Draper says: Tootoo intentionally stepped on my back

[Frozen-Man 144]

Red Wings forward Kris Draper said Nashville's Jordin Tootoo intentionally stepped on his back when both were going for a puck along the boards in Game 4 of their first-round series.

"Anything he does isn't an accident, plain and simple," Draper said Friday before Game 5 in Detroit.

Tootoo wasn't called for a penalty and Draper wasn't injured during the sequence in question Wednesday night in the Predators' series-evening win over Detroit.

"I was just trying to get out of the way," Tootoo said. "He was in a vulnerable position. I'm a straight-up guy, I would never intend to do something like that."

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/hock...o.ap/index.html

(I added the bold to Tootoo's claim because whether or not he meant to step on Draper that statement is no where near true about him in general and just made me laugh.)

BTW - Here is the video of the what Draper was talking about - take it for what you will.

Edited April 19, 2008 by Frozen-Man

[Vincanni 1]

Beat me to it, but yeah I saw this article cross-posted on Yahoo! Figured anyone who has the ability to should "Buzz it up" considering the more recognition this gets the better.

I'm fairly split on the issue, seemed like if he wanted to he could have easily avoided him even if it'd cost him a step, if not intentional it's still incredibly reckless. But I honestly don't think he would be dumb enough to do such a thing though this is the player that allegedly bit someone during a game.

[Wings_Dynasty 267]

http://www.letsgowings.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=49584

[EuroTwinLove40 0]

"Anything he does isn't an accident, plain and simple," Draper said Friday before Game 5 in Detroit.

Hmmm, that's an awfully bold statement to make, i guess not unfounded though.

[edicius 3,269]

As much as I hate Tootoo...it does just look like he stumbled.

[Stevie4Pres 0]

Straight up guy huh? I guess Robidas was just in a vulnerable position.

[SpiritFan 37]

As much as I hate Tootoo...it does just look like he stumbled.

As much as I hate him as well, I would have to agree... did not seem like he intentionally did it, just looked like he stumbled a bit going for the puck. Hate to say it, but I let Tootoo off the hook on this one..... but he's still a ******.

[barabbas16 499]

Do I think it was terrible? No. This is far fromt he worst thing Tootoo has done.

Do I think it should have been a penalty? Yes. I don't think you can have something be a penalty in one situation and not another. A hook is a hook. A high stick is a high stick. And if you stepped on somebody you freakin stepped on them. It doesn't matter if you know you stick hit someone in the face...it's a penalty. Tootoo should have been in the box intentional or not imo.

[gcom007 1,465]

This new focus on "stomping" or "stepping" is really interesting to me. Plays like this can be really ambiguous. Maybe it was an accident, maybe it was on purpose. When you spend your life on skates, you can make anything look like an accident, so who knows? I just don't know what to say. I don't think any of these yet claimed stomps this year (Simon, Pronger, Tootoo) have been near as awful as people are making them out to be though. There's a lot of hype involved I think, though at the same time, if you don't take a stand on them and down the line someone really does get seriously hurt, then you've made a bad decision. Weird issue...