Sore Loser
Sorest of them all
Thoughts (more of them)
1. The hit in question; the one that started it all, was a clean hit. Brooks Orpik stepped up, lifted the shoulder, and hit the shoulder of Loui Eriksson. There was no contact to the head, no charging, no elbow - just a hockey play. The only call that could have been made there would have been interference, which would have been an iffy call because the puck was in the vicinity.
2. Zdeno Chara was penalized at the stoppage for cross-checking Brooks Orpik. At which point, the officials should have made it completely clear to the CAPTAIN of the Bruins that any further nonsense towards Brooks Orpik or any other Penguin would have been deemed a 10 minute misconduct. This could have gotten the game under control and served as a warning. The refs have to know the feel of the game and the direction that it's heading ... it was obvious at this point that it could get ugly.
3. Brooks Orpik then declined several invitations from Shawn Thornton to fight him. On this play, Thornton was given a 2 minute minor for roughing. As someone who has seen both sides of this (officiating and playing), it's not uncommon for the refs to throw out a 10 minute misconduct and speak to both coaches, making it clear that the game was under their control. The refs, once again, failed to take control.
4. The James Neal play should have resulted in a 5 minute major for intent to injure, and thus a match penalty. I don't care if Marchand returned later in the game - it's intent to injure, not injuring the opponent. What happened at the stoppage was Shawn Thornton clearly seeking out Brooks Orpik with the clear intent to take him out of the game and get "retribution" for his injured teammate. Had the refs actually slapped him with a 10 minute misconduct for continuing to try to incite an altercation with Orpik, he wouldn't have even been on the ice when all of this went down.
Do I blame the refs? Not entirely, but I do think that they failed to get the game under control before it got out of hand. This is the same thing that happened with the Todd Bertuzzi incident. My final thoughts are that James Neal should be done for at least 10 games, and Shawn Thornton should be subject to at least three times that number. Neal has a history with the league (which we all know too well), and clearly knew what he was doing when he skated past Brad Marchand. For something like that, I think you have to set the precedence that it's unacceptable, and make a point. For Shawn Thornton, the slew-foot was enough to merit a lengthy suspension, if it were done in it's own right. He then proceeded to punch Brooks Orpik once, knocking him out, and then punch him again, delivering a blow that slammed his head into the ice. For me, each of those sucker punches is worthy of anything Neal gets for the knee to the head.
It will be interesting to see what shakes out of this. There's no room in the game for this sort of crap.
1. The hit in question; the one that started it all, was a clean hit. Brooks Orpik stepped up, lifted the shoulder, and hit the shoulder of Loui Eriksson. There was no contact to the head, no charging, no elbow - just a hockey play. The only call that could have been made there would have been interference, which would have been an iffy call because the puck was in the vicinity.
2. Zdeno Chara was penalized at the stoppage for cross-checking Brooks Orpik. At which point, the officials should have made it completely clear to the CAPTAIN of the Bruins that any further nonsense towards Brooks Orpik or any other Penguin would have been deemed a 10 minute misconduct. This could have gotten the game under control and served as a warning. The refs have to know the feel of the game and the direction that it's heading ... it was obvious at this point that it could get ugly.
3. Brooks Orpik then declined several invitations from Shawn Thornton to fight him. On this play, Thornton was given a 2 minute minor for roughing. As someone who has seen both sides of this (officiating and playing), it's not uncommon for the refs to throw out a 10 minute misconduct and speak to both coaches, making it clear that the game was under their control. The refs, once again, failed to take control.
4. The James Neal play should have resulted in a 5 minute major for intent to injure, and thus a match penalty. I don't care if Marchand returned later in the game - it's intent to injure, not injuring the opponent. What happened at the stoppage was Shawn Thornton clearly seeking out Brooks Orpik with the clear intent to take him out of the game and get "retribution" for his injured teammate. Had the refs actually slapped him with a 10 minute misconduct for continuing to try to incite an altercation with Orpik, he wouldn't have even been on the ice when all of this went down.
Do I blame the refs? Not entirely, but I do think that they failed to get the game under control before it got out of hand. This is the same thing that happened with the Todd Bertuzzi incident. My final thoughts are that James Neal should be done for at least 10 games, and Shawn Thornton should be subject to at least three times that number. Neal has a history with the league (which we all know too well), and clearly knew what he was doing when he skated past Brad Marchand. For something like that, I think you have to set the precedence that it's unacceptable, and make a point. For Shawn Thornton, the slew-foot was enough to merit a lengthy suspension, if it were done in it's own right. He then proceeded to punch Brooks Orpik once, knocking him out, and then punch him again, delivering a blow that slammed his head into the ice. For me, each of those sucker punches is worthy of anything Neal gets for the knee to the head.
It will be interesting to see what shakes out of this. There's no room in the game for this sort of crap.
