The Boston Bruins will not be losing Taylor Hall for any length of time after his punch on Toronto Maple Leafs defenseman Ilya Lyubushkin last night. Though Lyubushkin left the game with an injury and did not return, Hall has been issued a $5,000 fine–the maximum amount under the current CBA–instead of any further supplementary discipline. Meanwhile, the Nashville Predators won’t lose star rookie Tanner Jeannot either, as he was given a $2,000 fine for kneeing Ottawa Senators captain Brady Tkachuk.
Hall was retaliating for a hit from Lybushkin that some considered dangerous, though it did not draw a penalty from officials. The Bruins forward would score later in the game to make it 6-4, but ultimately end up losing the game as Toronto held on with just four healthy defensemen.
It’s Lyubushkin’s health that will be the biggest concern for Maple Leafs fans, as the team doesn’t have a ton of depth on the right side. Given that Justin Holl also exited with a scary-looking head injury after taking a puck to the back of the helmet, the team could be forced to play several names on their off-side, or perhaps give a short opportunity to some young prospects.
For Jeannot, the incident came in the corner as he tried to get a piece of Tkachuk and missed, extending his leg in a dangerous manner instead. It barely slowed down the Senators’ captain though, who played another seven shifts after the third-period knee.
That seems like it should have been a suspension for Hall. Didn’t Larkin do something similar earlier in the year and get suspended? Pretty sure.
“…though it did not draw a penalty from officials.” Bingo, @Gavin. That was said a lot last night (sometimes even more critical) from the Leafs’ radio crew, Bonesy & Ralphie.
based on the rule as written, it should have been a match penalty on Hall.
As a Bruins fan I was expecting some kind of suspension. If that happened to Hall I’d want a suspension.
Haven’t seen the Jeannot so I can’t comment on that one. But I saw the Hall punch live and repeatedly on replays and that one deserved a suspension. But as usual the NHL has the most inconsistent supplementary discipline of any professional sport. Bettman wants the NHL to be treated as well financially as the other major sports but he needs to get his house in order for that to ever happen.
In the GM Meetings just yesterday, several executives voiced their displeasure with the consistency of officiating. This is a pretty glaring example of what’s so frustrating about it.
We’ve seen previous sucker punches to the head that result in injury get more than a 2 min. minor + a fine. But I guess the league was feeling lenient today? How will they feel next week? Maybe Parros’ mood is different on a Tuesday vs a Thursday? I guess we’ll find out next time on… Spin The Wheel of NHL Justice!!
Typical of the NHL officials, missing a penalty and player retaliating.
Why isn’t the Lyubushkin hit under review? That was a dangerous hit from behind.
one wrong does not make a right
@MoneyBallJustWorks – There’s a song using the line, “Consider that two wrongs never make a right, but that three do.” But, the line that most applies to DoPS might be, “The universe is laughing behind your back.” Credit to the classic National Lampoon tune, “Deteriorata”, aka “Fluke of the Universe.”
No, it wasn’t. Hall turned into the boards while the hit had already been initiated. If the officials had called a penalty on the play, they could be forgiven due to the speed at which it occurred. But they did not, and in no universe would a replay review suggest one ought to be assessed.
Efforts have been made to create a DoPS that is cognizant of circumstance and sympathetic of the speed of on-ice play relative to the officials’ ability to observe. Those efforts have repeatedly failed miserably. It is time to do away with DoPS completely and simply enforce the rulebook. The fact that Boosh might be gone for several games, while Hall is fined less than 1/100th of 1% of his career earnings is, frankly, preposterous. This was not a “hockey play” as DoPS is fond of saying. DoPS just has to go, since it refuses to serve a purpose.