Vancouver Canucks: Zach Kassian no-class....

I would say that Zach Kassian is taunting an opponent. A bush league move in my opinion. Here's what Greg Wyshynski of Puck Daddy has to say on the matter.

Gagner faced the Canucks for the first time this season on Friday night. At one point, the teams were involved in a scrum that included his former oral surgeon Kassian.

Because hockey is a nasty, twisted psychological war in which nearly every topic can be weaponized for agitation, Kassian looked over at Gagner went … there.

Kassian is pretty much a meat head, a player that I would classify as a rat. Said "Rat" averages 11.16 minutes a game and has scored (17g-11a—28pts) in 111 NHL games. When one of your team mates punch him in his big mouth, he wins. In this case, this clown deserves it. I think hockey is starting to gain a punk mentality like the other major sports.

In this case, I think he performed with in his niche is to be an agitator, to do bush league moves like this. This season, said Rat has been already suspended five-games for breaking the jaw of Oilers forward Sam Gagner. That's why he was wearing the shield protecting his jaw.

This is one of the reasons I don't want to ever want see fighting taken out of the NHL. This clown needs to be looking over his shoulder. If fighting is removed or curtailed from the NHL, the "Rats" like this clown will flourish. Imagine if there's no fighting in the NHL? These types of incidents will lead to further random acts of violence. Eventually, someone will chop him head first into boards and he will probably end up being carried off of the ice on a stretcher.

Habs spared the wrath of Lucic, Lucic suspended for one game

After watching the NHL Senior Vice President of Player Safety Brendan Shanahan and his ruling today I have come to the conclusion that there is no consistency in his ruling. Milan Lucic was suspended today for boarding Flyer goon Zac Rinaldo. Rinaldo didn't even think the hit deserved a penalty on the play.
Lucic drew a five-minute major and game misconduct, yet Rinaldo doesn’t feel that was warranted.

“It’s hockey, you hit and go into the boards, I don’t think it was dirty at all,” Rinaldo said. “Shoulder-to-shoulder and just momentum. He’s big guy, maybe double my weight. His momentum carried him into the boards awkwardly. I don’t think it was dirty at all.”

He added: “Should–to-shoulder, that’s fine, that’s cool. I don’t mind it at all.”

Then why, after a scrum developed, did Rinaldo leave the pile trading punches with Nathan Horton?

“I don’t know, I got up and he was first one in front of my face,” Rinaldo said. “I knew I was Lucic [who hit me].” [CSNPhilly]

After watching the NHL fail to suspend Dion Phaneuf's for his hit on Zach Kassian, which was more egregious in my opinion, you would have thought that Lucic would get off without a suspension. So go forward, the fans have no clue what is going to get a players suspended and what is not.

Related articles

• Milan Lucic hit on Zac RInaldo (mvn.com)
• Will Lucic be suspended? (mvn.com)

Zach Kassian hit on Czech defenceman Petr Senkerik.

Here is the hit that Zach Kassian put on Czech defenceman Petr Senkerik. For the hit Kassian was given a 5 minute major and a match penalty which carries an automatic game suspension. Kassian was given an extra game suspension by the IIHF and will have to sit out another game for team Canada when they play the Sweds.