Quote:
Originally Posted by Itse
Its pretty damned obvious he's trying to slam Peterson on the ice on his back, in a way that 99% guarantees his head hits the ice. Maybe he's not thinking that's what's going to happen, but it's still the most likely consequence.
How could Petersons head not hit the ice when thrown that way with such force? That play is a very likely concussion every time
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This is how I look at it too. People get immediately up in arms for the head hits like Wilson's this pre-season, but that at least vaguely
resembles a body check, which is a hockey play. It's a hockey play done wrong and carelessly without regard for the other player's health, but it resembles a hit. Picking a guy up and slamming him down on the ice when the puck is nowhere around and the play's headed the other way doesn't look anything like a body check. It looks like "I'm gonna hurt their star rookie".
I've always thought the degree of intentionality should be the main thing that gets you supplemental discipline, because if you were clearly
trying to do what you did, and what you did is the sort of thing that would tend to result in an injury to the player you did it to, that tells us what type of player you are every bit as much as a history of suspensions does. Regardless of whether the player's actually hurt, if you did it
on purpose, you're the sort of person who does those things on purpose, and you'll probably do it again. I would like the DOPS to stop those types of people before they can do it again, rather than after.
But this has never really been how they've handled it. I dunno, I'd have thought maybe 1-2 games, but it's a phone hearing and after Wilson got 20 when I thought he'd get 5-7, hard to say where this goes.