Photo Credit: Michael Dwyer/AP
The NHL always makes an effort to make player safety a focal point. The Department of Player Safety reviews questionable plays to assure that the player safety standard they expect is enforced.
Early Saturday morning, after review of a cross-check, the NHL’s Department of Player Safety announced that Columbus Blue Jackets forward Brandon Dubinsky has been suspended for one game without pay for cross checking Pittsburgh Penguins forward Sidney Crosby during Friday’s game.
The Department of Player Safety said that while “Dubinsky’s check was not overly violent or forceful” it was still an intentional check near the head of Crosby. Due to the unsafe nature of this check, Dubinsky was then suspended.
Another dangerous hit that took place on Friday was Boston Bruins forward Matt Beleskey’s hit on New York Rangers center Derek Stepan which went without review and without consequence.
During the second period of Friday’s game, Beleskey delivered a hard hit on Stepan after he had already passed the puck. The hit sent Stepan’s upper body into the boards and then down onto the ice. The hit definitely looked delayed as Stepan no longer had possession of the puck.
After Stepan hit the ice, rookie defenseman Dylan McIlrath jumped to his teammate’s defense by dropping his gloves and going after Beleskey. After the fight, a victory of McIlrath’s part, McIlrath was given a two-minute instigator penalty along with five minutes for fighting and a 10-minute misconduct for taking the Bruins’ forward down to the ice.
The penalty on McIlrath gave way for a Bruins power play which allowed the Bruins to tie up the game. Despite this, the team and the fans were glad that McIlrath had jumped to his teammate’s defense after the hit.
Following the hit, Stepan left the ice and did not return for the third period. It was revealed after the game that Stepan had broken a few ribs as a result of the hit and will be sidelined indefinitely; there is no timetable for his return.
Beleskey received no penalty for the hit, and the NHL Department of Player Safety decided it will not review the hit.
Regardless of the injury Stepan sustained, the hit should still be a focus of concern because these are the hits that the NHL has repeatedly tried to keep out of the game. The hit was delayed; Stepan had already passed the puck and it was already received by a teammate when the hit was administered. Beleskey was not unaware of the pass nor was he ‘finishing a check’, he delivered a dangerous delayed hit to an unaware player who was then injured from the collision.
The Department of Player safety has been serious about enforcing consequences for bad hits, especially hits regarding contact with the head. A bad hit is a bad hit, and plays like these should always be reviewed when player safety is a concern.
This was not the only collision in the game that went with strong comments. In the third period Bruins’ forward Brad Marchand came across the crease, after Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist made a stop to play and let his knee come into contact with Lundqvist’s head. Following this contact Lundqvist fell over onto the ice, a reaction he says is expected when someone comes up on your side unknowingly and makes contact with you.
Marchand was called for goalie interference. The Bruins organization, including coach Claude Julien, were angry over the call and believed that Lundqvist should have been called out for embellishment.
“I was upset when it first happened,” Julien said following the game. “I think this was the second time — in preseason, Lundqvist did the same thing. I know he does some acting on the side, but I don’t think it needs to be on the ice.” Julien later continued to say that goaltender safety is important but he feels that “goaltenders shouldn’t take advantage of referees.”
Julien’s comments sparked comments from Rangers coach Alain Vigneault, who retaliated against Julien’s comment with a few words of his own. “I mean it’s a little disappointing. Obviously everybody saw the knee to the head. The comments on Hank were very inappropriate. The way Hank conducts himself, on the ice, away from the rink, off the ice, the example that he sets,” Vigneault said Saturday morning. “Who would you rather have as a son, Henrik (Lundqvist) or Brad Marchand? For him to say things like that about Hank, totally wrong, and probably Claude is getting a little older and needs to check his eyesight.”
The Rangers fell to the Bruins 4-3 and couldn’t keep up their presence on the ice. Despite the loss, the Beleskey hit on Stepan is what left an impression on fans. Regardless, there was no review on the hit, and there won’t be, therefore the organization and the fans have no choice other than to move on.
