Marchand Suspended 5 games for clipping. Opinions?

[hockey216]

Agree with idea of suspension although i thought 3 games would have been a little more appropriate. Only Marchand's 2nd offense. We have guys that are hitting people dangerously into the boards from behind and hits to the head that are only getting 2-3 games. 5 games seems a little long...

I uploaded a photo analyzing where the hit occured in my opinion. I tried to slow down the video and pause so i could draw line exactly where knee/thigh was a couple frames before the hit. did the best i could. I believe marchand hit Salo in the thigh, not "at or below the knees". In this case it would not be a violation of rule 44, clipping. Observe the photo at the point if interaction and decide for yourself.

But i do believe it was a somewhat dangerous play. Thats why i would be content with a 3 game suspension. I think 5 games is a little long for a suspension considering it is only Marchand's 2nd offense. but take it for what its worth. I feel the league suspended Marchand more bc Salo got injured than bc of what Marchand did. If Salo wasn't injured it would be a 1-3 game suspension. but i guess it deserves to be taken into consideration.

But summing up my point... i thought judging from the tape that the interaction occured at Salo's thigh area, not "at or below the knees" which is what rule 44 defines illegal as "clipping".

And im surprised the league suspended Marchand for 5 games, but didn't take any action against Vancouver spearing shawn thornton in the throat, and then launching a 6-on-1 attack. The league is OK with people being able to get mugged 6-on-1? and speared? I would have liked them to do something to state that fights cant have 6 guys all beating down 1 guy. That is dangerous. you can get your fingers and face cut by a skate if you're getting beat down by 6 guys. But then again, this canucks team had a player (burrows) that didn't get suspended for biting either... so im not surprised.

As always, i encourage an open and intellectually stimulating debate with solid points and without personal attacks. All opinions are welcome. Please observe the photo and tell whether you thought hit occured at or below the knees, or above the knees. Also comment on length of suspension. Whether you think this merited 5 game suspension. if not, how many games (if any) do you think he should have gotton? 1? 2? 3? 4? 10? season? eternity? encourage some good hockey talk here... especially since the league is trying to clean up the game by cracking down on illegal hits. eager to see what everyone thinks.

[hockey216]

(from bruins.com)

Bruins GM Peter Chiarelli's Statement:

Chiarelli Statement re: Brad Marchand Suspension


Monday, 01.09.2012 / 7:01 PM / News
Boston Bruins
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Statement from Bruins General Manager Peter Chiarelli Regarding Suspension to Brad Marchand

"While we respect the process that the Department of Player Safety took to reach their decision regarding Brad’s hit on Sami Salo, we are very disappointed by their ruling.

"While we understand that the Department of Safety is an evolving entity, it is frustrating that there are clear comparable situations that have not been penalized or sanctioned in the past.

"It is equally disappointing that Brad sought the counsel of the Department this past Fall for an explanation and clarification regarding this type of scenario so as to adjust his game if necessary. He was advised that such an incident was not sanctionable if he was protecting his own safety. Given our feeling that Brad was indeed protecting himself and certainly did not clip the player as he contacted the player nowhere near the knee or quadricep, today’s ruling is not consistent with what the Department of Player Safety communicated to Brad."

[Mike Huntertz]

His past caught up with him,

[DwightShrute]

he deserved it. 5 games is more than fair. Salo has a history of knee problems and that kind of hit could have ended his career.

shit happens, I don't think he meant to injure him but he should sit for a week

[Chalif]

2nd suspension says it all

[D3 Mighty Ducks]

Ya he deserves it. Let him sit for a week to punish him. Love the way he plays he's got a ton of heart and emotion. He just needs to mature a bit more to get to that next level.

[VegasInsider]

As a Bruins fan, I'm fine with a suspension...but 5 games is far too many. I figured his past would catch up with him and Shanahan would make an example, but I was thinking 1-2 games MAX. 5 games is ludacris. It was a borderline low hit in a bang-bang play.

My biggest problem with the suspension is the inconsistency by the NHL...no one knows what is going to be suspendable and what isn't.

[hockey216]

Does anyone have an opinion on where the hit occured?

i uploaded a photo in initial post. to me it looked like it was at Salo's thighs, not his knees. if this is the case, it would be a legal hit and not inviolation of rule 44 against clipping, as clipping penalizes hits "at or below the knees".

[1sob]

border line hit?? look at rome hitting horton that was a clean
hit and he gets 4 game .. Is that justified?? all you guys are boston homers

[apeterlives]

Protect the players and send a message, in the short term this is bad for Boston but it is good for the league, after all they need to protect their investments--------besides what does boston have to worry about 5 games for anyway? Boston is still a solid team, NHL sends a stronger message

[hockey216]

border line hit?? look at rome hitting horton that was a clean
hit and he gets 4 game .. Is that justified?? all you guys are boston homers

The Rome hit was late, and it was from the blindside. You attack boston fans for suggesting 3 games would be more appropriate, but then you support late blindside hits, 6-on-1 jumping of a defenseless player, and biting other players' fingers?


...and you call us biased?

[jrs362]

I'm not surprised he was suspended. However, I think 5 is way to many. Why? Because the same type of hits have occured within the last couple of years and gone unpenalized, and without suspension. Regardless of injury or not, the punishment for this hit has been inconsistent to say the least. This is the NHL's way of making an example of someone. Lucic and Marchand were recipients of the same type of hits by Vancouver players last year, and there was no discipline. Lucic and Marchand have also said they had no problem with the hits they received. Yet, because they were not injured on the hits, there was no punishment.

The NHL has made great steps in dealing out punishment for infractions this year, but they need to make it a hard line and take out any subjectivity. they need to disregard whether a hit results in an injury or whether there was any intent.

It should come down to if you break this rule, you sit for x games. Break that rule, sit for y games. Break the same rule again and you sit for the original period of time, plus an additional # of games.

[DennisGreen]

I expected 2-3 but 5 is reasonable. I totally forgot he did the same shit to Sedin in the finals last year. Really is a cowardly move and he needs to learn to take a hit like a man. I mean he did it to Salo and Sedin, two guys notorious for soft play and lack of physical play.

[mike-dub]

5 games may seem a bit too much, but marchand is on a slippery slope heading down towards becoming the new matt cooke-talking sht, suspensions, fines, attacking other teams key players(remember cookes hit on savard?).its only marchands 3rd season and hes actin like hes been in the league for years. the leagues tryin to get rid of this kind of play that doesnt do anything for the game and marchand needs to get the message, but apparently its not getting through because as he says,

"...For anyone that wants to call me someone who takes cheap shots, they can say what they want. It doesn't affect me. I don't care what people who don't know me and I don't know them and they have no meaning to me, I don't care what they say. I don't really care what my reputation is. I just want to play. I'm doing this as my job. I love this team. I'm just trying to be a player and I don't care what my reputation is really. I'm not out there to hurt guys. When I'm out there, I play a hard-nosed game and play hard. If guys are soft and don't like it, then that's fine. I'm not out there to please anybody. I'm out there to do my job."

http://ca.sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nhl-puck-daddy/suspension-brad-marchand-says-don-t-care-reputation-055301318.html

the guy takes out another guy, shows absolutely no remorse but worse goes on to say that he's going to keep playing the same game...well, he wont be for long if he keeps that attitude up. starley cup chanpian for sure

[ghafirian]

The Rome hit was late, and it was from the blindside. You attack boston fans for suggesting 3 games would be more appropriate, but then you support late blindside hits, 6-on-1 jumping of a defenseless player, and biting other players' fingers?


...and you call us biased?

buddy you don't know shit about hockey. if you played hockey competively, you would know not to admire your pass. Romes hit may have been a tad late but theres no chance its from the blindside. Rome got 4 playoff games for this which is an absolute joke. for some reason they decided to change the ruling in the finals and gave Colin Campbells the position to Shanahan. Made no sense to change the rules in the cup finals. hockeys become a pussies game now.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1mKmYWy-gBU

No suspension on this play. Dont admire your pass.

[hockey216]

buddy you don't know shit about hockey. if you played hockey competively, you would know not to admire your pass. Romes hit may have been a tad late but theres no chance its from the blindside. Rome got 4 playoff games for this which is an absolute joke. for some reason they decided to change the ruling in the finals and gave Colin Campbells the position to Shanahan. Made no sense to change the rules in the cup finals. hockeys become a pussies game now.

No suspension on this play. Dont admire your pass.

I know not to admire my pass. I learned that the hard way. Rome was suspended bc his hit was late. Late hits are illegal.

Rome was suspended because he administered a late hit that gave boston's virtually top goal scorer a concussion and ended his playoffs. The hit was late. it was not clean. sure, he shouldnt have admired his pass. but that doesnt give you an excuse to give out late hits.

The stevens hit you showed via youtube was not nearly as late as the rome hit. the stevens hit was at almost the same instant it left the stick. Rome's hit was later. thats why rome was suspended. Shanahan said 2 things were taken into consideration for romes suspension. 1) the timing of the hit and 2) the severity of the injury.

And another reason was that he cut the canucks a huge break by not suspending burrows for the biting. everyone in the world (cept canucks fans) thought burrows should have been suspended for the biting. He cuts them a break.. and what do they do in the very next game? a late hit that gives a concussion to one of boston's top goal scorer.

I'm still waiting to hear your arguments for defending 6-on-1 jumping of a defenseless player, and your arguments defending biting. You say marchand is dirty for ducking and hitting guys right below the buttox... but then you defend late hits that cause concussions, 6-on-1 beatdowns of defenseless players, and biting players' fingers.

and you say "i dont know shit about hockey"?