Well, here we go again. If you saw the 1st period of the Anaheim Ducks/Detroit Red Wings game, you undoubtedly saw Mike Brown’s hit on Jiri Hudler that earned him a 5 minute major and game misconduct. And if you SAW the hit, you probably have an opinion on it.
I don't think people require 10 stitches from clean shoulder checks...
For NHL fans, this should remind them of Game 6 of the Rangers/Capitals 1st round series. In that game, Donald Brashear hit Blair Betts very hard (and very late). With such a similar case so fresh in our mind, shouldn’t we expect a similar penalty?
This is the biggest problem when the league makes a mistake on a suspension. When a comparable situation happens again—is it better to maintain consistency, even if it’s wrong? Brashear was slapped with a 5 game suspension for his hit on Betts—but you can’t tell me that Mike Brown deserves to be suspended for the rest of this series (unless it goes 7). He deserves a game or two, but who knows with Colin Campbell these days. He could give Brown 5 games and I wouldn’t be terribly surprised; then again, he could chose to look the other way and let Brown play in the rest of the series and I wouldn’t be shocked in the least. At this point, I have no clue.
Just like Brashear, the hit was a CLEAN hit. It was late, but clean for the most part. It looks like the majority of the contact was with the shoulder and Brown followed through with his elbow in an upward motion. But haven’t we heard, over and over, that the League is trying to crack down on head shots? You can say what you want, but Hudler was bleeding profusely from the face. Say what you want about the timing, the elbow or the fact that Hudler was watching his own pass—he was still hit in the head. The NHL’s emphasis on headshots hasn’t been lost on Detroit’s coach Mike Babcock:
“The league and the players’ association are big on protecting guys’ heads. It was a vicious hit.” –Mike Babcock
When watching the game live, it just SEEMED late. In fact, we had to see the hit on replays to get a good look, because it was so late that it was off the screen (and I have a VERY wide screen). Bottom line, it was marginally late—but late nonetheless. Before the lockout, the play would have been fine because defensemen were allowed to play the body even after the puck was gone. Times have changed though—and the same rules no longer apply. You get a step or two, a second or two and then the player is off limits. When you watch the replay, Brown has the entire play ahead of him as he takes a few additional strides to make contact.
The Ducks always walk the line between tough and dirty plays (especially in the playoffs). I have no problem with their play—that’s the style of play that helped bring the Cup to Anaheim in 2007. But when the line is crossed, they should accept the consequences. As the saying goes: “when you play with fire, sometimes you get burned.” Of course, the Ducks don’t see anything wrong with the play:
“I just hit him with my shoulder. My elbow wasn’t up. My stick wasn’t up. I don’t think it should have been a penalty. I mean, his head was down and I think they called it because he was cut, but I probably think that was from his visor.” –Mike Brown
Here’s a video of the hit so you can judge for yourself. Is there an elbow? Does Brown follow through? Does he take a few extra strides making it charging? You’ll have to take all of that into account when you try to decide if he should be suspended.
