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Gunning Sports |
Doug Flynn; NESN.COM --- Playing by the rules has been difficult for the Bruins this season, or at least playing by the rules as they have been applied to Boston's games. The Bruins may have avoided a few suspensions prior to Lucic's one-game ban on Monday, but they have certainly picked up more than their fair share of penalties this year. Boston has been called for 505 total penalty minutes, an average of 15.8 a game. Only Philadelphia (529, 16.5 a game) has spent more time in the sin bin.I had a feeling that Milan Lucic would be suspended for his hit on Zac Rinaldo, while the hit wasn’t as egregious as many that had gone unpunished this season, Brendan Shanahan NHL Senior Vice President Player Safety had to suspend him to placate the black helicopter fans that think the NHL is in bed with the Boston Bruins.
Some of that has been accounted for by the Bruins' willingness to drop the gloves. They're tied for the league lead in major penalties with 25, with 23 of those being matching majors for fighting. But Boston also leads the NHL with eight misconduct penalties and is one of just three teams with multiple game misconducts so far this season, as referees have shown they have a very short leash for the Bruins' aggressive tactics.
The Bruins don't have any individual players in the top 10 for penalty minutes, but four Bruins are in the top 25 with Lucic 11th (63 PIMs), Marchand tied for 15th (58), Shawn Thornton 22nd (49) and Chara tied for 25th (47).
The Bruins haven't been officially warned to curb their style of play, but the numbers show there is definitely a crackdown on teams trying to playing an intimidating, physical style like that employed by the Bruins.
