Rulebook enforced correctly on Lucic hit on Spacek in Bruins-Habs
It’ll pain Bruins fans to read this, but the right call was made on Milan Lucic in the second period of Montreal’s 2-1 win in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference quarterfinal series between the archrivals.
Lucic definitely boarded Jaroslav Spacek near center ice. Once there was a five-minute major for the cut Spacek suffered, the referees had no choice but to also issue a game misconduct. Table 7 on Page 136 of the rulebook calls for an automatic game misconduct on a boarding call that results in an injury to the face or head.
You can blame the glass at the Bell Centre for cutting Spacek’s face, if you don’t want to blame Lucic. But you cannot blame the referees.
Here’s a look at the hit again:
The league will undoubtedly review the play to determine if extra discipline is necessary. And we all know how that goes. I wouldn’t want to waste my energy guessing what Mike Murphy will review.
As for head coach Claude Julien, he said after the game he didn’t get a good look at the play yet. Maybe he should’ve made a point to see if before speaking in anticipation about questions and maybe even in advance of an opportunity to lobby for leniency of his player. All the coach offered, however, was an answer about not wanting to criticize the referees.
there should be an invistigation to the officating in last nights game that was ridilloucs fucking garbage the bruins should launch a protest you can’t win when the refs are dead against you this makes me wanna puke let the players decide this is suppose to be playoffs hockey for christ sakes
Hawk man….do you play hockey?
If anyone were to be hit like that by a guy that can hit like Lucic, he’d be crumpled in a heap. It was like a scene out of Slapshot! Regular body checks hurt, ones from behind to the head are something special.
Should it have been a match penalty? I probably would have expected a 2 because he turned but Kerry Fraser was commenting that when a player is injured in any way (head was bleeding), it more or less becomes automatic major.
Also, one of those 5-3 pps was because a bruin tossed the puck over the glass. That’s an automatic…
I think the point is there was reasonable justification in the calls that were made (much better than most of the calls last night at least). He didn’t get a suspension because of the fact Spacek put himself in a vulnerable position
Spacek brought his bloody face on himself by turning towards the boards right at the last second. Per the NHL rulebook, “However, there is also a responsibility on the player with the puck to avoid placing himself in a dangerous and vulnerable position.” http://www.nhl.com/ice/page.htm?id=26329
I agree that the lucic hit shoulda been a 2, and spacek brought it on himself but don’t complain cause that’s the rule. Even if you turn at the last second and draw that call, the rule is the rule…go write a letter…
Thank you Gibbz for pointing out a couple calls/nocalls that people seem to keep forgetting.
First off, the called off goal should’ve never even taken place if the ref actually made the hooking call on Gomez that took place the second before that against Bergi in the high slot, which to no surprise was called later on Kostitzen(probably butchered that name) in the neutral zone when it really didn’t matter. From that point on, the refs where never the same, which was probably inevitable last night.
Call on Horton which was going to be a break away was complete BS and happens on every play in hockey. Call on Bergeron coming across the crease, which he was apparently skating so fast the wind knocked over Price. Call on Kelly in the closing minutes for high sticking, which wasn’t called on the Habs twice against Peverley and took any last bit of steam out of the B’s, locking in the win for the Habs.
Then the Lucic call. 2-minute Boarding at the worst. To be honest, Spacek deserved every bit of that hit. Your a professional hockey player, if you don’t know turning your back at the last second against the grain isn’t going to end in your favor, your an idiot. If I was the ref, I would’ve given him a diving penalty at the same time just for being dumb and add insult to injury. That one just really ticked me off because we finally saw Looch do what we’ve been waiting for the entire series, take the body and make them think every time the touched the puck.
Now I know this doesn’t go without saying, we shot ourselves in the foot to get both the 5-3′s as well as our PP is actually a momentum killer. Would dressing Sequin only for the PP really be that bad??
I hate outplaying the Montreal swim team and coming up short as you can tell by this rant… lol There is almost no doubt in my mind the whistly will be swallowed tonight now that the NHL got their game 7.
End this madness tonight B’s in your home den for once, we need some redemption against the Habs, as well as the Flyers! Go Black and Gold!
I am pretty sure Kampfer is still out, but honestly seeing Kaberle in these play offs I really don’t want to resign him.
I actually have found myself wishing we had Stuart-sure he turned the puck over, but not much more often than Kaberle and Stuart knew how to take the body.
I like Peverly better than Wheeler though-so I want to keep Peverly, but I am not impressed with Kaberle and I think we are overly relying on him to make something happen on the PP.
I almost wish they would sit Thornton, dress Seguin and have Seguin mostly there to participate on PP situations. Seguin can pass the puck, take passes and is a good shooter. But if all we are going to get out of Thornton is 2 to 5 minutes a night, then Seguin could help more o the PP. Not sure Seguin is the answer, but he is a better answer than what we are doing.
The call on Lucic was marginal at best. 1) It was the case of a bigger, stronger player hitting someone smaller 2) the hard glass at the Bell Centre and 3) some embellishment by Spacek. It should have been two minutes for boarding.
The Bruins power play is an absolute joke. They should decline Montreal penalties and just play five on five. Try sitting Kaberle and playing Kampfer (assuming his knee has healed).
The Montreal rope-a-dope defense is also a joke. Who would pay to watch that? If all teams start to play that way the NHL will be in serious trouble.
It might have been an act of mercy the ref’s didn’t call more penalties against the habs. Of course we tend to score too if we have near 2 minute 5-on-3′s born of bogus calls.
Also, forgot to say, It took us 88 games but we got a 4-on-4 goal!!!!
Don’t forget Peverly got high sticked twice.
I think where I mostly blame the refs isn’t so much that some of the calls were made-some had to be, but more that they didn’t just let them play but had to blow for tons of ticky tack stuff. All those calls take the Bruins off their game and they end up with no rhythm. If the Bruins had a PP (which really is 90% of the problem-we did have a few chances to even things up but our PP sucks and sucks badly and to me at least looks like it is getting worse) they could have had some chances, but not only are our PP’s awful they seem to be momentum suckers. The B’s seem to go on a PP and don’t score and lose any momentum they had.
The Bruins won last nights game 5 on 5 and were the better 5 on 5 team-if they can play well tonight and play disciplined they can win, but there are already the “No team has ever won a game 7 without scoring on a power play” and of course the other “the Bruins have never come back from a two game deficit to win a series” stats. Thank god I only have to listen to them today.
Good news is either the Bruins move on (for another round 2 rematch with the Flyers who have a great team but suspect goaltending) or the Bruins lose and Julien is fired. I would rather move on, but honestly won’t cry tears when Julien is gone.
I agree that the reffing was poor – the frustrating part is there is zero consistency…. no call early in the game when Bergie was in the slot with a clear shot at the net and was hooked by Gomez – but then they call the Horton ‘slash’… they call Patrice for goalie “interference” outside of the crease – but then Gionta b-lines Thomas and there is no call. Regardless, you can’t blame the refs for the B’s not showing up on the PP. Something desperately needs to change there, they can’t even get into the offensive zone. Special teams make or break a team in the playoffs, and last night’s game was exhibit A of that fact. B’s gotta find a way to get pucks through to the net -they have good presence there, but nothing is making it’s way through. Go B’s Go.
I agree with PCL milan has the brain of a Zoo animal and has been a complete no show with the exception of those blind passes he makes. I have never been a big fan of this guy way overated and wants to play up in Vancover land send him there he will be a distant memory.
Does it really matter if he gets suspended? He hasn’t played his game at all this series, nor done much of anything to speak of. If he’s not 100%, he shouldn’t be out there, and to me, he doesn’t look anywhere near 100%.
how about seguin……..if not just for the power play
I don’t think it was Lee who blew the call on the goal. It was the other guy. I was worried all night about him making bad calls but it seemed that every one was actually the other ref. And as a bruins fan it pains me to say but the Habs got the worst of the bad calls last night. The new plan for the Bruins tonight should be “show them your numbers”. It seems to work great for the Habs. Is it just me or did Eller seem to be knocked out behind the net? Stiff limbed and glassy eyed yet he hopped right back up when the whistle didn’t go? Spacek I will admit did actually get hurt but what was with the Eller thing? weird. Remember boys when hit is coming turn your back and go down in a heap.
That disallowed goal was tough for Montreal, but there were so many missed calls and miscalls on both sides that it was a horrible game to watch. I was frustrated not because the Bruins didn’t show up, but because there was no way of telling what was a penalty because the decision-making was so ephemeral. They would make a call on Montreal then Boston would go an do exactly what the Montreal player got call for and the reverse was certainly true in excess. I really wish I had just stopped watching, this was so bad. There were also some obvious offsides missed, and by my count (with consistent penalty calls) 6 missed power plays for the bruins (didn’t count how many for the Habs). And these were the ones I felt were obvious/ an official was staring right at them.
Also, that first 5-on-3 should never have happened. I don’t like the call against Sides, but the one on Bergeron was pure bullshit, and was called by the ref at center ice. He gets pushed into the crease and stays on his skates, so he gets a penalty?!? What a load.
It feels so much better to get it out. Also, not a lot of Habs were diving last night, though I suppose that’s because they weren’t sure when to dive with the erratic officiating.
The Lucic call was fair (about the only thing they got right). He shouldn’t be suspended because Spacek did turn. In truth, it won’t really matter either way, because it will be like the habs are losing a player as the other nifty points out.
Finally, RD, you called it. Now he needs to get fired or permanently assigned to games between toronto and florida or other teams that are bad/ no one cares about.
I warned you guys yesterday when it was Chris Lee that was going to ref the match. 10 years in the league, and that was his 7th playoff game. That should say it all right there…
Anyways, the Lucic hit was boarding, Spacek was examined for a concussion and was cleared to play. Seeing him come back to the bench instead of being concussed was definitely worth cheering for.
His quick whistle on Gionta’s goal was pretty brutal from our point of view…I mean, that puck was 2-3 feet from Tim when the whistle went.
When the league reviews that play, Chris Lee will have to explain why he was so out of position that he couldn’t see that.
Check the Briere hit on Niedermeyer. Same night, except Briere gets to stay in the game and score 2 points. As well, Richards on Connolly (Sunday). Neither player assessed more than 2 minutes, and neither ejected. Something is wrong with consistency in this league.
Anyone else get the sense that the refs got rattled on the Quick Wistle no-goal? Can’t argue too much with the penalties resulting in the 5-on-3s, but otherwise it seemed like the refs we’re see-sawing back and forth with make-up calls.
The thing that is really annoying is that, with the crappy bruins power play, every penalty is pretty much in the Canadiens favor, no matter which team it is on.
The refs were garbage both ways. My most hated call was the call on Nathan Horton in the neutral zone. The quickest whistle of the entire game right there. I haven’t seen so many 5-on-3′s and 4-on-4′s. The Hab’s didn’t “outplay” the B’s. They capitalized on a weak penalty call and then played dump and fall to defense. That and the B’s couldn’t lay a stick on any loose pucks if their lives depended on it; it seems as though the puck would jump or slide away from black and gold sticks.
Spacek turned at the last second, Lucic couldn’t stop, and the result is what happened. I wouldn’t be surprised if it was Spacek’s huge visor that cut him. Did it seem that Spacek came back to the bench much earlier than 15 minutes to anyone else (I heard Jack Edwards say the crowd is cheering because Spacek is back on the bench)? Or is it just me?
In the third period, Johnny Boychuk took a hard hit against the boards, I believe from Kostitsyn, where he could have turned his back and been boarded but he didn’t and got laid out. That’s what you’re suppose to do, but players like Spacek chicken out and still turn their backs like an idiot.
[...] be fair, Lucic’s night was limited to just a little more than seven minutes of ice time because he was unfortunately but correctly ejected for a boarding call on Jaroslav Spacek. But that shouldn’t excuse him for not managing a shot on net, or for Horton [...]
I don’t think Lucic had a choice, Spacek turned and faced the boards, putting himself in harms way. When Lucic decided to make the hit, Spacek was standing sideways to Lucic, and when Spacek saw Lucic going to hit him, he turned and faced the boards, I guess both players are at fault. This happens all the time, the player about to get hit seems to turn away from the hit and put themself into a vulnerable position.
I had no problem with the reffing. I was thinking how could Lucic hurt his team more that just the odd give-a-way? Ah yes. A needless five minute major. An ejection. I thought Montreal might protest since Looch has been one of their better players.I saw him get miffed when he took five minutes to get a shot away only to see it deflected. Frustration makes people do dumb things.
Can’t blame the refs for the Looch hit, but you sure CAN blame them for the rest of the nonesense calls/noncalls…