Actually, that idiot Ruutu from Carolina just got a fine for pretty much the same thing.

I’m not calling for a lifetime ban, but the fact that it’s not suspended is an absolute joke when taking into account the fact that a) lesser hits have gone punished and b) they talk about trying to end this sort of behavior.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, if they want to crack down on these hits, they need to dole out a lengthy suspension when there is no injury. It’s pointless to wait for a (another) player to be seriously injured to crack down. The best way is to start when there is no injury, such as this one. I have no doubt that if Green is hurt more than a cut and a black eye that Koci sits for a few games. Colon Campbell is a complete fucking (sorry for the language, but he pisses me off SO much) joke. The single best way to improve the league is to get rid of that clown and get someone who knows what the fuck (once again, sorry) he’s doing.

P.S. My anger isn’t because the Caps were involved. It’s cause Colon Campbell sucks more than a Thai Hooker.

and while I’m being all contrary and stuff, I’d also like to point out that Koci absolutely destroyed John Erskine in the subsequent fine. we’ve been complaining all year that he’s a terrible fighter, but he showed some talent there against a 6’4 defenseman with over 100 pro fights

i think it deserved a one-gamer, honestly. he had time to avoid the hit or at least change the placing of the hit (does that wording make sense?? i’m delusional right now, you know) once Green turned his back. for that, one would be reasonable.

As I said in another thread, one of the two needs to go- either the instigator or goons. If your goon can’t fight the guy responsible for a cheap hit because of the instigator, and can only fight the other teams goon, it really is kinda pointless. I like fighting, and I think it does go a ways to deter cheap behavior. But only when the cheap player is held accountable, and not his teams goon.

can. worms. opened.

fwiw, i go back and forth on that one.

how would that have changed anything? The instigator rule didn’t stop Erskine from trying to dole out justice.

Could not agree more. The point of fighting in the NHL is to keep people honest, and the instigator completely stops that.

and I find myself nearly in shock for not only typing this, but recing the post.

The majority of my early exposure to hockey was European, so no fighting and lots of open, fast skating, skill based hockey. Great stuff. Love it, always will.

The fighting almost always seemed to get in the way of the skating to me, though the North American game definitely has a much greater grinding aspect to it, which I’ve learned to appreciate. I like college hockey a lot because of the lack of fighting, though CHL hockey, could I watch it more easily and with more regularity, would likely temper my fervor on that point.

What has put me over the edge, especially recently is the progressively poor quality of officiating in the NHL. Look, this is a very fast game played by very big, very fast, very tough guys, so one can’t reasonably expect the officials to get it right all of the time. I’m also not in favor of turning the league into an NFL style snooze fest with 57 minutes of downtime for every 5 seconds of action. That being said, the officiating, especially this year, JUST. PLAIN. SUCKS. Like Trailer Arnason on your top line sucks.

If you’re going to ditch fighting and/or tell players “you won’t deal with this (instigator, 3rd man in, etc.), we will”, then you’ve got to show some semblance of capacity to do so, both on the ice and post factum. That is not forthcoming and there is no sign whatsoever of that changing. I’ve also come to believe that elimination of these rules (instigator, 3rd man in) will even the field and let the guys play. I’m not looking to go to a fight and have a hockey game break out, but I am sick to Goddamned death of the diving, the douchebaggery perpetrated with no regard whatsoever for the consequences (so insignificant as they might currently be) and the staged horseshit that currently passes for “fighting” in the league, that something’s gotta give.

I have less than zero faith in the capacity of the league to protect the players and the integrity of the game. If there is a fear that Highlander is gonna crush you if you fuck with Dutchy, I think that will do better than the league can or will.

I’d like to think they don’t considering the Campbell has never included that in the criteria for whether or not a hit is suspended. But I’d be foolish to try and find any consistency or logic in the things that are done by that man.

That’s what I’m thinking…because it’s a 5’er there was wiggle room, if he got a game for boarding, that would mean it was a head hit.

Don’t think it would have made a difference.

This is probably expecting too much from guys that are moving so fast, but the purpose of the hit should be considered when assessing these “dirty” plays. Is the hitter trying to play the puck or is he just trying to knock out an opposing player? Examples to illustrate my point:

1. Both teams are deep in the Avalanche zone. Green has the puck along the boards behind Anderson, but Hannan and Foote are low and close enough to scoop it up if Green loses control. Koci skates in and hits Green hard, with the intention of knocking the puck loose so his D can clear it.

2. The puck is deep in the Capitals’ zone, and only a couple of Avalanche players are on the forecheck. Green has the puck behind Theodore, with no other Avalanche players around him. If he loses the puck, it will be scooped up by another Capitals defenseman or his goalie. Koci skates in and hits Green hard, with no intention to steal the puck and try to score on his own.

The two situations are drastically different. The second scenario is actually what happened, and clearly indicates that Koci was making no effort to play the puck at all. His sole intention was to cream Green from behind and take him out of the game. His actions would have been excusable (but still boarding) had scenario one been the case, in my opinion.

I think the league messed up here. A one game suspension would have been appropriate.