i really don’t understand how you can’t see that he DID lead w/his elbow…

i already posted a rather lengthy opinion a couple of messages ago…

rather rehash, i believe the kings just don’t need this…

BS suspension. Marleau’s head and face were low begging to get hit. I wonder if Kings top players will get this type of protection when we reach that elite level. Thornton and those commentators can suck it.

Even the SJS announcer called it a ‘Shoulder Hit’. That was such a clean check. Great timing by goat, simply met him in the corner.

Here’s a thought, if Dustin Brown makes this hit, does he get suspended??? Absolutely not.

Again, crappy politics continue to ruin the game of hockey. I applaud Goat for not going into his shell after the 5 game suspension and he got screwed for making a CLEAN, BEAUTIFULLY EXECUTED hit. Colin Campbell is as bad as his referees are.

Pathetic.

kevinC…

well…i’m not blind…

he did have his elbow high…regardless of marleau’s position…which is really irrelevant…

i love physical hockey…i love hard checks to the boards…but…whether it’s leading with an elbow or knee…you just can’t do it that way…the only thing gauthier did wrong was have his elbow higher than his shoulder…it was not tucked in at all…

oh yeah…i didn’t make the call…and i did see the play live as it happened and thought instantly that it might be in question…and did not replay the tape over and over again…

so there…

This is a total croc.

That is a standard check in the NHL. Guy is low bracing for the hit and gets crunched buy the bigger man.

Period.

Kevin C & Variable….

Hey guys, Variable’s right. Gauthier needs to shrink down a couple inches so when he hits pusscakes like Marleau he won’t make contact with the head.

Marleau simply got scared, ducked, and became a pancake. I hate the Sharks, and I hate crybaby “superstars” who cry when they get flattened out. And the Ducks can suck it too.

Classic.. Well…Maybe that is your problem.

Watch the tape and tell me that his elbow is higher than his shoulder.

If you still think the same thing then maybe you need to take a class on the Human Anatomy!

Notice that the official who is nearest to the hit, right in the corner, does not raise his hand to call the penalty? The penalty was called from the trailing official behind the play.

Ridiculous that it was a penalty and even more ridiculous to suspend Gauthier. Marleau lowered his shoulder in an attempt to embrace the hit, thus putting himself in a more vulnerable position as he lowered himself to take the brunt of the hit against his upper body/head region.

It was a clean hit. The NHL is taking hitting out of the game and they are using Gauthier as the fallboy to do it. This is a crackdown call. Sure the hit was a penalty (I guess… Even though it looked like Marleau touched the puck), but since when has little minor interference penalties been suspensions? If you look at the stills, the only part of Gauthier’s jersey that connected to marleaus head is all white, which is his upper arm. His elbow was tucked and it was a pure hockey hit all the way. The NHL is a mockery of its former self.

This is getting ridiculous. It’s called HOCKEY! There’s supposed to be CHECKING in the game, right? This kind of pansy game is being tolerated and even encouraged because the fans don’t speak up. We have to tell the NHL (No Hitting League) that THIS is not hockey. Someone bring our game back please.

Variable,

I tend to agree with you and enjoy your posts, but I don’t see much room for opinion here.

Aside from the fact that it is physically impossible to have your elbow above the shoulder while ones arm is tucked in, the league totally bypasses player accountability for protecting themselves with a suspension like this.

I even read on Marluea’s face afterwards that he knew he made a dumb decision.

Where’s the suspensions for Phanuef, ovechkin, Crosby, Jovo? Phanuef throws an elbow right into Andrew Ebbets face and gets no suspension, not even a minor I believe. Ovechkin leaves his feet on hits frequently, but the NHL is terrified to suspend their stars.

As others have said, it makes the NHL look like a joke. You don’t stop the Gauthiers of the world from being worried about dangerous hits by only suspending lesser players, you put a stop to it by sacking up and taking a stand on the infractions themselves, regardless of who they come from. Suspend Phanuef 5 games and you’ll see defensemen like Gauthier take notice.

It can’t be “if you have a bad reputation you get harsher call”. That’s total BS. It has to be “it doesn’t who you are, a dirty player with a bad rep, a superstar moneymaker marquee player, or a timid 5’9″ very clean player who made a bonehead hit, every recieves the same punishment for hitting players in the head.”

This is NOT the way the league operates, its obvious, and it makes no one take them seriously.

Back to accountability, unless the goal is to pussify the game and turn it into basketball where physical contact is looked down upon, you have to hold players who make poor decisions and put themselves in unneccesarily dangerous positions responsible for themselves. If Marluea had braced himself, reacted quicker, or kept his head up and his feet moving, that’s a highlite reel hit. Its a more dangerous equivalent of diving imo. I don’t think they should penalize Marluea or anything, but the only punishment from that hit should be Marluea’s dizziness. This is a mans sport and the league made a sissy call.

Again, I wouldn’t be as upset if not for the extreme and obvious and seemingly concious inconsistency with handing out suspensions based not on infractions but rather reputation.

Also, I read somewhere that the Kings lose the roster spot for 2 games and can’t make a call-up. Is this true Rich?

Damnit, thought I was signed in. Anonymous post above at 1:55p is me.

ovechkin is a pretty clean hitter.

and repeat offenders DO deserve to be punished more harshly and scrutinized more closely. without question. does dustin brown get suspended for that hit? absolutely not. but he’s *never* been in any trouble with the league before. gauthier had his second questionable hit in like 5 games played and he has a pretty lengthy rap sheet. was it a clean hit? close. it was still dangerous. you CAN adjust on the fly, most hitters do it.

As for the icing call, that is a new rule this year, that you can only play the puck on an icing call, not the body, so fine, 2 minutes for interference. That’s all that should have been.

Ovechkin is a pretty clean hitter in general, but that doesn’t mean he hasn’t made some questionable hits. He just gets the benefit of the doubt because he’s a star.

As for Phanuef, I just can’t figure it out. Its like the league purposely ignores him and lets him do whatever he wants. If we compare him to Goat, I’ve seen 5 games worth of suspensions for Phanuef just in the 3 Calgary games I’ve watched this season. Its as if whoever EA decides to plaster all over their covers gets a free pass. Unnacceptable. That’s what bothers me the most. Its a principle thing, and the league tries to cite principle in suspensions like these, but breaks those principles when it behooves them. Goat missing 2 or 5 games means nothing to the larger fanbase, but god forbid they not have Ovechkin or Phanuef to draw the crowds for a couple of games.

I don’t know, maybe I’m overreacting, but this seems to be a consistent inconsistency for the league and this season its bothering me more than others because we keep getting the short end of the stick on these calls.

If the league would just let the players who can not take a hit wear a pink vest, then we would be better able to understand the calls.

Lame call. Gauthier’s made some illegal hits this season but that wasn’t one of them.

The best part of this video is Kopitar dropping the gloves and grabbing Blake!!

Variable…Marleau’s position means EVERYTHING.

If a skater skates in with his head down, and his head runs into another players elbow, without that player leading with the elbow (as is the case here), then who’s fault is it?

The skater getting hit.

At some point, the hitee needs to take responsibility for their position on the ice just as much as the hitter does.

Now, Bob and Jim stated that Hextall told them the suspension was due to the league trying to crack down on hits in an icing situation. If so…that makes some sense, as Gauthier didn’t make any effort to play the puck. Last year, it would have been fine, but not this year.

Hi there, cheers for a fantastic article, a truly great start for the new year, keep up the fantastic work, Louise.

Hello there, thank you for this excellent article, a really great start to the 2010, keep up the great work, Sue.

Hi, cheers for the great article, a truly great start to the 2010, keep up the wonderful work, Pat.

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