Saturday, May 05, 2012

A tale of two hits


There were two hits on the ice this weekend that have gotten a bit of scrutiny. 

The first one is the hit that Phoenix Coyotes defenseman Rostislav Klesla put on Nashville Predators forward Matt Halischuk. Klesla was given a two minute penalty on the play and has a hearing on Sunday with the National Hockey League's department of player safety.

With the inconsistency with the National Hockey League’s Department of player safety there is no clue what kind of a suspension or fine we can expect in this situation, Klesla is not really a known superstar so we could expect a one or two game suspension.
This was the hit that Capitals forward Alexander Ovechkin put on Rangers Dan Girardi. Ovechkin was given a charging penalty on the hit. I don't think the Ovechkin hit is overly egregious and since he's a super star the league is very reluctant to suspend him so don't count on Ovechkin getting suspended and frankly I don't think as suspension is warranted in this situation. 

Girardi had this to say about the hit: "He hit me in the head first," Girardi said. "I think it was the right call. I'm not sure what it was, whether it was charging or interference or whatever, but my head's there, and he hits it. But I think he was just playing the game hard. I don't know."
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