Martin, posting this :
Ain’t that just plain “good old hockey play”? Seguin probably deserved it at some point…*
Leads me to believe that you read or heard someone say Max P. deserved the hit from Chara. All of your points on headshots and dirty plays are great, no sarcasm. Where I disagree is putting Chara’s hit into that group of other hits you listed.
If you really want to put so much stock into Chara knowing who he was hitting and made it worse purposely, then you should also be willing to say that Max should have known who was about to hit him and was better off not trying to sneak between Chara and a dangerous area of that rink (which he should know where he is and know that its a dangerous area).

Did I say people are saying Patches deserved to be injured? No.

The NHL is sending the message that it’s fine to do that, and it’s ridiculous. Yes, the location of the hit made it a freak accident, but I’ve played hockey enough to know where the puck was, and most importantly, where I am and who’s on the ice. Chara saying he didn’t know it was Pacrioretty is a pure lie, coming from a veteran pro. Come on. He did it willingly, and he should have gotten a 2-3 games suspension minimum. Marchand, Heatley should have gotten a minimum of 5 to 10 games, to start with. Those were unnecessay and vicious hits to a player who DID NOT HAVE THE PUCK. Which is illegal by the rulebook. Any hit (real hits) to a puckless player is illegal. But the culture of the NHL encourages players to finish their checks, hence doing illegal hits.

I’m for abolishing any hits to the head. Anything else leaves some very uncomfortable grey zones, something that barely exists in other, more serious sports. Hell, hockey is in my blood, but I’ve played way enough to know it’s limitations. Interpretation is very suggestive, and the referee already have enough on their plates. The problem resides in the “disciplinary commitee” and Colin Campbell, (who should have resigned the day his son started playing in the NHL, as it’s unethical in any business), who, if they had started dishing out 10-20 games suspensions + fines for the Richard-Booth and the Cooke-Savard hits, would have set the tempo for the future. Instead it’s fine being a joke. And let it be clear; Marc Savard is sadly gone for good.

One of the main reasons hockey is seen as a lesser pro-sport outside Canada is the fights. In no other sports are fights allowed, and yet the more violent football is America’s top sport. Hockey comes after GOLF! Golf. Hockey needs to adapt quickly. The NFL started protecting their quarterbacks when it became ridiculous, and the NBA adapted in the early 80′s with a no-zone defense and 3 pointers to promote offensive. The NHL needs to address their problem quickly, or suffer even more for it.

See I don’t think Chara’s hit was dirty-it was unfortunate, but honestly I probably wouldn’t have been crying about it if they had opted to suspend him.

I think Marchand’s and definitely Heatley’s hits were suspendable and I think the elbow to Seguin’s head was suspendable. Other than Marchand coming from behind I see very little difference between Marchand’s and Norqvist’s hits-in both cases they raised an elbow when making a hit and in both cases the guy hit had his head down, but the elbow still hit the head.

I am curious what Murphy’s reasoning was for the fine only-so far I haven’t seen anything explaining why a fine was the only thing assessed.

Ain’t that just plain “good old hockey play”? Seguin probably deserved it at some point…*

*irony here.

The NHL is a joke. From the Cooke, Richard, Chara, , Marchand, Heatley and now this, all these hits have to be severely punished.

Abolish hits to the head. Problem solved. But until the old guard dies off, dirty shots like theses will go unpunished.

I don’t know why you’re having such a hard time with this stuff Matt. I’m fine with it.
This was a hockey play. 10 out of 10 times Seguin gets hit during that play. Hornqvist led with the elbow and the refs called it, kicked him out. I don’t think it was a premeditated hit to the head. $$$
Marchand could of easily avoided contact but instead through a cheap shot to the head. two games.
Heatley was PO’d at Ott and elbowed him in the face. Not considered a “head shot” in my book but it was after the play. Two games.

I hear you Auz. I guess I’m just in the camp that 5 and a game plus a fine was sufficient punishment for a 1st time offender given the hit.

Coach – Auz is correct, its a lateral or blindside hit where the head is targeted or the principal point of contact. If you come from straight ahead and catch a guy in the chin with your shoulder, according to the rules, its not an illegal hit (assuming no charge, etc)

Doesn’t the rule prohibit hits that are from the blindside *OR* directed at the head?

Nashville P.D. refused to return my calls, they were probably keeping a certain announcer from badgering country singers into signing autographs.

it should have been a one game suspension.

Meh – guy got 5 & a game, dues paid. Wasn’t that vicious.

The blindside issue is a big one, when you consider hits to the head that aren’t lateral or blindside are NOT considered illegal hits according to rule 48 as I understand it.

Seguin flat out stated he knew Hornqvist was going to hit him, therefore its not subject to the rule.

I’m just here for the Journey reference…