that suspension video is a joke. Shanahan even highlights that Neal turns his leg in an attempt to hit Marchand, so why not make it a personal hearing if you suspect something dirty like that? Also, I'm not familiar with the exact CBA wording, but: how in the world can a guy who has been suspended twice and fined once not be considered a repeat offender? Also, they put way too much emphasis on injuries when handing out suspensions.
at least they gave him the longest suspension they could after settling for a phone hearing. Still not enough punishment, if you ask me. Should have been 10 games, really.
I have not seen this posted in a while, it might help:
Spoiler!
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I thought both Neals and Thorntons were both dirty.. Glad to see Neal got at least 5 games for it. I thought he would only get 3. As for Thornton.. I like the guy and think he just got caught up in the moment.. but even he knows he was in the wrong.. I think 10-15 games is plenty.. Hopefully don't see more than that. As for Orpik I thought his hit on Erikkson was dirty... I think Orpik should of stepped up to the plate and fought.. I would of fought Thornton either.. but I would of challenged someone more my size..
I may be wrong, but I'm pretty sure if you go 18 months without incident, you have your slate wiped clean and are no longer considered a repeat offender.
Pretty sure that was one of the changes to the CBA.
I'm sure I heard that on the Fan like a month or two ago.
I would have liked to have seen something closer to 10 games for Neal. That was blatant attempt to injure and should be punished severely. You would expect to see crap like that from the Hanson brothers.
I would have liked to have seen something closer to 10 games for Neal. That was blatant attempt to injure and should be punished severely. You would expect to see crap like that from the Hanson brothers.
I agree - when I said I 'liked' the 5 games, it's only because I thought he would get less. 10 games would have been spot on, but would have likely been appealed and caused a stir with the PA.. sigh
Read somewhere else that 5 games is the maximum penalty with a phone hearing. Not sure why they wouldn't do an in-person hearing. Oh well, hopefully Thornton gets at least 10 games, would prefer 15+.
Then that would not be interference, or is there a level of how much he has to have touched the puck before he's allowed to be hit?
He has to be in possession, which the NHL defines as the last player to touch the puck without clarification as to whether the player has to be in control of the puck, so I suppose there's some argument there.
I guess if it's not a penalty, can you still say it's not a dirty hit? Is dirty and clean and difference of an almost incidental contact with the puck? Orpik was going to destroy Loui whether he touched the puck or not, there was less than a half second between the puck clipping his stick and Orpik nailing him.
IMO? Dirty hit. But I suppose if having the puck glance off your stick counts as possession then it's just my opinion. Neal, Orpik, Thorton, they all went a little far for my taste. Nobody here can tell me that Loui should have had his "head up" when he was turned looking back at the puck and attempting swipe at it. It's not on him. If he actually had control of the puck, sure, but not when the puck is sliding past him.
Part of Neal's suspension should have been an awkward and televised conversation with Crosby about what happens when a player recklessly cheap-shots another player in the head.
As for Thornton, he should have to go visit Savard and they can have their conversation in a dark room.
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I thought both Neals and Thorntons were both dirty.. Glad to see Neal got at least 5 games for it. I thought he would only get 3. As for Thornton.. I like the guy and think he just got caught up in the moment.. but even he knows he was in the wrong.. I think 10-15 games is plenty.. Hopefully don't see more than that. As for Orpik I thought his hit on Erikkson was dirty... I think Orpik should of stepped up to the plate and fought.. I would of fought Thornton either.. but I would of challenged someone more my size..
I don't doubt that he is feeling very contrite right now.
But I think it's fair to point out that if the concept of the team enforcer wasn't promoted as some type of justice-wielding measure, then the Thornton-type incidents would decrease.
Thornton is running around on the ice because he feels that as the team's enforcer, this is part of his job. Conversely, he probably felt a bit under pressure to go out and enforce some justice for his teammate because he senses (rightly or wrongly) that the coaching staff expects that of him. He was a little desperate to mete out justice, knew that he had not yet been able to do so, and lost his head.
So yes he got caught up, but I don't think we should excuse the pressure that these enforcer types feel because of how their role is defined by the coaches. Although I don't excuse Thornton for what he did, I also don't excuse the team and the coaching staff because they're the ones who define the roles for their players.
5 games for Neal is a joke. That's one of the dirtiest things i've ever seen. I wonder what his suspension would be if he skated past and sucker punched Marchand in the face as he went by. I see no difference. In fact, the glove-covered punch is probably let likely to do damage than the plastic capped shin-pad. How an ex-player like Shanahan can look at that and not give the guy AT LEAST 10 games is beyond me.
Part of Neal's suspension should have been an awkward and televised conversation with Crosby about what happens when a player recklessly cheap-shots another player in the head.
As for Thornton, he should have to go visit Savard and they can have their conversation in a dark room.
Quote:
Supporting and defending one’s players and teammates are ingrained in hockey culture. So it was unusual on Thursday when Boston defenseman Andrew Ference did not back up his teammate Daniel Paille, who was given a major penalty and a game misconduct for a blindside hit to the head of Dallas forward Raymond Sawada.
Sawada reportedly sustained a broken nose and a separated shoulder. The N.H.L. suspended Paille for four games without pay under Rule 48, which bans blindside and lateral hits to the head. Interviewed immediately after the game, Ference said Paille had been wrong to deliver that hit.
Last season Marc Savard, a top Bruins player, was the victim of a similar hit by Pittsburgh’s Matt Cooke. Ference, who has had relatively low penalty totals through his career, was angry that the Penguins’ captain, Sidney Crosby, who spoke against head shots after a recent concussion, was silent when Cooke knocked out Savard.
“I thought a lot about that,” Ference told reporters on Thursday, saying he wanted to be a good teammate but not a phony.
“I mean, it’s a bad hit, right?” Ference said on NESN, the television network owned by the Bruins and the Red Sox. “That’s what they’re trying to get rid of, and you can’t be a hypocrite and complain about it when it happens to you, and say it’s fine when your teammate does it.”
Later on the NHL Network, after speaking with Paille, Ference said, “he feels awful about it, and I’m sure that’s the same sentiment as anybody that has one of those hits.” But Ference added that “it’s a hit that hurt the guy” and “you’ve got to get rid of it — it’s dangerous.”
5 games for Neal is a joke. That's one of the dirtiest things i've ever seen. I wonder what his suspension would be if he skated past and sucker punched Marchand in the face as he went by. I see no difference. In fact, the glove-covered punch is probably let likely to do damage than the plastic capped shin-pad. How an ex-player like Shanahan can look at that and not give the guy AT LEAST 10 games is beyond me.
If the name on the back was some average schmuck, it would be 10+ games easy. If its a repeat player who isn't a star (See: Chris Simon) its 25+ games to NHL banishment.
__________________
"With a coach and a player, sometimes there's just so much respect there that it's boils over"
-Taylor Hall
If the name on the back was some average schmuck, it would be 10+ games easy. If its a repeat player who isn't a star (See: Chris Simon) its 25+ games to NHL banishment.
Yeah I agree, thus the joke.
Neal isn't even that much of a big name player. He's like the Cammalleri of his generation.
Neal is a cheap shot artist. Youtube a Pitts/Philly brawl from April 15, 2012. In one thirty second period he jumps and hits Couturier when he doesn't even have the puck and then follows that up by taking a head shot at Giroux, and proceeds to the bench just like he did in Boston the other night.
I have totally lost any respect I had for this guy. If he gets picked to represent Canada I will be almost upset enough to hope he gets hurt.
Neals knee is worse than what Bertuzzi did, and in my opinion on par with the Mcsorley stick swinging. It was so deliberate, uneccessary and dangerous. I am amazed it was just 5 games.
I would have like to see 20 games for Neals hit. It is just so much worse than any of the other cheap shots that are part of a hockey play. Its a play that should be clearly unacceptable. And 5 games just doesn't say it.
So, here would be my biggest problem with the Orpik hit.
When did "Keep your head up", turn into "Keep your head up, or I'm going to put you in the hospital and/or possibly end your career and/or permanently degrade your quality of life"???
Even if the hit was "clean", when did NHLers lose enough respect for each other that they're out there trying to concuss opponents? It's not even something specific to Orpik as there are a ton of hits every night in the NHL that fall into this category.
I dunno. I just remember a guy like Ray Bourque playing 20+ years as a devastating body checker, and I don't ever remember him sending anyone to the hospital.
You should go back and watch don cherrys rockem sockem 1.
Tons of hard hitters who loved to catch guys with there heads down.
Neals knee is worse than what Bertuzzi did, and in my opinion on par with the Mcsorley stick swinging. It was so deliberate, uneccessary and dangerous. I am amazed it was just 5 games.
I would have like to see 20 games for Neals hit. It is just so much worse than any of the other cheap shots that are part of a hockey play. Its a play that should be clearly unacceptable. And 5 games just doesn't say it.
No, no it's not.
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Neals knee is worse than what Bertuzzi did, and in my opinion on par with the Mcsorley stick swinging. It was so deliberate, uneccessary and dangerous.
Bert and McSorley stalked their opponents with the intent to decapitate them from behind. unless Neal had this knee to the head all planned out (along with the tag team trip by Crosby, as an earlier poster suggested) then no, not even close. he had approximately 2 seconds to make a decision about what to do and chose the slimy route no doubt, but the comparison with those other two incidents is silly.
