47 replies to this topic

[ogreslayer]

They can't suspend Ovechkin. NBC and ESPN wouldn't have anyone to talk about.

Incorrect. Eddie O still has the ability to bring up Jonathan Toews every 3 minutes of a broadcast doesn't he?

As to the topic though, I do expect that Ovechkin will at least get 5 games for this but it should be more given his history.

[toby91_ca]

Not my words....which is why I'll put in quotes:

AO should be 3. Subtract 3 because he's AO, but add in 2 of those because of his non-elite status this year, so he doesn't have as much attention on him. Subtract 2 for Shanny idiocy and we're at 0. Add 1 because it was on NBC and we get 1... 1 game.

[Learn2LuvIt]

Ehh, whatever. Pretty much a shoulder to shoulder hit directly on the boards. Big hit, ohhh, yeah. A little late, maybe just a bit. However, it's professional freaking hockey. Getting into the minutia of every big hit just seems like it will ultimately end up changing the game via "new rules". The thing that I noticed, was Michalek immediately looks up at the refs looking for a call. Kind of lame. He got nailed and that's NHL hockey. The way this game was designed, he can always go hit Ovie back, challenge him to a fight, or have one of his teammates settle the score....why do we need someone in the head office to start regulating on ice play. The "prairie justice" element of hockey that has always naturally regulated itself on the ice, has always been something that I love about the game. Just saying.


My link
"It's NHL Hockey!!!...and you're bummed out because you got hit pretty good on the boards....go play intramurals brother!"

Edited by Learn2LuvIt, 23 January 2012 - 11:45 AM.

[toby91_ca]

Ehh, whatever. Pretty much a shoulder to shoulder hit directly on the boards. Big hit, ohhh, yeah. A little late, maybe just a bit. However, it's professional freaking hockey. Getting into the minutia of every big hit just seems like it will ultimately end up changing the game via "new rules". The thing that I noticed, was Michalek immediately looks up at the refs looking for a call. Kind of lame. He got nailed and that's NHL hockey. The way this game was designed, he can always go hit Ovie back, challenge him to a fight, or have one of his teammates settle the score....why do we need someone in the head office to start regulating on ice play. The "prairie justice" element of hockey that has always naturally regulated itself on the ice, has always been something that I love about the game. Just saying.


My link
"It's NHL Hockey!!!...and you're bummed out because you got hit pretty good on the boards....go play intramurals brother!"

Shoulder to shoulder?

[Learn2LuvIt]

Shoulder to shoulder?

Yeah, pretty much. I've watched it a bunch of time in slow-mo...and at the very least...it was a front/shoulder hit and wasn't from behind. NHL hit.

[Drake_Marcus]

Ovechkin's, no. Michalek's, yes (and the Capitals scored on the ensuing PP).

Agreed. Ovi was a few inches from it being shoulder to shoulder contact (not that the same can't be said for any dirty hit). It just looked like he missed and hit Michalek's head. That being said, Ovi deserves whatever suspension they give him. The standard the NHL wants to maintain is that head hits are unacceptable regardless of intention.

I'd classify Ovechkin's hit as reckless and Michalek's as dirty. Ovi's a force of nature when he gets going and this type of stuff just happens with him. I wonder if he'd be a more effective player if he went back to being reckless and overly aggressive like he was when he entered the league. He's just not the same player when he tries to rein himself in.

Edited by Drake_Marcus, 23 January 2012 - 01:33 PM.

[toby91_ca]

Yeah, pretty much. I've watched it a bunch of time in slow-mo...and at the very least...it was a front/shoulder hit and wasn't from behind. NHL hit.

Whether it was from behind or not is irrelevant. He hit him in the head with his shoulder, while leaving his feet to make the hit....I'm not sure how you can consider that a clean hit.

Even 5 years ago, that wouldn't have been a clean hit due to him leaving his feet.

[Learn2LuvIt]

I get your point. I didn't say it was clean, I'm just saying that it wasn't dirty. I don't think Ovie primary point of contact in this case was the head...more of the upper shoulder/chest which lead to his head slamming back. Nor do I believe he was aiming for Michalek's head.

Btw...(this coming from one of his biggest fans/supporters) if you're judging whether or not a player leaves his feet as an indication of clean vs. dirty hit, you'd better start going back and re-classifying a good number of Kronners hits because he often leaves his feet (most cases...just a little ). This however does not sway my support and overall like for Kronners game, because I personally look at just more than leaving the feet to gauge whether or not a hit was dirty (e.g. what angle was the hitter coming from, what position was the hittee in, was it open ice or on the boards, did the hittee see the hit coming, were elbows up, was the hitter aiming for hittee's head, etc...).

All in all though, it's professional hockey and non perfect hits are a part of the game. Having the league office dissect every big hit I just see as being a slippery slope to changing the game I (we!) love. I see your point though

[toby91_ca]

I get your point. I didn't say it was clean, I'm just saying that it wasn't dirty. I don't think Ovie primary point of contact in this case was the head...more of the upper shoulder/chest which lead to his head slamming back. Nor do I believe he was aiming for Michalek's head.

Btw...(this coming from one of his biggest fans/supporters) if you're judging whether or not a player leaves his feet as an indication of clean vs. dirty hit, you'd better start going back and re-classifying a good number of Kronners hits because he often leaves his feet (most cases...just a little ). This however does not sway my support and overall like for Kronners game, because I personally look at just more than leaving the feet to gauge whether or not a hit was dirty (e.g. what angle was the hitter coming from, what position was the hittee in, was it open ice or on the boards, did the hittee see the hit coming, were elbows up, was the hitter aiming for hittee's head, etc...).

All in all though, it's professional hockey and non perfect hits are a part of the game. Having the league office dissect every big hit I just see as being a slippery slope to changing the game I (we!) love. I see your point though

Oh, okay. I do think Ovechkin is more "reckless" than "dirty", but he does have his moments.

[Tim.D]

Michalek gets nothing. What does this mean for Ovie?

Bob McKenzie:

PIT has been told no fine and no suspension for Michalek after hearing with Shanahan.

[haroldsnepsts]

I get your point. I didn't say it was clean, I'm just saying that it wasn't dirty. I don't think Ovie primary point of contact in this case was the head...more of the upper shoulder/chest which lead to his head slamming back. Nor do I believe he was aiming for Michalek's head.

Btw...(this coming from one of his biggest fans/supporters) if you're judging whether or not a player leaves his feet as an indication of clean vs. dirty hit, you'd better start going back and re-classifying a good number of Kronners hits because he often leaves his feet (most cases...just a little ). This however does not sway my support and overall like for Kronners game, because I personally look at just more than leaving the feet to gauge whether or not a hit was dirty (e.g. what angle was the hitter coming from, what position was the hittee in, was it open ice or on the boards, did the hittee see the hit coming, were elbows up, was the hitter aiming for hittee's head, etc...).

All in all though, it's professional hockey and non perfect hits are a part of the game. Having the league office dissect every big hit I just see as being a slippery slope to changing the game I (we!) love. I see your point though

I know I've beat this drum before but I think the league needs to bring hitting back to how guys used to do it, without the "exploding up" because that's inevitably going to direct the energy towards a player's head. And I'm including many of Kronwall's hits in this category. Players didn't used to hit this way, but leaping up slowly became acceptable, when it probably should be a charge.

It's not going to take hitting from the game. It's how it used to be done. Stevens and many other big hitters like Vladdy to name another, crushed guys without leaping at all. And Kronner could still Kronwall guys without leaping like that. He catches them with their head down when he sneaks in from the blueline, that's not going to change. It'll just help make sure he hits them in the chest and not the head.

As for Ovie, when a player has as many reckless plays as he has, to me it crosses into being a dirty player.

[drwscc]

Michalek gets nothing. What does this mean for Ovie?

Bob McKenzie:

If Michalek gets nothing, Ovechkin should get nothing as well. Michalek's was worse IMO

[RedWingsRox]

I'm surprised that neither got suspension.

Correction, Ovie gets 3

Edited by RedWingsRox, 23 January 2012 - 07:30 PM.

[toby91_ca]

If Michalek gets nothing, Ovechkin should get nothing as well. Michalek's was worse IMO

Matter of opinion I guess. There wasn't much force at all behind Michalek's hit as compared to Ovechkin's. Two different plays, so hard to compare. The other thing to consider is that Ovechkin is a repeat offender.

A somewhat similar hit to Ovechkin's I thought was Sutton's hit on Ponikarovsky. Sutton got 8 games for that. Big difference may be that Sutton got his arms up into Poni's head though.

I guess the other thing to think about is that the ruling on Ovechkin isn't complete yet....maybe it is the tougher decision.

[FinRedWing]

Ovie gets 3 games.

[haroldsnepsts]

Shanny's explanation

[dropkickshanahans]

i thought he just had a couple 1 and 2 gamers due to multiple game misconducts but i could be mistaken...

I can't remember. I thought a couple years ago he got 10 games for a knee on knee hit. I remember the media made it sound like he was going to jail for life. I'm probably wrong, though.

[edicius]

I guess Bettman had a talk with Shanny.

"Brendan, you won't be suspending Michalek."
"Why not? I thought that one was pretty cut and dry - an elbow with the principal point of contact being the head."
"No, you're not going to suspend him."
"But why-?"
"The Penguins have too many injuries right now to deal with a suspension. Michalek will not be suspended. Not if you value your job."
"Well, Ovechkin has a hearing later today and his hit wasn't even close to Michalek's. So if I can't suspend Michalek, reason would stand that-"
"No, f*** Ovechkin. He gets suspended."
"Wait...what?"
"Do yourf****** job, Brendan. The way I tell you to."

If what Ovechkin did warrants three games (even as a "repeat offender"), neglecting to give Michalek anything for a much more egregious hit stinks of tampering on Bettman and Campbell's part. I refuse to believe that Shanahan is thatf****** blind.

[Tim.D]

He's actually not a repeat offender by how it is defined in the rule book; the last offense has to be within the last 18 months.

[LeftWinger]

I guess Bettman had a talk with Shanny.

"Brendan, you won't be suspending Michalek."
"Why not? I thought that one was pretty cut and dry - an elbow with the principal point of contact being the head."
"No, you're not going to suspend him."
"But why-?"
"The Penguins have too many injuries right now to deal with a suspension. Michalek will not be suspended. Not if you value your job."
"Well, Ovechkin has a hearing later today and his hit wasn't even close to Michalek's. So if I can't suspend Michalek, reason would stand that-"
"No, f*** Ovechkin. He gets suspended."
"Wait...what?"
"Do yourf****** job, Brendan. The way I tell you to."

If what Ovechkin did warrants three games (even as a "repeat offender"), neglecting to give Michalek anything for a much more egregious hit stinks of tampering on Bettman and Campbell's part. I refuse to believe that Shanahan is thatf****** blind.

Sounds much like our Country works....