Bunting got 5 and a game for elbow to the head of Cernak (suspended 3 games)

[pcruz]

The fact that you think the punishment depends on the “star level” of the player, shows you don’t give a shit about safety.

The league doesn't give a f*** about safety.

By a huge margin, the dirtiest hit of the last 2 weeks was a Minnesota player on a Winnipeg Jet.

It received all of 1 game suspension.

 

[Crede777]

If you're a player like Bunting who can't help but cross the line, then you need to make the conscious decision to play as far as you can away from it.

 

[HofT]

Ooof. Looks like Leafs are so done with him.

Keefe is as much responsible as Bunting is. Keefe screwed up the lines especially since down the stretch Bunting didn't see much top line minutes. It would have been better if he had kept Bunting on the third line and allow him to be a pest there. Instead, Bunting became more of a distraction for his own team.

 

[Enga Olly]

Your analogy is completely irrelevant. LOL

your comment is nonsensical

 

[I am Canadian]

I think two games for regular season will translate to a one game suspension here. He doesn't have a suspension history.

Stupid stupid hit for him to make too, Leafs had a chance before that..

 

[BruinsBtn]

Let's wait and see whether Bunting is given the same penalty that Ference was given there.

Don't forget that Ference had received another suspension just a year previous for another incident.
In that case, it was a 3 game suspension.
That was followed by yet another 3 game suspension for an illegal hit to the head in 2014.

Here is the Wingels hit.

It was on Marner who had already been hit by Chara.
You can clearly see the elbow come up to the face of Marner.

No penalty, no discipline.
Kadri got a penalty on the play though, as he should.

You're on another planet if you think either of those hits is anywhere close to what Bunting did.

 

[pcruz]

IDK about all that. He's scored 23 goals in each of the last two seasons. Matt Cooke stuck around for quite some time without that level of offensive production, and was even able to turn around his public perception around the league later in his career.

Naw.

I hope the Leafs don't sign him.
Can't trust that he won't do something this stupid again.
It's obviously easy to get under his skin, he easily gets under the skin of the opponents.
And in scrums and all of the extra-curricular shit that goes on, he gets penalized far more frequently than the other players, so he's a net negative in that regards.

His 62 points last year were largely a result of Matthews and Marner, and he came into this season with some inflated image of himself.

I just looked up my posting history relating to Bunting.

It's quite a fun read.


A few excerpts:

[B]pcruz[/B]​

Registered User​

Mar 7, 2013 4,969 2,603 Vaughan

• May 13, 2022
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• #3,897

Are you somehow suggesting that Kevin Bieksa is a Leaf fan?

Kelly Hrudy and Ron McLean mentioned the questionable call by asking whether the supervisor of the officials would have reviewed the play that led to that penalty and Friedman said yes.

That's hardly homerism.

Stating a fact isn't being subjective either.
It was a phantom call and had immediate effect on a close game, it should be scrutinized if for no other reason (which there isn't anymore as the game is over and can't be re-played) to ensure the integrity of the game going forward.

Really seems like Leaf haters are out with the mentality of "it was bad for Toronto, so I'll swallow my tongue on this obviously bad call".

What Perry, Colton, Bunting have been doing all series long is pathetic.
Bunting hasn't drawn a penalty on a flop, but Perry and Colton have.

Hell, Perry just lay down on a puck yesterday for 20 seconds with no intention of getting off it, and the play was just called dead instead of a delay of game being assessed. And in my opinion, that's the right call.

Let the players play.

Penalize egregious, and dangerous plays.
Leave the minor things alone.

Enough with the 5+ penalties per night for each team, it's infuriating as a fan how the game gets chopped up with too many unnecessary whistles.
Nobody is tuning in or paying good money to watch the referee show.

Drop the puck quicker on face-offs too. I'm sick and tired of the linesmen getting their preferred face-off takers at the dot by kicking out people randomly. It's not like they actually penalize players for jumping in early or anything else.

• Jan 14, 2023

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• #59

Nothing should come of it? You don’t play with skate blades, ever. Ask Malarchuk, Zednik, Kane etc. how they feel about. Hard, soft, fake kick, whatever. He should get what Kassian got to send a message. This should not be tolerated in any league ever.

I think it was intentional.

And Bunting should get the same penalty as Kucherov got for this:

pcruz​

Registered User​

Mar 7, 2013 4,969 2,601 Vaughan

• Jul 4, 2022

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• #89

Here's the thing about Bunting:

He was a 26 year old rookie.

That means that for 8 years, he wasn't quite good enough to merit being in the NHL.
After a single season, a really good one, he's not yet gained enough of a track record to convince anyone of what kind of NHL player he is.

If he continues playing like he did last season, he's a solid player.
But we have no clue whether he can maintain that level of play for 2 years, 3, 5, etc.

If he's re-signed before the season, it'll be a 1 year deal for a marginal raise.

I don't think that's enticing to Bunting to be honest.

Simultaneously, a long-term deal with some actual money to it should not be enticing to the organization either.

So, it will most likely be a "wait and see" thing with him.

 

[Rebels57]

Definitely going to be a suspension here. Looks like Toronto found their new Kadri.

 

[pcruz]

You're on another planet if you think either of those hits is anywhere close to what Bunting did.

The Ference hit is almost exactly the same.
The only real difference is that Ference was facing Grabo while Bunting is looking away from Cernak the whole time.

 

[Nostradumbass]

I hope the Leafs fans in here aren’t representative of the fan base as a whole… wow.

 

[pcruz]

I hope the Leafs fans in here aren’t representative of the fan base as a whole… wow.

Yeah!

Who the hell wants to associate themselves with people who think their own players can do things wrong and should be punished accordingly?

 

[Lt Dan]

I would have imagine 2 maybe 3 games for that hit.

Does Bunting have a history with DOPS?

 

[pcruz]

I would have imagine 2 maybe 3 games for that hit.

Does Bunting have a history with DOPS?

I swear I read that as:

dirty piece of shit


And chuckled to myself.

He's been fined a few times for diving.
That's as far as his track record goes.

 

[PB37]

Not true. I've heard from the Bunting legal defense team in this very thread that this was in fact, all Cernak's fault. They'll have a word with Keefe and the league, I'm sure.

 

[Ol' Jase]

I’ll be shocked if he gets any more than one game.

 

[BruinsBtn]

The Ference hit is almost exactly the same.
The only real difference is that Ference was facing Grabo while Bunting is looking away from Cernak the whole time.

The difference is that Ference is playing hockey and the puck is there and he's bracing himself for a hit. Also that Grabovski wasn't injured.

In any case, it really, 100% goes against your stated theory that "if someone did this to the Leafs there would be no suspension". Tough to reconcile that one for you eh?

 

[Coaches Coroner]

I'm good with him being done for the series. IMO it was even stupider than the Kadri plays.

 

[pcruz]

The difference is that Ference is playing hockey and the puck is there and he's bracing himself for a hit. Also that Grabovski wasn't injured.

In any case, it really, 100% goes against your stated theory that "if someone did this to the Leafs there would be no suspension". Tough to reconcile that one for you eh?

I'm not sure what a Bruins fan wants out of this conversation.

While dirty and meritous of a suspension, what Bunting did was just another game for Marchand.

Seems ironic that Bruins fans feel some sort of moral superiority when it comes to Bunting.

 

[PB37]

The Ference hit is almost exactly the same.
The only real difference is that Ference was facing Grabo while Bunting is looking away from Cernak the whole time.

I agree, as long as you ignore the puck being in the area of Ference/Grabo while Bunting/Cernak were at least 15 feet away from where the puck was, sure.

 

[GQS]

I've watched it like 30 times now and it still looks like he lunged at Cernak intentionally against the run of play well away from the puck.

We're just going to have to agree to disagree then. Seeing some of the side camera angles of the hit if that was all I saw I'd probably be in agreement that it was a bad Bunting hit.

The things that make me believe that it was an accidental hit was the camera angle at 1:43:05 of the video I posted where Cernak turns into Bunting with his head leaning down and the camera angle at 1:43:41 where if you pause you can see the dot that is the puck on the right side of the net where BOTH Bunting and Cernak are looking at and are going after right up to the hit.

At 1:43:41 it doesn't look like either player is looking at each other and instead both are looking at the puck. Go to the next second of the video and still it looks like both are looking at the puck and then next second Cernak makes contact with Bunting stick first and then with the body. I don't see the part where Bunting is purposely going out of his way to hit Cernak.

 

[DuklaNation]

That's my point. Bunting WASN'T LOOKING TO HIT ANYONE. 5-6 seconds after the faceoff he turned to his left and Cernak turned to his right and it was Cernak who went INTO Bunting and not the reverse. Many people here believe Bunting made an intentional run at Cernak and was even aiming for his head. That's what I disagree with when its Cernak who went into Bunting leaning forward and down.

That's why there shouldn't be a suspension. It's a typical play that happens tons of times, Cernak was just unaware with head lower. In a contact sport, this stuff is going to happen. Reading these comments is embarrassing.

 

[leafsfan5]

Stupid play that destroyed all chances of us coming back

Suspend him and let’s move forward

 

[GQS]

That's why there shouldn't be a suspension. It's a typical play that happens tons of times, Cernak was just unaware with head lower. In a contact sport, this stuff is going to happen. Reading these comments is embarrassing.

That's how I feel. Just an accidental hit that turned out badly because Cernak turned with his head leaning down and unfortunately he gets clipped, but having looked repeatedly at the video at different angles, there are some that make it look like Bunting was purposely going to Cernak for the hit, but there are a couple of other angles from the rear that clearly shows its Cernak moving into Bunting all the way.

Guess its pointless to try and convince people because its Bunting after all and he won't get any benefit of the doubt and he definitely won't get the benefit of the doubt with the league who will give him who knows how many games off. Only small silver lining is this opens up a spot for Knies who shouldve been in game one to begin with.

 

[Golden_Jet]

That's why there shouldn't be a suspension. It's a typical play that happens tons of times, Cernak was just unaware with head lower. In a contact sport, this stuff is going to happen. Reading these comments is embarrassing.

Lol, I’m sure your fellow leaf fans want to see Matthew’s and Marner et al take those elbows to the face, that’s a “typical play”

Luckily most leaf fans don’t agree with your terrible take.
A typical play is now an elbow to the face, wow.

 

[pcruz]

That's how I feel. Just an accidental hit that turned out badly because Cernak turned with his head leaning down and unfortunately he gets clipped, but having looked repeatedly at the video at different angles, there are some that make it look like Bunting was purposely going to Cernak for the hit, but there are a couple of other angles from the rear that clearly shows its Cernak moving into Bunting all the way.

Guess its pointless to try and convince people because its Bunting after all and he won't get any benefit of the doubt and he definitely won't get the benefit of the doubt with the league who will give him who knows how many games off. Only small silver lining is this opens up a spot for Knies who shouldve been in game one to begin with.

It was not accidental.
It was reckless if it was unintentional, and reckless behaviour is not accidental.

Aslo, Knies has played what 3 NHL games.
He is not a top 6 player and is completely wasted in the bottom 6.

How anyone can pin their hopes on a trial player in the playoffs is mind-numbing to me.