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.

Denver Post finally responds to Patrick Bordeleau's dirty leg check on Jared Spurgeon

Nice to see that the Denver Post "finally" decided to pick up this story. Our buddy Adrian Dater from the Denver Post is Johnny on the spot for this story.

But, yeah, it looks a lot like the Cooke hit on Barrie, and let’s not be naive here: we all knew the Avs would maybe try something in retaliation for losing one of their best players to a dirty hit. As I said before and I’ll keep saying: you’re looking in the wrong place if you’re looking to the NHL for fairness and civility.

Adrian Dater explains his reasons for calling Matt Cooke a Gutless Puke.

When I referred to Matt Cooke as a “gutless puke” earlier, I was doing so in reference to an old line Cam Neely used about Claude Lemieux once, and has since become a common hockey saying for anyone people don’t like. It wasn’t meant to be taken so literally.

Let's clear, I have called Minnesota Wild Matt Cooke worse than that. I just was kind of shocked to see a major newspaper in a major market use those kind of words to explain a National Hockey League player. First, the Avalanche employed their share of objectionable players as well.

(Video) Brad Marchand and Chris Kunitz incident

Okay, I have to admit that this was a bush league move, I admit it, I am not condoning this play one bit. It's a cheap play. I don't know any Boston Bruins fan or media member that excused this play. It's unacceptable. 

Boston Bruins forward Brad Marchand was given a two minute minor penalty for kneeing and Pittsburgh Penguins forward Chris Kunitz was given a two minute minor for slashing. 

Penguins Thug Matt Cooke Returns to Ottawa

Tonight, the Pittsburgh Penguins travel to Ottawa to play the Senators and this will be the first matchup between the Senators and Penguins since the defenseman Erik Karlsson was injured on a check by Matt Cooke. From reading some of the news articles around the web, it would appear that this is going to be one of those must watch games.

During tonight’s game, one almost has to suspect there will be some extracurricular activities as well, when the two teams meet on the ice. If Matt Cooke was smart – he’s not – he would accept the challenge to a fight. Some are going to ask, why should Cooke accept a challenge to a fight? Because the hockey code demands it and if he doesn’t, this game has the prospects of turning into a blood bath.

Matt Cooke isn’t known for being a pugilist and the last time he fought an actual middle-heavy weight fighter, was against the Bruins Shawn Thornton on March 18, 2010. Since then, Cooke has chosen to fight star players and other players not known for their fighting prowess.

Penguins coach Dan Bylsma was asked if thought there was going to be any shenanigans during tonight’s game, the coach replied, “I’m not aware they’re dressing Shenanigans … I don’t know what number he would be or what kind of player he would be.”

Ducks' Perry suspended four games for interference

Corey Perry of the Anaheim Ducks during a pre-game warm-up. Vancouver, BC, Canada. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I applaud the NHL for making this ruling, this was unnecessary, unneeded and I don't care if Corey Perry said he was sorry after the game. Don't want to get suspended, don't make the hit. I think this suspension should be five games.

I keep hearing the argument, but it's not a dirty hit. What do you mean, it's not a dirty hit, the puck is gone for more than two,  if not three seconds, in this situation, Perry is trying to blow up Jason Zucker.

Think about it this way, Perry took out a good player on a team that is in competition with them for a playoff spot in their division.

Objectionable hits should have consequences and in this case it does. Corey Perry will sit for four games.

NEW YORK -- Anaheim Ducks forward Corey Perry has been suspended for four games, without pay, for a late, illegal check to Minnesota Wild forward Jason Zucker during NHL Game No. 384 in Minnesota on Tuesday, March 12, the National Hockey League's Department of Player Safety announced today.

Under the terms of the Collective Bargaining Agreement, and based on his average annual salary, Perry will forfeit $115,135.12. The money goes to the Players' Emergency Assistance Fund.

The incident occurred at 4:21 of the second period. Perry was assessed a major penalty for interference and a game misconduct.

Again there is no defending this hit. Although, I have seen a few try today.

NHL Hockey; Leave Fighting alone for the sake of the game

They say that those that cover hockey, in most cases never actually played the game of hockey. Before you jump on me, hear me out… I mean seriously, every time I see one of these articles that question fighting’s role in the NHL and or in professional hockey, it sends up a big flag.

I ask you to think about it this way. I am sure you can picture a player from around the NHL from your least favorite team that has no honor, these are the Ulf Samuelssons, Matt Cookes, Raffi Tores and Patrick Kaleta’s or whoever, I am sure that you have one in mind, but you know the type of players that I am talking about, they're the type of players that I would like to see taken out of the game of hockey long before fighting was ever banned.

These are the players that when they get hit with a big check you feel no empathy for them what-so-ever as they lay on the ice writhing in pain. When Evander Kane knocked out Matt Cooke I stood in my living room cheering, actually chugged a beer in celebration, ex-post facto.

Imagine these clowns, skating around the ice unchecked to wreaking havoc on NHL players and star players without the fear of ever having to answer the bell for a dirty hit. They would be able to do their trade without the fear of retribution. That sets a bad precedence.

Chris Johnston, Sportsnet --- The message was clear: Let the debate happen elsewhere.

“I think you really have to understand the game and kind of understand the (dressing) room to know what it’s like to be on a bench when a guy fights,” Bruins forward Brad Marchand said before the 4-2 victory over Toronto. “For fans that think that fighting has no part of the game, they don’t really know what they’re talking about.”

And that was that.

Marchand’s comments were consistent with the general line of thinking that can be found among both of these teams. They also highlight a pretty glaring paradox that exists within the sport.

Even though the fighting debate is always just one incident away from flaring up for fans and members of the media, the majority of players seem reluctant to even chew on the topic for a minute or two. They simply accept it — the good, the bad and (occasionally) the ugly.

I have seen all of the arguments for banning fighting from hockey and you can’t count on the refs and the department of player’s safety catch all of the offenders and in many cases they let the offenders go with little if any punishment.

Fight night in Boston (Lucic vs. Prust) Chara works Alexei Emelin after his dirty hit

Good fight between the Boston Bruins Milan Lucic and Montreal Canadians Brandon Prust. Prust was the NHL Fight leader with 20 fights last year.

This is what I like about the NHL, I like the fact that players are able to stick up for each other. Alexei Emelin hit Tyler Seguin at center ice with what I would consider a questionable and a dirty hit. Chara comes right over to him and makes him pay for his transgressions. There are some that will not like this, some are going to say that Chara pulled Emelin off of the ice to punch him in the face, I think he tried to dive to not have to fight. You can be the judge.

Harry Zolnierczyk destroys Mike Lundin, Suspended four games

My first question is, why are the refs immediately rescuing Harry Zolnierczyk after he destroys Mike Lundin with this dirty elbow? Zolnierczyk is the one that laid out Lundin with the dirty hit, he's the one that should be the one fighting Kaspars Daugavins or Senators tough guy Chris Neil for that matter. I guess Harry Zolnierczyk is going to have to wait because he has been suspended by the National Hockey League for four games for his effort.

Raffi Torres, "I just felt like it was a hockey play"

I was watching the Phoenix Coyotes game last night and like most was shocked to see that Raffi Torres wasn’t kicked out of the game for his check on Marian Hossa. The even more puzzling thing was the fact that Torres wasn't challenged to a fight later in the game by one of the Blackhawks players. Now the Chicago Blackhawks have to depend on the NHL’s Department of Player Safety to see if they respond to this hit.

True to form Raffi Torres saw nothing wrong with the hit in question, of course Sociopaths never do, so none of us should be shocked by the lack of remorse, shame or guilt from Torres.

"First off, I hope he's alright. As far as the hit goes, I just felt like it was a hockey play, just trying to finish my hit out there," said Torres. "The last thing I'll say is a I hope he's alright."

Did he leave his skates? Does he think he'll be suspended?

"I'm not gonna answer that," he said, before leaving the postgame interviews. [Puck Daddy]

Most of us have no idea what transpires out of this hit and it will be interesting to see if Torres is suspended by the NHL or not. Some have predicted that Torres could get a very long suspension and could be suspended into next season for his efforts on the ice last night. Personally, I would be shocked based on some of the rulings that Shanahan has come up with in the playoffs up to this point. One thing hanging over Torres’ head is that he a repeat offender and has been suspended twice in the past 13 months. Ironically, this hit took played one year to the date of his hit on the Blackhawks defenseman Brent Seabrook.

Jacob Cepis up to no good.



Photo by MissSioux85

This is the reason I don’t like the “no fight rule” in NCAA/college hockey. There is no way that Jacob Cepis would do this if he had to face Andrew MacWilliam like a man. This is a very dangerous move.

Its official biting someone is only worth two games.

Its official: Saying sloppy seconds is more offensive that biting your opponent on the ice during an NHL hockey game. WTF is that? Is our society so far out of whack that we are to be more offended by some one's crude statements about a former girl friend than biting someone on the ice? I think it's time to remove Colin Campbell and Gary Bettman from the league office because they have their priorities out of whack. We have Randy Jones putting Bruins star Patrice Bergeron out for the Season he get 2 games. That's it. What the hell is wrong with the league office?

Then Marko Ruutu lies about it on camera they should suspend him more games for lacking integrity. Marko Ruutu is a gutless thug that goes around the ice taking liberties with the opposition team's skilled players. Some day he is going to get his and I can't wait for the replay between Buffalo and Ottawa. This why I don't shed a tear when I see these agitators get beat up in a fight on the ice.

(Press Release from the NHL):
Ottawa's Ruutu suspended two games Wednesday, Ottawa's Jarkko Ruutu has been suspended for two games by the NHL for a biting incident that occurred in Tuesday night's loss to Buffalo.

Ruutu was suspended after a Wednesday morning's disciplinary hearing with NHL Senior Executive Vice President of Hockey Operations Colin Campbell, a phone conversation between the two parties that began at 11:30 a.m.

In Tuesday's incident, Ruutu bit the gloved thumb of Buffalo's Andrew Peters, breaking the skin's surface, during a first-period altercation at the 13:13 mark.

Corey Perry elbow on Claude Giroux

Here is the latest act of aggression in the NHL. Duck player Corey Perry received a 4games suspension for this brutal cheap shot. I think the league should have given him a 5-7 game suspension. I personally believe that these types of hits have no place in hockey. You can really light a player up legally without trying to knock their head off with your elbow.

Ducks' Perry suspended for four games --- News NEW YORK: Anaheim Ducks forward Corey Perry has been suspended for four games, without pay, for elbowing Philadelphia Flyers forward Claude Giroux during the third period of NHL Game #564 Friday night, the National Hockey League announced.

Under the terms of the Collective Bargaining Agreement, and based on his average annual salary, Perry will forfeit $114,516.12. The money goes to the Players’ Emergency Assistance Fund.

Perry will miss Anaheim's game against Phoenix Jan. 4, the home-and-home series against Los Angeles Jan. 6 and 8, and versus Tampa Bay Jan. 9. He will be eligible to return Jan. 11 against New Jersey.

Steve Downie will not be suspended for Suckering Blake

I think that Steve Downie is becoming one of the biggest hacks in the NHL. The kid has played a grand total of four games in the NHL and has already been suspened for 25 games. This is the same clown that beat up his own team mate in the OHL Check out the video of this incident; there is no doubt in my mind that Steve Downie sucker punched Jason Blake. If Steve Downie had sucker punched Sidney Crosby it would have been a 5-10 game suspension for his gutless act.

PHILADELPHIA - Steve Downie has received a stern talking to from the league and his coach but the Philadelphia Flyers forward will not be suspended for sucker-punching Toronto Maple Leafs forward Jason Blake.

Flyers GM Paul Holmgren said he and Downie spoke to NHL disciplinarian Colin Campbell after the incident in Philadelphia's 3-2 win at the Air Canada Centre last Saturday night.

"We had a conversation with Mr. Campbell and that's it. The rest will be between the league, the Flyers and Steve," Holmgren told the Philadelphia Inquirer. "It was a good talk.

"It's Steve's (fourth) NHL game. He's walking a fine line there, which is basically what he was told. My conversation with Steve was a little harsher than Colin Campbell's."

Downie, who scored his first NHL goal in the game, punched Blake in the face while the veteran forward was being held by a linesman. Downie's double minor came in the third period and the Leafs scored on the power play to get back in the game.

"I took a penalty that hurt the team and I can't do that," Downie told the Inquirer, admitting he has again been put on notice by the league. "There's a fine line you've got to follow and I crossed it again. I got to learn."

Downie was suspended for 20 games earlier this season after a pre-season hit on Dean McAmmond in Ottawa. Blake's eye was swollen after the punch but he was not expected to miss any action.

How dare someone be upset after being cross checked

This is the play that everyone has been talking about on the Internet, it is the Fighting Sioux goal by T.J. Oshie at the end of the first period; a momentum killer in my opinion. T.J. Oshie scores a nice goal then gets a vicious cross check by the Wisconsin Badgers resident thug/hack Davis Drewiske. The funny part is the announcers view of the game through their cardinal and white goggles.

This is how silly the Wisconsin television people sound: much to their amazement they can't see how a Sioux player can get upset after getting cross checked in the back of the head after scoring a goal. It's unheard of and bush league. The even funnier part is the guy explaining how the Sioux should be getting a another penalty as well (notice all the while that there are 3 Badger players and only 2 Sioux hockey players in the penalty box)

Steve Downie is a hack

This was a significant incident that happened while my computer was in the Geek Squad shop. This incident is probably the first of many with this guy; its just the type of player Steve Downie is, a 20 game suspension although probably steep won't stop thugs like guy from striking again. This is the same guy that attacked a fellow teammate. I still believe that Jack Johnson should have been cheered in Vancouver instead of booed for his elbow on Downie.

This is the latest black mark for the National Hockey League Boulerice crosschecks Kesler, Flyers vs Canucks Oct 10, 2007
I can see another 10-20 game suspension.

Text book way to run over a goalie

I found this while surfing youtube today. This is the text book way to run over the opposing goalie as perpetrated by Ben Gordon. Goalies beware when Gordon is in the neighborhood.

Duck Defenseman Chris Pronger suspended for one game for this hit

Chris Pronger was suspended by the NHL for this hit on Dean McAmmond. It's the second time that Pronger was suspended by the league during the 2007 Stanley Cup playoffs. After the game on CBC Ron McClain asked Don Cherry if Pronger would be suspended for his hit by the league. Don Cherry's response was no, I don't think he will. I guess ole Grapes was wrong.

When I first saw this hit I didn't think it was that bad but after watching it a few times, there no reason to elbow a guy in the head like that. That being said I think Chris Neil had a questionable hit earlier in the game on McDonald seemed to be your typical questionable Chris Neil hit.

Seems that Brian Burke the GM of the Ducks agrees with my assessment of the Chris Neil hit.

BRIAN BURKE: I'll go first. Colin Campbell just informed me Chris Pronger had been suspended for a game. From my perspective, we have to accept the league's decision. I think Chris, if you look at the hit, Chris' footwork wasn't right. He was trying to stop a guy, finish his check. But at the end, he stuck his arm out and got him in the head and the player's injured and we're sorry about that.

So we have to accept the fact that the league has imposed a one-game suspension here. The troubling part for me is that I think there should be, should have been another hearing today.

This was a reaction hit on a tough play. Chris Neil's hit on Andy McDonald was reprehensible. You guys go back and break down the tape, he took six strides in from the blueline, he's going full speed, full extension, elbow right to the head. Our player skates away. He gets a free pass. Their player gets hurt. Chris Pronger gets a game.