Michael Peca touches a linesman's arm, automatic 5 game suspension. (Yes, I'm familiar with the ruling on an automatic suspension when an official is touched.)
Doug Weight gives a clean, feet-on-the-ice check to Sutter, and people vilify Weight for two weeks.
"Disciplinarian" Colin Campbell - and I use the term disciplinarian very lightly - claims it wasn't a direct hit to the head. Well, maybe he didn't see Mottau single out Nielsen and then LEAP off the ice and attack him.
Very questionable ruling.
Some plays are accidental. Weight on Sutter, for example. Jason Doig, while a bad player and a victim of the lockout (where only skilled players stay be in the NHL), injured Eric Lindros for the season, not on purpose but from a hard hit. Same can be said for Scott Stevens leveling Lindros.
However, my view on plays where the person is obviously looking for blood is that they should be suspended until the injured player can play again. Mottau should be out 2-3 months or however long it takes his victim to return. If it means a player will never play again, as it should be in Bertuzzi's case, so be it.
Anyone who wants to take the NHL to task on this horrific ruling can do so Thursdays at 4 as Gary Bettman goes on XM Home Ice 204 (and Sirius 208) to take calls from the fans. No doubt he will be hearing about this next Thursday (as I'm assuming he doesn't host a show on Thanksgiving), and no doubt he will be sticking to party-lines and reiterating what Campbell said, as he never makes waves and always touts the league as in the right. While I love the fact that the Commissioner of the NHL has a radio call-in show (that is always a good listen), I wish he wasn't so vanilla and he would stray from middle-0f-the-road, my-employees-are-always-right answers. If he came out and said Campbell flubbed this, maybe something could be done to change it.
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Links to mentioned videos...
Sutter flying into Cherepanov
The thing that bothers me the most about Mottau's punishment is that it seems like if Nielsen had received a concussion, the punishment would have been more severe. The rationale Campell used is that it wasn't a hit to the head because it wasn't an injury to the head. I agree that a player who injures with intent should be out for as long as the injured player. An eye for an eye.
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