Lilja Hit

[Donaldjr2448 43]

I personally think that was a BS call. Lilja never left his feet, maybe possibly was a bit high with the elbow, but the Blues player was falling down, what is Lilja suppose to do in that situation?? If you got a guy lined up to hit, you can't just stop on a dime!!

These refs have to stop guessing on plays like this just because it "looked bad".

So here is my question, Will Lilja be suspended?? Seems like the league was busy handing out Suspensions today!!

thoughts!!!

[Drake_Marcus 890]

It deserved a penalty, but the 5 minute was very arguable. The misconduct was a joke. The only argument they had was his elbow on the follow through. It looked like a 100% clean hit to me aside from the little extra follow through to the back of the head at the end there. I can see giving him a penalty for that move, but certainly not a boarding + a misconduct.

Edited February 3, 2009 by Drake_Marcus

[GMRwings1983 8,803]

Bad call. The referees in the superbowl did a better job than that.

[Earthhuman 8]

Water under the bridge.

[NEpats1028 1]

i'd say a 5 minute major is good enough. Backes wasn't seriously hurt, he wasn't cut or anything. You see much, much worse today that doesn't get called. If he gets suspended, i might blow a gasket...

However with Bettman, im sort of expecting it.

[Lilja 0]

Lilja nailed Backes? Ive had dreams of seeing that and I missed it!

[YoungGuns1340 1]

Water under the bridge.

Maybe, but with the Wings PKing as it, they really can't afford to lose Lilja to an unwarranted suspension, even for a game.

[Yzersyukstromberg 0]

The penalty was well deserved, and unfortunately, once they issue a 5 minute major for boarding, the game misconduct is mandatory. That's not a decision the ref gets to make. It ties directly into the major penalty.

Tough situation, but it happened, and at least they only allowed 1 goal in the 5 minutes of power play time.

Good thing also that Backes wasn't seriously injured, or Andreas might also be facing a suspension...

[zaxx 0]

Have you ever played hockey and been hit from behind or even ridden hard into the boards from behind. The Lilja hit pissed me off as well but I was mad at Lilja. Undisciplined, unacceptable, and out of line is how I explain his behavior. It was a stupid thing to do and if he is not suspended I would hope Uncle Mike would bench his ass. Even if it was a mistake it was not) he needs to be reminded of why that is wrong.

I would not be surprised if a suspension follows, he picked up speed riding the guy into the boards. Lilja knew that the guys back was there and he sped up to really nail him, trying to be aggressive. If they were closer to the boards it would have been fine, but five feet from the boards is a career ending zone when hit from behind. I am glad the refs did what they did and I hope I never see Lemieux style B.S. from my Wings again.

[Wings_Rule_1010 4]

I absolutely agree it was a penalty. But five minutes? Come on. There was nothing intentionally malicious about it. Honestly, I can't recall the last time I saw a five minute game misconduct for hitting from behind (maybe Draper years ago, I think). That is something that I see on a daily basis in the CCHA, but not the NHL. If Lilja is suspended it would be a joke. The guy has no history of such and it wasn't particuarly dirty.

Edited February 3, 2009 by Wings_Rule_1010

[Blueliner 69]

Have you ever played hockey and been hit from behind or even ridden hard into the boards from behind. The Lilja hit pissed me off as well but I was mad at Lilja. Undisciplined, unacceptable, and out of line is how I explain his behavior. It was a stupid thing to do and if he is not suspended I would hope Uncle Mike would bench his ass. Even if it was a mistake it was not) he needs to be reminded of why that is wrong.

I would not be surprised if a suspension follows, he picked up speed riding the guy into the boards. Lilja knew that the guys back was there and he sped up to really nail him, trying to be aggressive. If they were closer to the boards it would have been fine, but five feet from the boards is a career ending zone when hit from behind. I am glad the refs did what they did and I hope I never see Lemieux style B.S. from my Wings again.

Come on, man. The man made a mistake. He didn't try to hurt the player. I think a grown man that has played hockey all his life knows that it's wrong to hit someone from behind. These things are bound to happen when players are moving as fast as they are. It's unfortunate that these things happen, but they do. He won't be suspended, fined or benched. It was an accident and I'm sure Lilja is sorry that it happened.

[Yzersyukstromberg 0]

Come on, man. The man made a mistake. He didn't try to hurt the player. I think a grown man that has played hockey all his life knows that it's wrong to hit someone from behind. These things are bound to happen when players are moving as fast as they are. It's unfortunate that these things happen, but they do. He won't be suspended, fined or benched. It was an accident and I'm sure Lilja is sorry that it happened.

You're right on one thing, he won't be benched, or fined. But don't be surprised if he gets a suspension. The one thing that might save him is the fact that Backes escaped injury on the play, but Gauthier from the Kings just earned himself a 5-game suspension today on a dirty hit the other day (elbow to the head). The league disciplinarians will definitely have a look at the play, and when that happens, there's always a chance they'll dole out a suspension. At most, I'd say he gets 1 game. I don't think he deserves it, as he already paid the price with a 5-minute major and a game misconduct, but I wouldn't be a bit surprised if he gets a short suspension. You are right though, Andreas probably is sorry that he did it...but that doesn't change anything unfortunately.

Edited February 3, 2009 by Yzersyukstromberg

[redwashington2000 42]

Have you ever played hockey and been hit from behind or even ridden hard into the boards from behind. The Lilja hit pissed me off as well but I was mad at Lilja. Undisciplined, unacceptable, and out of line is how I explain his behavior. It was a stupid thing to do and if he is not suspended I would hope Uncle Mike would bench his ass. Even if it was a mistake it was not) he needs to be reminded of why that is wrong.

I would not be surprised if a suspension follows, he picked up speed riding the guy into the boards. Lilja knew that the guys back was there and he sped up to really nail him, trying to be aggressive. If they were closer to the boards it would have been fine, but five feet from the boards is a career ending zone when hit from behind. I am glad the refs did what they did and I hope I never see Lemieux style B.S. from my Wings again.

Moron who who you are rooting for ???

[Louisville 112]

Lilja needs to use the Pronger defense.

It was physics! It was the Canadian media!

Then at the very worst he will only get one game.

[#19forPresident! 1]

I do think it was penalty worthy.....

Misconduct worthy? Suspension worthy?........ I can't say, because the only angle VS would show was up Backes' nostril as he was careening towards the camera.

[seeinred 1,488]

Have you ever played hockey and been hit from behind or even ridden hard into the boards from behind. The Lilja hit pissed me off as well but I was mad at Lilja. Undisciplined, unacceptable, and out of line is how I explain his behavior. It was a stupid thing to do and if he is not suspended I would hope Uncle Mike would bench his ass. Even if it was a mistake it was not) he needs to be reminded of why that is wrong.

I would not be surprised if a suspension follows, he picked up speed riding the guy into the boards. Lilja knew that the guys back was there and he sped up to really nail him, trying to be aggressive. If they were closer to the boards it would have been fine, but five feet from the boards is a career ending zone when hit from behind. I am glad the refs did what they did and I hope I never see Lemieux style B.S. from my Wings again.

I've been hit from behind harder than Lilja hit Backes and I didn't feign injury like that little ***** did. I've also hit people from behind and felt awful about it. It wasn't undisciplined or out of line. These things happen in the heat of battle. It was far from malicious on Lilja's part, and I'm sure the league will take that into account if they decide to take a look at it.

[Holmstrom96 347]

I would have agreed more with a 2 minute penalty for boarding or for elbowing; I think the major was a bit much. They're still letting stuff go. A Red Wing got hit from behind into the boards and there was no call!

I think it was a tough call for the refs, I would agree with a 2 minute call, but if the situation was reversed my bias would be wanting the 5 minute. I think the killer was the follow-through.

I don't think we'll see a suspension out of this.

[SouthernWingsFan 854]

Have you ever played hockey and been hit from behind or even ridden hard into the boards from behind. The Lilja hit pissed me off as well but I was mad at Lilja. Undisciplined, unacceptable, and out of line is how I explain his behavior. It was a stupid thing to do and if he is not suspended I would hope Uncle Mike would bench his ass. Even if it was a mistake it was not) he needs to be reminded of why that is wrong.

I would not be surprised if a suspension follows, he picked up speed riding the guy into the boards. Lilja knew that the guys back was there and he sped up to really nail him, trying to be aggressive. If they were closer to the boards it would have been fine, but five feet from the boards is a career ending zone when hit from behind. I am glad the refs did what they did and I hope I never see Lemieux style B.S. from my Wings again.

Lemieux style B.S.? That's a little too much here I think.

I highly doubt anybody here will argue that a penalty was deserved. 5-minute major is a stretch though.

[PROBIE4PREZ 58]

ya the VS announcers made it sound like Lilja is some renegade badass that looks for blood everytime hes on the ice. I thought I saw Backes helment come off and it made it look as if Lilja elbowed his head into the boards but it was just the helment flying. Honestly it looked as bad as when Lilja got shoved face first into the glass in the Winter Classic and that was pretty harmless

Edited February 3, 2009 by PROBIE4PREZ

[b.shanafan14 733]

I thought it was one of those plays that look a lot worse than its was, especially since the only view Versus would give was face-to-glass-o-vision. To me it looks like the Blues player was already falling towards the glass before Lilja made contact, but its a hard hit to pull out of if you're Lilja. Was it a penalty? I'd say 'yes' just because it looked violent from the refs perspective (I'm assuming, again, thanks Versus). My gripe is the 5 minute major which suggests that extra level of violence and perhaps a bit of intent to injure, neither of which were present in that hit. Thats an everyday, run-of-the-mill 2 minute Boarding call.

My concern is how many times the Wings receive similar hits with no call at all and the fact that you literally have to twist Colin Campbell's arm to get him to suspend Pronger for hits far more malicious. Conspiracy theorists were probably scratching their heads last night, as was I saying to myself "THAT hit??" Now I thought a Game Misconduct meant automatic suspension, which if turns out to be the case, my lid will really flip.

[Mors 201]

Definitely not a game misconduct or suspension worthy...I thought Backes was supposed to be tough.

[dat's sick 1,002]

Haven't seen a good enough replay to say for sure yet..

[stactum 4]

I think it's not suspension worthy.

The bad thing was that Versus didn't show it for a different angle, the only view I saw was from the first row so it's hard to tell.

[Opie 308]

Haven't seen a good enough replay to say for sure yet..

This!

Versus' angle only showed the last half second of that hit, where is the center ice or opposite ice feed?

I thought AO deserved at least a game for his hit earlier in the year, but I could make that judgment because I could see the whole 5-8 seconds before contact. This is a bang bang replay and you don't see Lilja until Backes starts sliding down boards.

Insufficient evidence!

[esteef 2,679]

Lilja needs to use the Pronger defense.

It was physics! It was the Canadian media!

Then at the very worst he will only get one game.

I must've been dozing on the couch cause I missed the hit too. Clip anyone?

esteef