[Machiavelli]

“I felt like it was a clean hit,” said Stempniak, five foot 11, 196 pounds. “Sort of a shame, if it’s a clean hit and you have to fight. Hitting’s part of the game. The puck was right there. I hit him and I was trying to get the puck. It was two desperate teams playing. I’d like to see clean hits be part of the game, and not have to be answered for all the time.”

Stempniak, who had needed six stitches to close a gash over his lip, saw no reason to have to defend himself after textbook bodycheck.

Yet it happens frequently in the NHL.

“Checking’s always been part of the game,” he said. “If it’s a clean hit, you’d like to see it just be part of the game. If it’s malicious or dirty or something like that, there’s no place for that in the game. As long as it’s on the right side of the line, it should just be accepted as part of the game.”

Added coach Bob Hartley: “I believe there should have been an instigator (penalty to Ference). Lee didn’t get a chance to protect himself. He got tagged. But, hey, it’s a long season.”

http://www.calgaryherald.com/sports/...572/story.html