Brooks Orpik Suspended 3 Games For Dirty Hit

You've probably seen it by now. In game 2 of the Eastern Conference semifinals, Washington Capitals defenseman Brooks Orpik knocked Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Olli Maatta out of the game with a dirty, high, late hit. Of course, none of us were shocked, Orpik has a history of leveling dirty, borderline hits and then turtling when challenged to fight. This time, no one is defending Orpik's actions.

Finally, this time, Orpik wasn't able to escape justice. For the next three games, the Capitals will be without their rugged defenseman. For those wondering at home, Orpik is a repeat-offender and hopefully, this will straighten him out.

Ron Cook from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette has this gem in today's article.

Two things … I couldn’t believe Orpik — one of the great teammates in any sport — letting down his Washington Capitals guys. He will miss the next three games of the Penguins-Capitals playoff series after being suspended for his elbow-to-the-head hit on Maatta early in Game 2. His absence will be a severe blow to the Capitals defense. They are a much lesser team without him.

I also thought about how hypocritical so many of us are. We are outraged that Orpik did that to Maatta, who could miss significant time with an apparent head injury, and wanted the NHL to come down on him even harder. Yet we loved Orpik when he delivered those dangerous hits when he played for the Penguins. It was perfectly fine that he delivered borderline-to-dirty hits to Erik Cole, Derek Stepan and Jonathan Toews — among others — and had been suspended twice. It was good, hard hockey, right? Of course, we loved Ulf Samuelsson and Darius Kasparaitis, too. It didn’t matter to us that they were dirty players. They played for the home team.

Hopefully, next time Orpik decides to hit someone with a dirty, bush league hit the NHL will hand out an even stiffer suspension.  I am all for legal, hard hits. Hockey is a rough sport and hitting is a part of the game. There's no room for hits that leaves the opposition with a traumatic brain injury. Finally, Orpik isn't a victim, justice is finally catching up with him.