Marcel Goc, who was boarded into the corner by Washington’s Nicklas Backstrom on Saturday, will reportedly miss the next 2-4 weeks with a separated shoulder, while Backstrom has yet to face any review by the NHL (and inquiries as to whether a hearing will take place have gone unanswered). Should the Washington star be suspended, though?
It’s a real shame for the Preds because, along with the injury suffered by Matthew Lombardi, they are having to test their forward depth severely by calling up Nick Spaling from Milwaukee, and are apparently moving Colin Wilson to center between Martin Erat and J.P. Dumont, per Monday’s practice lines.
Follow after the jump to view the video of the hit, and let us know your thoughts via the poll & your comments…
Jarome Iginla and the Calgary Flames come to Smashville on Tuesday, while Sidney Crosby & the Pittsburgh Penguins play here Thursday. Use this special offer for OtF readers to save money on Nashville Predators tickets for these, or any other home games this season.
To me, this seems to be a pretty straightforward case of a dangerous boarding play, and given the recent suspensions handed out to Niklas Hjalmarsson (who recieved 2 games for his boarding of Jason Pominville) and Shane Doan (who just got 3 games for this late hit on Dan Sexton), it’s mind-boggling as to why Backstrom isn’t facing supplementary discipline here.
Then again, given the way Marian Hossa walked away scot-free after drilling Dan Hamhuis into the endboards during the playoffs, maybe it’s not so surprising.
Evidently someone has to pull out a gun and shoot a Nashville Predator on the ice before they draw attention from the league office. Jason Arnott, for example, was slew-footed twice last season (by Boris Valabik in January, and Sammi Pahlson in March) with neither incident drawing supplementary discipline from the NHL. As a reference, Evgeni Artyukhin received a 3-game suspension for doing the same to Dallas defenseman Matt Niskanen in October 2009.
UPDATE: Steve Sullivan spoke with Fanhouse advocating NHL review of the hit.
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Was Backstrom’s hit on Goc deserving of a suspension?
| No, just a hockey play gone wrong | 54 |
| Yes, it was a dangerous play | 205 |
| No, Backstrom’s a 100-point scorer nailing a Nashville player, are you kidding? | 76 |