Suspended: Spezza 6 games (Reduced to 4 games) | Pionk 2 games

[The Podium]

You never know with the nhl. They're all over the place. But I think it will come down to the fact that it doesn't really look intentional. They can't prove it was intentional. And if it wasn't proven intentional, then it was just two players that crashed into each other and one got injured. But that would cause a media shitstorm in Toronto. I guess it's possible they'll give Pionk 1 game just to calm Toronto down a bit.

Show me literally one other clean hit where a player leads with his knee.

He may not have intended to injure, which Spezza clearly did, but he for sure intended to get a piece of Sandin. It was dirty, and his last second change sticking his knee out into Sandin’s lane is 100% intentional.

Also there’s a ton of non-Leafs on the main board calling Pionks knee intentional

 

[ACC1224]

When is the meeting?

 

[Geeve]

That was deliberate on Sandin, it was revenge for Sandin standing up to Wheeler. That makes it even worse on intent.

 

[mcleex]

I'm getting really fed up with Parros. Dudes taken too many punches to the face over his career and obviously is not in the right state of mind for his job

 

[Notsince67]

That may be right...but it should also come with a beat down. When you can end a guys career by doing something stupid, you deserve what you get. A D can throw his knee out on almost every single play if he wants to. They don't because they know its dirty. There is zero doubt watching that replay that he throws his knee out to get a piece of Sandin. Not excusing Spezza either.

I excuse spezza with zero moral high ground. It isn't my job to be a diplomat and in fact I am a bit of a savage that way. Big admirer of Machiavelli

 

[Once]

That was deliberate on Sandin, it was revenge for Sandin standing up to Wheeler. That makes it even worse on intent.

thought this too but that’s, unfortunately, only an assumption.

 

[Stonehands1990]

This is a difficult one, imo.

In all honesty, it's not clear to me that what Pionk did was intentional. Looks like their knees hit each other, and Sandin unfortunately got the worse of it. I do like that Clifford and Simmonds caused trouble afterwards, because even if unintentional, it needed a response.

But Spezza essentially charged a player who was on the ground and intentionally kneed him in the face. I mean, come on guys, that's a pretty sketchy thing to do. It feels good emotionally because we want justice for our player getting hurt. I'd wager that Spezza would right now agree that that wasn not an appropriate way to respond.

IMO he’s committed to the hit before Pionk dives to play the puck with his hand.

 

[acrobaticgoalie]

Sandin couldn't walk after, Piuke was out the next shift

Thats not the point. What if Spezza's hit ended up having the same effect as what happened to JT in the playoffs

 

[Contenderorpretender]

As soon as they allowed PLD to get a piggy back ride and call both for penalties you knew this reffing was a joke. As soon as pionk knees sandin with no penalty you knew this game could get nasty. As soon as spezza went for a retaliation on pionk and received nothing you knew the game was out of control. The refs are mostly too blame for the entire situation.

 

[Jimmy Firecracker]

Thats not the point. What if Spezza's hit ended up having the same effect as what happened to JT in the playoffs

Boo hoo, don’t intentionally knee opposing players.

 

[Mitchy]

well, this confirms what we all knew: this league is an absolute joke and the fact that Parros is still the head of the DOPS is equally pathetic and funny

 

[Ciao]

As soon as they allowed PLD to get a piggy back ride and call both for penalties you knew this reffing was a joke. As soon as pionk knees sandin with no penalty you knees this game could get nasty. As soon as spezza went for a retaliation on pionk and received nothing you knew the game was out of control. The refs are mostly too blame for the entire situation.

I think the officials should be fined or suspended.

 

[Contenderorpretender]

I think the officials should be fined or suspended.

100%. There needs to be some accountability for allowing the game to get out of hand. The referees need to be disciplined for their inability to do their job. It's literally their job to call (at the very least) egregious penalties, pionk and spezza. f***ing bananas

 

[Jimmy Firecracker]

As I figured, only two games. Spezza will assuredly get at least double that and only because the refs didn't call it a penalty when they should've.

 

[SprDaVE]

If the main boards were all "ignore the facts and just hate on the leafs", then they wouldn't all acknowledge that the Debrusk knee on Kadri looked intentional. That same forum isn't convinced that the Pionk knee was intentional. Neither is non-leaf fan reddit. Non-leaf fan twitter. etc.

Come on... when ONLY leaf fans see something, it's clearly a bias issue.

Clearly biased

 

[inthe6ix]

2 games for Pionk:

 

[Clark4Ever]

IMO he’s committed to the hit before Pionk dives to play the puck with his hand.

Yup. Spezza was going in hard for the hit and it turned into an inadvertent knee to the head at the last second.

 

[Throw More Waffles]

If that's 2 games, I fear Spezza's will be VERY long.

 

[Isaac Nootin]

When was the last time (in a single game) where 2 players were suspended on separate plays that weren't even penalized in game.

The NHL has a referee problem.

 

[SprDaVE]

Seems like the Refs agreed with "Pionks camp".

 

[slozo]

That was deliberate on Sandin, it was revenge for Sandin standing up to Wheeler. That makes it even worse on intent.

Great job to dig this up, had forgotten about it but remember it now.
It was definitely payback for that - let me be clear - CLEAN HIT BY SANDIN on Wheeler.

Wow, I hope someone sends that to Parros . . . that's unacceptable and way worse of a "revenge" take-out than Spezza immediately going out to hit Pionk in the game.

The league hates to side with Toronto though, that much is clear.

 

[SeaOfBlue]

Clearly biased

I think it was the best we could hope for. At least he got something.

Now if they gave him 2 games after the knee to Marner last year, which also should have happened, then this is likely double the length...

 

[GrizzGreen]

Running over a player that is already on the ice is worse than a knee on knee

Loved it, but yes, absolutely worse

 

[ACC1224]

That was deliberate on Sandin, it was revenge for Sandin standing up to Wheeler. That makes it even worse on intent.

Wasn't that last year?

 

[Isaac Nootin]

If that's 2 games, I fear Spezza's will be VERY long.

Yet here we have Sandin who will now miss 10+ games. Garbage.

How many will Pionk miss with injury?