves pretty well tonight), Nick Oliver (SCSU), Cory Thorson (SCSU)

EDIT:  I should add:  I am not saying the world is coming to an end.  Nor am I saying Fire Hakstol or that this team isn't special.  I'm saying this was one of the hardest games to watch because of how poorly we played and how much better I know we are capable of playing.

Jacob Trouba destroys NMU's Reed Secke

[click to view video] Ouch!!! Check out this hit by Michigan Defenseman Jacob Trouba as he absolutely destroyed Northern Michigan’s sophomore Reed Secke with a monster hit. Trouba was given a five minute major and a game misconduct and the CCHA gave Trouba an extra game suspension. Secke was cleared by the NMU medical staff but you can tell by the picture that Secke was absolutely lit up.
Originally posted at the Hockey Writers - Combine.

Former Bruin Ken Belanger doesn’t like the OHL new fight rule

Boston Bruins and Ottawa 657's tough guy Ken Belanger is also not a fan of the OHL’s knew fighting rule. I also think that it's just a matter of time before more current and former players come out against this ridiculous rule.

Belanger thinks that the new rule might actually increase acts of violence. I agree with his assessment. You're going to have players that aren't going to be afraid to commit questionable acts on the ice because they will have no fear of retribution.

Jeffrey Ougler, Sault Star --- “(Hockey’s) a game of emotion, it’s a game of teamwork, it’s a game of guys protecting guys, watching each other’s backs, guys stepping up to each other if someone does a dirty hit ... It’s a game of accountability,” he said, adding NHL instigator rules have only seen concussions increase, “respect rates” diminish and “head shots” hike.

In 1992, the league ushered in the controversial “instigator” rule, which adds an additional two-minute minor penalty to the player who starts a fight.

“But I really think there will be an issue when a guy can’t stand up for a teammate,” Belanger said.

“If someone hammers a goalie, that’s OK now because, guess what, my excuse is I can’t do anything to the guy because I don’t want to get suspended.

“So now, is there accountability for anybody?”

In other words, what you might see now are some players thinking they can, perhaps, high-stick or do other dirty deeds with impunity — violations that would have earlier landed them a crack in the jaw.

“(The new rules are) not going to eliminate head shots and guys getting into fights, because, guess what, if your top-line players aren’t going to be getting into fights, they’re going to be running around, and now you’ve got your small guys who don’t have to worry about fighting,” he added.

I don't like this new rules one bit, because I am afraid that some genius in the NHL is going to come up with the idea that this 10 fight rule -- or a rule similar to this one needs to be enacted in the NHL as well. I think it's a slipper slope that we don't want to go down - if the NHL went to a rule like this the "rats" would flourish in the NHL.

If you don't know what I mean by "Rats" -- think of the players that you despise the most -- these are the players like Matt Cooke, Raffi Torres or other players like them that skate around and head hunt the opposition. NHL tough guys are the ones that keep these players in check.

Western Hockey League addresses player safety

Three North American junior hockey leagues have taken major steps to tighten rules to the game of hockey and improve player safety.  From my vantage point, it would appear that all three leagues are also trying to limit the players that play a reckless brand of hockey or at least change the way they play the game of hockey.

This season, the USHL instituted a new rule which has specified a number of penalties that the league has termed as “dangerous play” to include minor penalties (ie: elbowing, head contact, kneeing). Also, the USHL will monitor and review the above penalties as well as all major penalties throughout the season.
When players start accumulating multiple penalties they will be notified and addressed by the USHL Commissioner’s office. This action is being presented as a way to educate the league’s players.  If league office deems it necessary they will punish players via supplementary discipline.

Translation, the league is sending a message to their players – if the players rack up penalties that the league has deemed as dangerous play the players are going to pay the consequences for their actions.
The Ontario Hockey League has put a limit on the number of fights that a player can participate in during the course of a hockey season after a player reaches 10 fights the offending player will begin serving a two game suspension for each fight over 10.

The OHL and the USHL are not alone the Western Hockey League is also enacting some stiffer rules of their own to address on ice play.

During the summer the WHL has adopted this as a rule:

Adoption of a staged fighting rule. Should a fight occur following a face-off during a game, it will be considered a staged fight. Should a stage fight occur during a pre-season, regular season or playoff game, the players involved shall each receive an automatic game misconduct in addition to the major penalty. Should one player clearly initiate or instigate the fight, only that player will receive the game misconduct in addition to a minor penalty for instigating the fight. Should the linesmen intervene and prevent the fight from starting, the players involved will each receive misconduct penalties. [WHL.CA]

The WHL is also going to address player’s safety and deal with the repeat offenders and issue supplemental discipline where it’s necessary.

 The WHL also announced it remains fully committed to the Seven Point Plan introduced this past season to address player safety concerns in the area of head blows and concussions.  The Seven Point Plan includes continued emphasis on discipline as it applies to repeat offenders; production of an education video on player safety; seminar for all General Managers and Head Coaches on September 11, 2012; continuing to provide players with best available protective equipment; working with the WHL Arena Advisory Committee to adopt acrylic glass as a standard for all WHL arenas; continuing to collect and study research data on concussion injuries and their causes.

That makes at least three Junior Leagues in North America are looking to stop a certain type of player in their ranks and have taken steps to address those issues. In reading and interpreting these new rule changes, it would appear that the various leagues are going after the predator/agitators that skate up and down the ice taking liberties with the opposition players – truth be told, these players have been put on notice and their days could be numbered in junior hockey if they don’t change their behavior.

Also, the message should be – if you don’t change your on ice behavior – we will compel you to change your on ice behavior. The Western Hockey League has a page that lists the players that have been given supplemental discipline. To date, 10 players have been suspended a total of 21 games.

Originally posted at the Hockey Writers - Combine

Mat Dumba Hit

Mat Dumba Hit from Calvin Bellows on Vimeo.
It's better to be the hammer than it is the nail. Red Deer Rebel's defenseman Mat Dumba absolutely hammered Hitmen forward Joey Kornelsen. Dumba received a five minute major and a game misconduct and the hit is under review by the Western Hockey League.

Dumba was drafted in the first round of the 2012 NHL draft by the Minnesota Wild.

USHL to concentrate on player safety

It appears, that United State Hockey League which is USA Hockey’s elite Tier I junior hockey, is going to take a proactive approach to address player safety starting this season.

Earlier this week, we learned that the OHL was going to limit the number of fights a player is involved in.
USHL Press Release

The League has specified a number of what it terms “dangerous play” minor penalties (ie: elbowing, head contact, kneeing), which it will monitor and review together with all major penalties – both fighting and non-fighting – throughout the course of the season.  Players accumulating multiple penalties will be notified and addressed by the Commissioner’s office with an eye toward early intervention and education, and multiple penalties in any category will be subject to supplementary discipline.

“We take our position as USA Hockey’s Tier I League very seriously,” said USHL President and Commissioner Skip Prince.  “We’ve been concerned by the increase in injuries and lost games by our players over the past several seasons, and this is a comprehensive effort to see what we can do to address the problem.  We recognize our responsibility to deliver the world’s best young players to the next level – the NCAA and the NHL – faster, stronger, smarter, and more skilled than ever before.  But we also need to make sure they’re in top health and physical condition, and fully aware that as the next generation’s guardians of the game, they have a responsibility to hockey and to each other.   Our mission is to keep every ounce of the aggressive, all-out style of play for which the USHL is so well-known, while tuning down some of the ‘dumb and dangerous’ play that neither benefits the game nor the elite athletes who are playing it

In reading the USHL’s press release it appears to me that the USHL is going to make a serious step in addressing on ice play of its players and is also going to address their player’s on-ice play by assigning supplementary discipline in the cases where it’s warranted.

From the outside looking in – it would appear to me that the USHL is also trying to address the play of certain types of players – in this case – it appears to me that the USHL is trying to do away with the players skate all over the ice trying to line people up for the big hit.

Don’t get me wrong, I like physical hockey and hitting, but the USHL appears to be trying to address a certain type of play and to make corrections to change on ice behavior.
More specifically, it appears to me that the USHL is attempting to do away with the players that I would classify as head hunters – these are the players that will skate across the ice to make a knock out hit and if they make contact usually results in the player on the receiving ending up with a catastrophic injury.  This would probably include the players that will target the head of an opposition player in a vulnerable position.

If your confused why type of player I am talking about, think of NHL players like Raffie Torres or a Matt Cooke.  These two are the poster boys of the type of player that I am thinking of.

I believe that this is going to be a good start to improving player safety – I think this also a good indication that hockey is beginning to move away from the one dimensional players that skate up and down the ice taking liberties with the opposition. Also, it appears that USHL is going to go even further than the OHL, because it appears that the USHL is going to try and educate the players as well as discipline the offenders.

Lastly, I also think that the hockey in most leagues is trying to do away with the one dimensional players that play two-four minutes a game and get into a fight or two. I do believe the player of the future is a player is going to be one that can score 20-30 goals and get in 10-15 fights a year – NHL players like Milan Lucic or Scott Hartnell come to mind.

Originally posted at The Hockey Writers - Combine

OHL to limit fighting

Ontario Hockey League (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The Ontario Hockey League of the Canadian Hockey League has announced that starting this season the League is going to try and limit fighting in their league. The OHL is also trying to remove the one dimensional goon’s from it league and has enacted the following new rules this season. While the Anti-pugilist are already cheering this new rule change I think that it’s a bad idea - the NHL will be  monitoring the OHL's new rule change.

OHL rule:

1. If a player is assessed a fighting major for the 11th to 15th time during the regular season, such player is assessed an automatic two-game suspension for each additional fighting major in addition to any other penalties assessed.

2. If a player is assessed a fighting major for the 16th time or more during the regular season, such player is assessed an automatic two-game suspension and the hockey club is fined $1,000 for each additional fighting major in addition to any other penalties assessed.

3. If a player is deemed to be the instigator in any of the fights above the 10-game threshold, such player would be assessed an automatic four-game suspension in addition to any other penalties assessed.

Note: If a player is instigated upon, the fighting major is not included in the player's total number of fights

The reason that I think that limiting the amount of fighting in the OHL or even the NHL is a bad rule - fighting in hockey keeps the players on the ice honest and allows the players to police the game themselves in stead of counting on the refs.  Hockey is a very fast paced game and you cant always count on the refs to make the right call either. In many cases they won't.

Limiting fighting in one league is the first step to an all out ban in all other levels of hockey both professionally and in the junior ranks and I don't think that this is a road I would like to see the NHL go down.

Could you imagine if hockey players of the Matt Cooke variety played the game of hockey without the fear of having to fight? Players of Cooke's ilk would have the ability to skate all over the ice taking liberties with other teams top players without the fear of retribution, that would set a very bad precedence and you would probably see an increase in head injures as well as random acts of gratuitous violence.

If the two aforementioned leagues decided to limit and or enact an all out ban on fighting you actually be putting the players in worse danger than if you left the leagues the way it is.
Another reason I think that this rule is bad is - players and coaching staffs utilize the mediums available to them and they're familiar with stats - it's available to them on the internet at the click of a mouse  - also the teams media people have the stats readily available to players and coaches at a moments notice and they can research their opponents before the game/series.

I also have a question, how did the OHL come to the number of 10 in the first place?

Let's take this a little further; if you're a player from another team and you know that a certain's team's tough guy or tough guys have already have crossed the 10 or 11 fights threshold - the opposition better have their head on a swivel - because those players are not going to want to just drop the gloves and fight because they have reached that magic numeric threshold of 10 fights.  I don't know too many players that are going to want to serve a two game suspension for each fight past their 10th fight.

I can see where this is going already, this has to potential to put that teams star players safety in jeopardy later in the season, because the opposition knows that there is probably less chance of facing "any" retribution if they commit a questionable or dirty hit against the other team's players. I could also see how this new rule will probably lead to an increase in stick work as well.

I know that the NHL would like to get rid of the staged fight, but what actually constitutes a staged fight - the lines are blurred a bit and how do we know that the staged fights don't serve a purpose also? I just think in this situation that the status quo is fine the way it is.

Here is a tweet by Nashville Predators tough guy Brian McGrattan that caught my eye this even. I think that there are going to be more NHL players that probably hold this view than not.

feel sorry for those kids that cant fight in junior and are gonna have to learn the hard way in pro gettin their head punched in
— brian mcgrattan (@bigern10) September 20, 2012

Originally posted at the Hockey Writers - Combine

Related articles

• OHL to limit fighting? (ndgoon.blogspot.com)
• Does the OHL commissioner lack transparency? (ndgoon.blogspot.com)
• OHL throws book at the Windsor Spitfires (ndgoon.blogspot.com)

Coyotes' Hanzal has Disciplinary hearing today

Phoenix Coyotes forward Martin Hanzal has a hearing today with the NHL's department of Player Safety and after looking at the video – I would imagine that Hanzal "should" get at least a one or two game suspension for this brutal hit on Kings forward Dustin Brown.

Now that I said that and based on how inconsistent Brendan Shanahan has been during the NHL Stanley Cup Playoff  – add to the fact that Hanzal isn't a repeat offender – the Department of Player safety "could" go easier on him and give him a the maximum fine.

NHL.COM --- Phoenix Coyotes forward Martin Hanzal will have a disciplinary hearing Wednesday with the NHL Player Safety Department following a boarding incident in Game 2 of the Western Conference Finals on Tuesday.

Hanzal was penalized when he pushed the Kings' Dustin Brown from behind into the boards at 11:01 of the third period. Hanzal was assessed a five-minute major for boarding and a game-misconduct.

Salmela suspended for three games

The IIHF was suspended Finnish defenseman Anssi Salmela for three games for this brutal hit on USA defenseman Alex Goligoski.

HELSINKI – The IIHF Disciplinary Panel has suspended Finland’s defenceman Anssi Salmela for three games following his violent boarding on USA’s defenceman Alex Goligoski.

The incident occurred at 5:03 of the third period in Finland’s preliminary-round game against the United States on Sunday.

Anssi Salmela received a five-minute major plus an automatic game misconduct penalty for a violent boarding that caught Goligoski in a defenseless and vulnerable position and which resulted in Goligoski hitting his upper body, head and face into the boards.

The panel especially took into consideration the ruthlessness of the act, which could have resulted in a serious injury, which now Goligoski was fortunate to escape.

Related articles

• Finland D Salmela suspended three games for reckless hit
• Anssi Salmela Suspended 3 Games For Hit In World Championships
• PHT: US shuts out Finland, reaches worlds quarters

Zac Rinaldo hit on Dainius Zubrus

For what ever reason the Philadelphia Flyers were going after  Dainius Zubrus in this series and last night Flyers littled used forward Zach Rinaldo caught Zubras with this hit in the Flyers end of the ice, in my opinion this was a questionable and a border line hit, some might say that it was dirty.

Also, what the heck was Max Talbot doing in this video?

Personally, I seen worse hits that were dirtier in this years Stanley Cup Playoffs - but that doesn't make this hit any better. The Flyers are out of the playoffs, so I don't expect anything to come from this hit, Zubras also returned to the game.

Former NHL Official Kerry Fraser had to say this on the Rinaldo hit.

A bit of a pattern develops here when Zac Rinaldo took out Dainius Zubrus, another payback recipient, with a low bridge hip check (video link) just above the knees. While kneeing was initially reported on the call, interference appears on the official score sheet as Pierre Maguire of NBC correctly pointed out at the time. This was a needless and dirty play.  The puck was in the opposite corner of the rink as Zubrus cut around the net and was low bridged by Rinaldo. I can appreciate the fact that the refs would not want to put the game on the line by assessing a five-minute major penalty for clipping even though Zubrus appeared shaken up on the play and was attended to.

Backstrom suspended by the NHL.

This was the fourth suspension of the day. As expected, Nicklas Backstrom has been suspended by the NHL for his crosscheck on Richard Peverley which resulted in Backstom receiving a match penalty. The NHL wouldn't rescind the match penalty. Of course one of the dirtiest players to ever play in the NHL defended his player. I wouldn't expect anything less.

Capitals head coach Dale Hunter defended Backstrom's actions following the game, saying he "was trying to protect his face," because Peverley had his stick raised. Hunter feels the Bruins are targetting the head of Backstrom, who missed 40 games near the end of the regular season with a head injury.

"It is crossing the line. To grab his head all the time is not the right way to play," said Hunter. [TSN.CA]

Related articles

• VIDEO: Nicklas Backstrom Receives Match Penalty For Cross-Check On Rich Peverley (dc.sbnation.com)
• NHL Playoffs 2012: Nicklas Backstrom To Have Hearing With NHL; Dale Hunter Says Bruins Are Targeting Center's Head (dc.sbnation.com)
• Caps' Backstrom Called For Match Penalty, Likely Facing Suspension (philadelphia.cbslocal.com)

Chimera spears the Little Ball of Hate in the groin

Ouch! This is the reason that Brad Marchand was laying on the ice last night. Looks like the refs missed one here, that one couldn’t have felt very good. As you can see by the photo, Washinton Capitals forward Jason Chimera speared Brad Marchand in the groin/cup region with his stick during last night's game between the Boston Bruins and the Washington Capitals. That should have been a major penalty.

Of course no one is going to feel bad for the Little Ball of Hate Brad Marchand. I noticed that when the  Captials started to play physical  and rough against the Bruins, the Bruins kind of took the game over. Here is the link to the video in question [Click to view]

Joe McDonald, ESPN Boston --- One would have assumed the player waiting for Marchand was forward Jason Chimera. (In fact, we did in an earlier post.)

During a scrum in front of the Bruins’ net early in the third period, Chimera clearly struck Marchand in the groin area with his stick, sending Marchand to the ice in pain. He was attended to by team trainer Don DelNegro. Chimera was given a two-minute penalty for slashing.

But Marchand was approached by defenseman Karl Alzner, who caught Marchand with an elbow to the head during the game.

s/t Puck Daddy for the photo

Kizla's perspective on the UND and DU game

Where is Mike Chambers when you need him? God I love this newspaper, they sure have an interesting way of drawing up their perspective when it come to hockey games between UND and DU.

I guess Mark Kizla missed the Nick Shore spear on Carter Rowney at the end of the game and the fact that the refs lost control of this game early and were consistently poor all weekend long so I don't really think either team was worse than the other. I do hold the ref (Todd Anderson and Brad Shepherd) culpable in this situation.

Who knew Denver was a suburb of Fargo? Although the North Dakota campus in Grand Forks sits nearly 1,000 miles from center ice in Magness Arena, the Sioux Nation showed up in force, then ignored both political correctness and the polite rules of being a house guest, by chanting "Let's go Sioux!" Losing control of the game, North Dakota than lost its composure. In the third period, freshman Michael Parks went caveman, taking a swing of the forearm at DU defenseman John Ryder. Way to stay classy, North Dakota. [Denver Post]

If anything I hope the NCHC commissioner Jim Scherr was able to catch either one of both of these games and has made a mental note to not employer either referee from this series. There were four game misconduct penalties and one, the Michael Parks hit on John Ryder that was actually worthy of a five minute major and a game misconduct.

Related articles

• Kiszla: DU Pioneers get even with old rival North Dakota (denverpost.com)
• Kiszla: Pioneers get even with old rival (denverpost.com)
• Chambers; Stakes are high in University of Denver-North Dakota hockey series (ndgoon.blogspot.com)
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Sioux City vs Sioux Falls Line Brawl

Wow! Here is a good description of what happened.

Mark Krebs, Examiner.com --- The second period started out much the same way as the first ended. Sioux Falls came out hard but as a result picked up a couple of quick penalties which put them at a disadvantage. Then 7:16 into the period chaos broke out at center ice. Tempers flared after a high hit on Lordo and all 12 players on the ice broke into their own separate fights. All twelve players were sent to the penalty box while the referee and his linesmen tried to sort out all the different penalties. Eventually every player involved was given a game misconduct penalty and ejected for their part in the brawls.

Related articles

• Lucky Bounces Save Sioux in Tie (insidehockey.com)

Lucia, "referees made the right call"

Image via WikipediaThis was on Roman Augustoviz blog today.

Lucia said he felt the referees made the right call when they gave Kyle Rau a major penalty for boarding and a game misconduct for his hit on Denver forward Jason Zucker in Friday's game.

WCHA commissioner Bruce McLeod called Lucia that night, the Gophers coach said, to tell him the league was going to review the play. He watched it on video that night after not seeing it live.

The next morning Lucia said he talked to McLeod again and was told Rau would probably be suspended.

"At that time, we had the right to appeal the suspension, which would have allowed Kyle the right to play Saturday night," Lucia said. "But 99.9 [percent of the time] we probably would have lost the appeal and he would not have been allowed to play the next Friday night against Bemidji."

Lucia decided the best option was not to appeal, so he could prepare his lines better for the Beavers.

He said the difficult part of the situation was the supplemental discipline. "There were a couple of other major penalties on the weekend," Lucia said. "You can go back to incidents -- what deserves extra and what doesn't?"

After seeing the video of the Kyle Rau hit on Jason Zucker, it's good to see coach Lucia support the league decision on that Rau hit. Lucia does also make a good point, "You can go back to incidents -- what deserves extra and what doesn't?” I think that’s the question a lot of the fans are wondering as well.

Related articles

• Lucia, "referees made the right call" (ndgoon.blogspot.com)
• Controversial non call in St Cloud (ndgoon.blogspot.com)
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• WCHA unlikely to punish coaches for Saturday's dust up. (ndgoon.blogspot.com)

Former Badger Rene Bourque Suspended by the NHL

Calgary Flames forward Rene Bourque became the second player to be suspended by the NHL today.I think the NHL's Senior Vice President of Player Safety made the right decision in this case, because Bourque hit Seabrook with a check that the league is trying to eliminate from the game.

Checking Bourque's player profile from TSN, it would appear that this is the first time that Bourque has been suspended by the NHL. In other words this isn't Matt Cooke we are talking about.

NEW YORK -- Calgary Flames forward Rene Bourque has been suspended, without pay, for two games for checking Chicago Blackhawks defenseman Brent Seabrook from behind during NHL Game #479 in Chicago on Sunday, Dec. 18, the National Hockey League’s Department of Player Safety announced today.

Under the terms of the Collective Bargaining Agreement, and based on his average annual salary, Bourque will forfeit $36,036.04. The money goes to the Players’ Emergency Assistance Fund.

The incident occurred at 15:25 of the first period. A major penalty for checking from behind and a game misconduct was assessed on the play.

Bourque will miss games Dec. 20 vs. Minnesota and Dec. 22 vs. Detroit. He will be eligible to return Dec. 23 at Vancouver.

So how long are the Sabres going to whine about the Lucic hit.

We should have called the Lucic hit on Miller shot heard round the world. Every since Milan Lucic ran into or over Ryan Miller ("potato potato" right) the hockey pundits are gnashing their teeth over what should've happened to Milan Lucic.   

Now you can expect the next player that has a major collision with a goalie to get the book thrown at them. While I am not suggesting that we run goalies; collisions between players and goalies are going to happen, one might say that it goes with the territory, being a goalie is hazardous duty. I might even call it collateral damage. 

If a goaltenders comes that far out of their crease to play a puck, their stepping into the kitchen, to borrow a football term. I think Miller is in a way part culpable for his injury. Does it make things right, not at all, there is going to be some hurt feelings, you can count on it. I think the rematch of this game is going to be a must see and there will be a lot of DVR set just in case something happens and there will, because the "hockey code" demands it.

Dan Rosen - NHL.com --- Buffalo GM Darcy Regier suggested that a majority of the general managers have told him that Lucic should have been suspended.

"Well, based on our conversations in the room, I personally believe it would be," Regier said. "It is not just my feeling, it is the feelings of my counterparts."

Shero suggested that at the very least a major penalty could have been called on Lucic.

Rule 42.3 on charging allows for a major penalty to be called at the discretion of the official "based on the degree of violence of the check." There is a similar stipulation associated with Rule 69.2 on interference with a goalkeeper.

Shanahan confirmed to NHL.com that he did have a discussion with the League's Director of Officiating, Terry Gregson. The conclusion was that a major penalty may have been an appropriate call in that case, but again it is up to the discretion of the on-ice officials.

Right on cue you could have predicted the response. Post decision from Shanahan, all of the arm chair disciplinarians wanted blood and when they got none they went off. Much to their dismay, NHL disciplinarian Brendan Shanahan failed to give a suspension or even a fine to Milan Lucic. They felt like they had been cheated, they wanted their pound of flesh. Almost on cue, you could hear the howling from Montreal, Buffalo and points elsewhere. The Big Bad Bruins had beaten the wrap again.

Then the tin foil hats came out and suggested as long as Greg Campbell is a member of the Boston Bruins nothing is going to happen to any of the Bruins players. They claim its because Colin Campbell is part of the front office stat. I am not lying, I saw something along those line from a beat writer of a major metro newspaper say that. 

Today we see Ryan Miller still rehashing the non-punishment with the media. My question is, how long are the Sabres and Ryan Miller going to complain about this. They would be better off to challenge Lucic to a fight and be done with it. Now they have this hanging over their head. Think about this, with one collision the Lucic and the Boston Bruins are in the Sabres heads.