(MTL) Arber Xhekaj has been fined $3,385.42

[Mr Positive]

I don't get it. The league sets a precedent that players do not take justice in their own hands and then let this go.

Why? Because what happened to Laine was horrific? Because Laine is a big name? I'm not against that philosophy entirely as I do want the league to support stars more, but the league should know that now jumping players is now encouraged. Maybe they should be clear about when it's okay to jump someone with intent to injure and when it isn't

 

[Le Tricolore]

Unbelievable that he wasn't suspended for multiple games. The NHL sucks.

 

[Cap'n Flavour]

Putting the guy who got punched in the head repeatedly and didn't see a problem with it in charge of disciplining players for punching each other in the head has really paid off over the years.

 

[Legion34]

The Leaf player should have squared up

Yes.
Also. That does not excuse repeated punches to the back of the head to a downed opponent.

One is cowardly. The other is incredibly dangerous. YouTube boxers who have been hit in the back of the head. Severe injuries/death can happen.

 

[LeafsNet]

Putting the guy who got punched in the head repeatedly and didn't see a problem with it in charge of disciplining players for punching each other in the head has really paid off over the years.

Live Feed NHL Department of Player Safety

 

[Sidney the Kidney]

He hit a player multiple times in the back of the head. Not including the outcome to Steeve Moore, what is the major difference between this and what Todd Bertuzzi did??

The league is setting a horrific precedent, but it's not surprising given the incompetence DoPS has displayed

And it's going to continue to be like this as long as the DoPS keeps placing guys who made a living punching people in the face in charge.

 

[The Gr8 Dane]

Arber is just setting himself up for a nice cushy job as the head of player safety in 20 years , I can already see it

 

[Kevin27NYI]

Yes.
Also. That does not excuse repeated punches to the back of the head to a downed opponent.

One is cowardly. The other is incredibly dangerous. YouTube boxers who have been hit in the back of the head. Severe injuries/death can happen.

Oh well, he made a dirty play. Refs didn’t handle it. The players had to handle it and he cowered.

 

[admiralcadillac]

I don't get it. The league sets a precedent that players do not take justice in their own hands and then let this go.

Why? Because what happened to Laine was horrific? Because Laine is a big name? I'm not against that philosophy entirely as I do want the league to support stars more, but the league should know that now jumping players is now encouraged. Maybe they should be clear about when it's okay to jump someone with intent to injure and when it isn't

Because an ECHL plug was looking to hit a guy and made a dangerous play, and the refs let it go.

 

[Pip]

Deserved a lengthy suspension. Dangerous play.

 

[admiralcadillac]

Punish the action, not the outcome.

He should have been suspended for a regular season game at least. You can’t allow players to openly throw punches at the back of other guys heads.

Like I said, Pare deserved to face the music for what he did. But not by getting hit in the back of the head, and the NHL should have taken a firm stance against that

Yeah? Where’s Paré’s punishment then?

 

[JoVel]

Does he get suspended if he attacks another player, who wasn't involved in anything earlier, in a similar way? If the answer is yes (which it is), then the fact that he did it in retribution absolutely is a mitigating factor, even if they're never going to say it out loud. Which is a pretty dumb thing in my mind.

 

[A1LeafNation]

If I read this correctly.... Did the league just give Reaves the green light to wail on the back of Xherkajs head on Oct 9.

Would anyone get upset if it happens?

 

[Silky Johnson]

Didn’t Bertuzzi get suspended for multiple years?

Nope.

 

[admiralcadillac]

If I read this correctly.... Did the league just give Reaves the green light to wail on the back of Xherkajs head on Oct 9.

Would anyone get upset if it happens?

It won’t happen because the leafs clearly prefer keeping their plugs to knee our stars

 

[ThaDevilGirl]

If I read this correctly.... Did the league just give Reaves the green light to wail on the back of Xherkajs head on Oct 9.

Would anyone get upset if it happens?

I'd be upset, but I'm also miffed that Xhekaj wasn't suspened...

 

[Sypher04]

I remember when Neal Pionk took out Liljegren's knee, Jason Spezza deliberately kneed him in the head first chance he got, and Leafs fans were in a frenzy about that suspension.

Context is everything. There was no deliberate knee to the head. The only reason it ended up being contact with the head is because Pionk fell into it after Spezza had already committed to the hit. Not unlike Perry/Tavares in the playoffs.

And we weren’t upset he was suspended. I think most agreed he deserved something. We were upset because he got 6 games with absolutely no history.

 

[LeafsNet]

It won’t happen because the leafs clearly prefer keeping their plugs to knee our stars

Pare isn’t even a Leaf, he’s a Marlie genius.

 

[NyQuil]

If I read this correctly.... Did the league just give Reaves the green light to wail on the back of Xherkajs head on Oct 9.

Would anyone get upset if it happens?

Well, his bank account. Hopefully the boys can pass the hat around after the game.

 

[Tuggy]

Punishment fits the crime.

Did the guy he beat up even get hurt?

 

[PavelBrendl]

If I read this correctly.... Did the league just give Reaves the green light to wail on the back of Xherkajs head on Oct 9.

Would anyone get upset if it happens?

Let's be real. Xhekaj would't turn his back and run like Pare did.

 

[Lazlo Hollyfeld]

Man the DoPS always keeps me guessing.

Because it's a preseason game I thought they were going to go stricter than usual to pretend they're doing their jobs.

I guess they're not even pretending anymore.



To be clear I did not like the hit and understand what Wifi was trying to do, but you can't swing away to the back of a guys head like that, even when he turtles.

 

[Tuggy]

We should not judge dirty actions based on their outcomes. This incident could have gone the Steeve Moore pathway, we're lucky it didn't, and there should be a suspension for the actions that created that outcome to be a possibility

If Pare ended up concussed would everyone be calling for a Xhekaj suspension?

Of course it matters if Pare was injured. The fact that he wasn't injured suggests this incident isn't as bad as you want to make it seem.

It's hockey. He injured a player and got beat up for it. End of story.

 

[Madap]

Insane. League/Parros truly has it out for the Leafs when it comes to stuff like this.

 

[Lazlo Hollyfeld]

I know it's been like 20 years so my memory might be a bit fuzzy, I'm 99% sure Moore already fought someone that game. Why should he fight twice?

Anyhow, punches to the back of the head should be an automatic suspension.

You're correct. Moore had fought someone already. But the game became a blowout and the Canucks decided to try and extract more vengeance.

People also often forget that the teams had already played each other once after the Naslund hit, but the Bertuzzi incident game was a blowout so things got ugly.