All Habs Headlines: Tuesday November 15, 2011
On this day in hockey history… 2002 – Patrick Roy became the NHL career leader in minutes played, passing Terry Sawchuk as the Avalanche lost 4-2 to the Stars at Dallas.
OFF-DAY: All Habs Headlines
► Habs injury woes: The Canadiens were without Hal Gill on Monday night who was suffering from the flu. During the game Jaroslav Spacek was added to the sick bay after taking a big hit from Sabres’ forward Paul Gaustad.
“We only got five defenseman. Well, Gill is sick. I’m not sure he’ll be ready for Wednesday. Spacek I don’t think will be [ready to play] Wednesday for sure.” — Habs head coach Jacques Martin
Martin hinted that the injuries on defense would necessitate a call-up from Hamilton. The most likely candidate is Bulldogs defenseman Frederic St. Denis.
Andreas Engqvist, fresh from a Hamilton call-up himself was also injured in Monday’s game.
► Shanahan clears Lucic: The hockey world was in an uproar on Monday after NHL disciplinarian Brendan Shanahan determined that supplementary discipline would not be assessed to Bruins forward Milan Lucic for running over Sabres’ goaltender Ryan Miller on Saturday night. Miller is out indefinitely with a concussion.
“I did have some questions for Milan and I wanted to hear directly from him. They were regarding his intent; at what point did he know there was going to be a collision; and whether or not he felt he had the time to avoid the collision. I was satisfied with his answers.” — Brendan Shanahan
Lucic offered his explanation of the incident to the media, presumably similar to what he told Shanahan. “I pushed the puck a little too far ahead of me and started skating after the puck as hard as I could. I looked up and [Miller] was still in the net, then when I looked down at the puck, I continued on and the next thing I look up and he’s coming out full speed at me. Obviously, it was a hard collision and I did everything I could to brace myself,’’ said Lucic with a disingenuous smirk.
The video evidence seems to contradict Lucic’s version of events. Players also disputed his assertions. “He had all the time in the world to stop or change his angle,” said Vancouver’s Daniel Sedin. “That should never happen and it wasn’t fun to watch.”
►Shanahan critical of Sabres: Sabres coach Lindy Ruff was puzzled that Milan Lucic was not suspended by the NHL and was blunt in his assessment about what message was delivered by the league in making the decision.
“It just means that teams will be to able do exactly what Lucic did. Your goaltender can play the puck, we can run him over, we can hurt him and all you get is a two-minute minor penalty. That is essentially what that means — You can concuss the other team’s goalkeeper … it means it’s fair game on goaltenders again.” — Lindy Ruff
With no supplementary discipline, Lucic received a two-minute minor penalty for the controversial hit, and injuring the Sabres goaltender. That’s the same punishment Erik Cole received for brushing past Jonas Enroth in overtime of Monday night’s game against the Sabres. While Cole’s infraction was a dumb penalty to take, Lucic was allowed to deliver a dangerous hit with an apparent intent to injure yet was not held accountable.
Shanahan was more critical of the Sabres than Lucic.
“I think Buffalo’s comments are irresponsible to suggest that it’s open season. I will have this warning for players: `It’s not. If you run a goalie you’re going to find yourself in the same situation that Lucic was today, you’re going to have to explain yourself and you don’t explain it sufficiently, and if I don’t buy it, you’re going to be suspended.”‘ — Brendan Shanahan
Read more: Shanahan: Sabres reaction to Lucic decision irresponsible
► Shanahan is wrong says Fraser: Former NHL referee Kerry Fraser said Monday that Brendan Shanahan “really missed this call and has sent the wrong message” in his decision to clear Bruins’ forward Milan Lucic. Fraser also believes that Sabres’ coach Lindy Ruff “has every right to call foul on this non-suspension.”
Fraser suggests that the correct call on the play would have been a 5-minute major penalty on Lucic for charging and a two-game suspension.
This was not a race to a loose puck where a collision resulted through a tie in the footrace. This was not “incidental contact” nor was any effort, let alone a “reasonable effort” made by Milan Lucic to avoid Ryan Miller after the goalkeeper released the puck.
This was very clearly a hard shoulder body check finished with elevated hands, delivered by an attacking forward on a goalie that did not expect to be hit under protection of the playing rules. Any other player would expect to be hit on the finish of a check – a goalkeeper does not. I deem it a dangerous play and it creates an even more dangerous precedent.
In my judgment this open-ice check on the goalie deserved more than a 2 minute minor penalty. A major for charging would be the most appropriate penalty for this type hit on a goalkeeper. (A game misconduct would only be added if an injury resulted to the face or head of Miller. He remained in the game for a period of time so this would be impossible for the referee to ascertain when the penalty assessment was made.)
The end result of the body check was a concussion to the Sabres goalkeeper; arguably their best and most important player on the team.
A strong message should be been sent throughout the hockey community with the assessment of a two (2) game suspension to Milan Lucic through supplementary discipline.
Read the full text: Fraser: Shanahan missed the call and sent the wrong message
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