This has been covered a bit on the college Hockey Blog sphere and when I first saw it, the incident kind of sounded like an urban legend, it was almost like it was too good to be true. Sioux fans and other hockey fans are already asking; where do we get the You Tube Video of this incident? We want proof for closure. As a rabid Sioux fan, of course I was hoping it was true because I felt it was a long time in coming. Now finally this incident can be put to bed as justice has finally been served.
It took a couple of seasons but Matt Greene finally got a shot at Oilers prospect Geoff Paukovich and made the most of it.
Here's the deal, back in 2004-05 in the WCHA Final Five, Paukovich playing for the Denver Pioneers crushed Greene's teammate Robbie Bina of North Dakota with an ugly hit that broke Bina's neck. (Bina has since returned to play). Greene, the Fighting Sioux's captain, exchanged words with Paukovich telling him their would be a day of reckoning at a later date. (Note:this would be the politically correct translation of what was said!).
As you all know you can't fight in College hockey but you can in a conditioning camp.
Paukovich now an Oilers prospect showed up at Clare Drake Arena the other day for the U. of A. Conditioning Camp, and Greene of course is an Oilers regular. Greene was late for a session, and the two were slated to be on the same team, when he saw Paukovich in a drill. Greene immediately skated over to Paukovich and told him the day of reckoning had arrived and proceeded to according to onlookers..make short work of Paukovich. The one-sided tilt lasted 15-20 seconds. The two shook hands after the fight. Classic!
Bob Stauffer
Team 1260
For college hockey fans that aren't very familiar with the incident in question this link kind of put the whole incident in perspective from more of a journalistic point of view.
This article put it all in perspective as well...
The incident
The moment came early in the second period with Denver controlling the puck while the referee had his arm in the air ready to blow the play dead as soon as North Dakota touched the puck. It’s a scene played out in rinks around the globe often, but on this afternoon in the heat of the battle, something went wrong.
As the puck came free along the boards, sophomore defenseman Robbie Bina reached to touch it thus triggering the whistle and stopping the play. But when the 5’8 180 lb Bina played the puck, he was simultaneously hit from behind by Paukovich, crashing heavily into the boards.
“It was a delayed penalty touch up and Bina got hit from behind, that’s it,” Greene bluntly stated, clearly still bothered by the memory. “He was two feet off the boards and got hit from behind and it was a delayed penalty call, so as soon as Robbie touches the puck, which he did, the whistle blows and that’s it. I don’t want to point fingers or anything, but from where I was sitting, it didn’t look like it needed to happen.”
Bina lay motionless for a period of time before being carried off the ice, the extent of his injuries not immediately known. Oiler VP of Hockey Operations Kevin Prendergast, who was in attendance that night, wasn’t aware of the severity of the injury until it came up in casual conversation with Hockey’s Future a day or two later back in Edmonton.
“The way he went into the boards, his stick slammed so loudly that I thought it sounded worse than it was,” said Prendergast. “Clearly, I was wrong.”
The result to Bina was a broken neck and possibly the end of his playing career. On the other hand, for the momentary lapse of judgment, Paukovich was given a one-game suspension by the NCAA and another from his coach. However, it should be pointed out that at the time of the incident, the only penalty given to the Denver forward was a two-minute minor for boarding. Whether it was the blown call by the ref, the hit itself or something else, North Dakota’s captain reacted immediately.
“It’s tough, you know, you’ve got your buddy lying on the ice and you can’t do anything about it,” Greene said with frustration in his voice. “If I would have done anything about it I would have had three minutes more in penalties than Paukovich had for breaking the kid’s neck plus a game misconduct and it was at a time when we were dealing with single elimination games for the rest of the year.”
“It was tough to swallow, Robbie’s one of my best friends on the team but regardless of being a teammate or not, you never want to get too personal with things. But when you see a guy every day in classes and then you see him take a hit like that, it kind of messes with your mind,” he added. “I was frustrated, but there wasn’t much you could do about it in that game.”
Paukovich, who was genuinely and deeply regretful for his actions, says his memory of the incident is still largely a blur but clearly recalls Greene’s reaction.
“I was kind of in a daze but… he was pissed” the rookie described. “He and I had some words and that kind of set the stage for the National Championship game. He wasn’t a very big fan of mine after that, that’s for sure.”
Bina missed the rest of the tournament schedule, but was in attendance providing emotional support for his team all the way to the NCAA finals held in Columbus. The prognosis for the diminutive forward is still unclear and at last contact Bina was still wearing both a neck brace and a never fading smile, a trait Greene admires immensely.
“His personality through the whole thing has been unbelievable, a guy that had every reason to be down with just the fact that we were playing in the National Championship game and he was in the stands wearing a neck brace where he would have been playing,” praised Greene. “He never lost the smile off his face, he always came around happy and was always cracking jokes and even now when I go for lunch with him, he’s a great guy.”
Paukovich struggled emotionally after the hit and although he played his way through to the end of the year, some say he was clearly not the same player on the ice.
“That really bothered Geoff in a big way, it’s going to take him some time to recover emotionally,” Denver head coach George Gwozdecky said during an Edmonton radio interview on the TEAM 1260 in April. “He was able to play for us in the Frozen Four and played pretty well but you could tell he was being very careful.”
“It wasn’t a deliberate thing, he’s a very physical player but he’s not a dirty player,” defended Prendergast. “The incident was unfortunate but he didn’t mean to injure him. We talked to him after the game and you could see it in his eyes that it had rattled him, when you see a kid taken off the ice on a stretcher it affects you.”
The Goon's perspective on the incident
This is what I wrote on Siouxsports.com
The Hit on Robbie Bina was right across the ice from my seat in the club level, I saw the whole incident as it unfolded, and it was by far one of the dirtiest plays that I have ever seen in all of my days of watching college hockey. I have witnessed a few incidents like this in the NHL but not in the college game. The fact the Don Adam only called a two minute penalty should have been the end of that refs career as an on the ice official. Also if you watched the film of the hit you will see Pauko smirking in the box.
The fact that it took so long for a wrong to be righted is puzzling to me, Paukovich should have been challenged the minute he stepped out of the penalty box at the Final Five. I look at Paukovich as being just as bad as Todd Bertuzzi, Ulfie Sammuelson or a Claude Lemieux. They are disgusting players and all will get or got what was coming to them. Live by the sword and die by the sword.
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