alt="LA Kings Insider with Rich Hammond" />Tonight’s game was colored, early on, by Rob Scuderi’s hit on Jason Chimera midway through the first period. Was it dirty? It was a hip check that certainly appeared to be a clip, one in which Scuderi took Chimera out below the waist, at the knees. Columbus immediately responded, and Derek Dorsett got a game misconduct for going after Scuderi. Afterward, The Associated Press talked to Chimera, who was none too pleased.
CHIMERA: “It was low. It was a dirty hit. I don’t care what you call it. I’ve been hip-checked before, but it’s a dirty hit. There’s no room in the game for that kind of (stuff). When the guy takes your knees out, what are you supposed to do? It wasn’t a hip check at all. It was a direct hit on the knees. They had no explanation, so I don’t know what they (the referees) were thinking. I mean, I landed on my face on the ice and my neck was squished against the ice. I’m lucky I didn’t come out with a concussion or something. It’s a dirty play. There’s no room in the game for that. There are too many guys that are carried out on stretchers because of dirty stuff. There’s no room in the game for it. There’s got to be a level of respect out there.”
Here’s what Scuderi told me about the play:
SCUDERI: “I don’t really know where I got him. I’m assuming it was questionable, if so many of their guys were up in arms about it. I understand that they’re just being good teammates and sticking up for their guy. At the same time, I’ve played 300 games in this league, and I don’t have a reputation as a dirty player, but one hit can stir it up like that. I’m certainly not a dirty player. Sometimes it just happens and the rest is just part of the game. They were just sticking up for their teammate.”
And Terry Murray’s thoughts:
MURRAY: “The hit is just a hockey hit. That kind of hit, that’s what we used to see all the time, years ago. That’s just going down, and the player skates and his speed, with his momentum, carries him over his back. That’s one of those hits that has been around for 50 years or longer. That part of it was clean. Obviously everybody thought that. There were no stoppages of play. It seems, now, that there’s a lot of reaction to hits around the league. There’s the same scenario tonight. They react and we end up with a big power play and take advantage of it.”
It was dirty.
[Reply]
Agree the hit was way low, wonder what will be made of it?
[Reply]
It does suck that it was a dirty hit, but I think Scuderi said it right. He’s no dirty player, and colombus had the right of it in sticking up for their team mate, but comming off the bench to pick a fight is wrong too. Just a bad situation for both players, but it’ll be forgot in about a week or so.
[Reply]
It was low but I am fairly sure there was no intent to injure. Sometimes a hit like that happens. If the tides were turned I would expect the Kings to react in the same way. But coming off the bench and costing Hitchcock 10G’s is pretty freaking stupid. Plus Dorssett will probably get suspended.
[Reply]
If we’re going to get technical, from what I remember it looked like the contact isn’t Chimera’s knees, but his thigh. The fact that he did a spectacular flip and broke the fall with his face has nothing to do with it. Since the official rule says a player can’t lower his body “with his sole intent to check the opponent in the area of his knees”, Scuderi might get something from the league, only if they assume he was targeting the knees.
[Reply]
Campbell: Rob, that hit was way too low.
Scuderi: Yessir.
Campbell: So I’m going to have to fine you $5,000.
Scuderi: Aww man for real?
Campbell: For serious.
[Reply]
Chimera should get a $10,000.00 fine for using the word “squished” in an interview…
Yeah, it was low. A good low hit.
[Reply]
he hit him in the thigh bad fall was all
[Reply]
Jason,
Is there room in the NHL for punching someone in the back of their head?
[Reply]
If Scuderi gets a suspension, I call bullplop.
I can see getting a $2500 fine a la Ovie, but they can’t justify a suspension if Ovie didn’t get one.. and it would prove the league has a double-standard in regards to star players.
[Reply]
It looked pretty bad. Rich, do you think he might get a suspension, or a fine?
[Reply]
Scuderi’s timing was off, that’s all – Give him a fine and let’s move on
[Reply]
The NHL has taken alot of heat lately for double standards. It will be quite interesting which direction they go.
Also, doesn’t Dorsett get an automatic 10 game suspension for coming off the bench? I think the coach gets something too. Correct me if I’m wrong.
[Reply]
It was dirty. I don’t think it was intentionally dirty. Glad Chimera is ok and was able to walk out of that. It looked scary! Scuderi deserves a fine or suspension. He didn’t mean it, I don’t even know what went wrong in that play for him to get down so low, but what is done is done and thank god Chimera was not injured.
[Reply]
CanadianKing=
You are right about Dorsett, it’s NHL rule 70.10, here is the link.
http://www.nhl.com/ice/page.htm?id=26481
[Reply]
WWAMD: I pretty much agree with everything you said (and I often don’t, haha)… I think Scuderi gets one game because he’s not a dirty player, but there’s no denying that it wasn’t exactly clean. I’m sure we’d be screaming about it if it happened to us… so it’s a good thing Chimera’s fine, and this’ll all be done with fairly soon.
[Reply]
Just watched it on Youtube, I don’t think he tried to hurt Chimera, looks like he was off balance, but it was a very dangerous hit, Chimera could have been seriously injured by that, Scuds has got to play a little safer out there.
[Reply]
Looking at it again on youtube, Scuderi will probably get fined like Ovi. Like WWAMD said, it wasn’t intentionally dirty, but neither is an accidental high stick, and that gets called regardless of intent.
Chimera could have been seriously hurt, but wasn’t, so let’s just be grateful for that. Let’s NOT be grateful that Chimera chose to act in an equally dangerous way by punching Fro in the back of the head. I have no sympathy for a guy who decides to do that.
[Reply]
I have seen the hit from multiple angles on YouTube.
The hit WAS around the knee area, thus it was too low. As a fan for over 2 decades, I have seen a number of hip checks by and to the Kings. This wasn’t one. One of the true masters of the hip check was Rob Blake. Not once did I ever see him get that low to check anyone. He would just ride them into the boards and they would crumble on the spot, not go AOTK. Scuderi will probably get a 1-2 game suspension for the hit and it will be well deserved. As for the response from the Blue Jackets, that was to be expected. I would expect nothing less. Dorsett got a little over zealous in my opinion but it is understandable that he would take a run at Rob. Wish the Kings would have done the same for the knee on knee hit by Cleary on Kopitar in the 5-2 loss to Detroit. Thank god nothing happened there.
I will admit that there was no deliberate intent to injure, just to stop him from advancing. He shouldn’t have gotten that low. I don’t ever remember Blake getting that low to ride a guy into the boards. Scuderi should probably do a little research into a better method for hip checking while relaxing on the Santa Monica Beach while he serves that suspension.
The double standard exists. They have been trying to speed up and make the game more exiting. The slew footing incidents are proof. Ovie gets a fine and Artyukin gets 3 games. Hmmm. Their justification is this. Niskanin’s skates came half way up the boards and Peverley was just knocked on his tuchus. Go figure.
[Reply]
IMO, There was no intent to injure on Scuderi’s part. It looked to me like he started to lose his balance a little as he was going in for the hit and as result got a little too low. Still, I think he caught Chimera on his left thigh, above the knee.
You can watch a replay on YouTube…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yIav-Su5-bs
The video has both the LA and Columbus feeds. The Columbus guy was saying it was below the knee, but that’s just nonsense.
[Reply]
I think it’s safe to say if Scuderi wasn’t going for his knees, he was going for the clean sweep (when you flip the guy.) It’s questionable b/c of the way he landed on his head. Scary stuff. But it’s hockey, baby. Injuries without intent are a reality and Chimera is only pissed off b/c he was embarassed. He needs to get over himself.
B – Exactly. At least he saw it coming. Oh yeah, there’s plenty of room in the game to punch a guy in the back of the head and send him into the boards. Even though I still think Frolov is a nancy boy, you don’t do that. If Chimera insists on the matter, I’m sure Ivanans would be happy to listen.
[Reply]
Scuderi’s hit on Chimera was low but I didn’t see intent to injure.
Chimera punched Fro in the back of the head = intent to injure – period.
[Reply]
It was a low hit, and normally I would think suspension worthy. Not tonight though, because if Mike Richards gets away with putting David Booth out on a stretcher with a direct blindside to the head, then Scuderi shouldn’t be getting a suspension. That really bothers me.
Punching Frolov in the head was pretty bad though, as was the elbow to Doughty’s head.
[Reply]
I agree that it was low but i also agre wit Cooper and Puckhead that Scuds triming was way off and was loosing his balance.. To me it looked like he started way to soon and looked like he was going fall backward on his rear and that’s when the contact occurred.. I don’t blame Chimera and the Blue Jackets to be angry.. Let Scuds get 1 or 2 games and move on.. Chimera got his payback on Fro ( from behind no less ), not face to face,but a payback never-the-less so he should move on as well
[Reply]
I was at the game and watched all of the highlights tonight, including NHL on the Fly, who still can’t seem to say a positive thing about the Kings, even though Kopi is leading the league in goals and points, Quick is tied for most wins amongst goalies, and the Kings are leading the Pacific division.
What is interesting to me is that no one seemed to care about the elbow to the face that Doughty took (even though he still has dental injury) and the hit on Fro that obviously shook him up. Then Justin Williams was interviewed after the game and didn’t want to comment on Scud’s hit. To me that says that the Kings either thought the hit was bad and they deserved the retaliation, or that they still don’t know how to stick up for their teammates.
[Reply]
That was ugly. I don’t care who cheap shotted who throughout the league, Scuderi should be disciplined in some form for that “duck” into Chimera’s knees, intentional or not.
[Reply]
Dirty but no intent to injure…… I think he puckered a lil when he saw how big chimera was…… 1 game suspension.
If one of our guys got hit like that we would be asking for a suspension
[Reply]
Kingsknight -
exactly. not at or below the knees at all. and sorry, folks, it can’t be a dirty hit without intent to injure. Dirty MEANS intent to injure. There was no intent. Without intent, there’s just “legal” or “illegal.” That’s a legal hipcheck. Doesn’t hit the knees, HITS THE PANTS. He flips over on his face. That’s a hipcheck guys. It’s desirable. He landed on his face. Notice how his knees weren’t hurt? See, that’s because his knees weren’t checked. He was hit in the thighs by Scuderi’s BACK. Totally, 100% legal, and I would say the same thing if it was Kopitar.
I frankly think it’s next to impossible to hip-check someone at or below the knee. If you think it’s possible, or if you think this check is an example of it, I think you have to at least admit it’s not the point of a hipcheck to hit someone’s knee and it’s certainly not the intent.
He’s low because he wants to flip him up when he gets under him. Again, watch the replay.
http://wp.me/ptucv-EE
[Reply]
Rob Blake’s checks aren’t hip checks. They’re ass checks. And he’s absolutely trying to hurt people. He’s said as much many times. He’s just trying to drive them through the boards, instead of flipping them through the air.
I agree the way Chimera fell looked scary. But that doesn’t mean the check was illegal. It wasn’t.
p.s. the “knee area” is absurd wording, isn’t it? What the hell does that do, except make something “discretionary” that doesn’t need to be.
Also, hey, punching someone int he back of the head is (a) a head shot, and (b) intent to injure. So is an elbow to the head. So…uh…hello?
I am reacting strongly to this because I grew up as a defenseman and, frankly, the hip and the shoulder are the only two things you’re allowed to check with. And to call a hipcheck low is just silly. How high do you want it? How is a hip getting about someone’s waist? It’s not. A hip check makes contract on the other player’s pants, by definition. That’s how it works. That’s what Scuderi did.
[Reply]
I meant “above someone’s waist,” not “about someone’s waist.”
[Reply]
He hit him lower than usual for a hipcheck. It kind of looked to me like he hit a rut in the ice and went down further for balance so he didn’t fall over. He probably would have come up if he could, but the check was already planted. Legal check by the rules standards as he hit him in the thighs as previously mentioned. 20 years ago, there would have been serious praise given for a fantastic hockey play. Now it’s ‘Dirty’.
Chimera is a frikkin hypocrite since he donkey punched Frolov for no other reason than the fact he’s a King. I felt sorry for Chimes until he pulled that crap.
It did look nasty in slo mo though. Watching his neck snap like that, he’s lucky he’s walking let alone skating.
[Reply]
I agree with PuckHead27 and Quisp – Looks like he lost an edge at the wrong time. Totally understandable given the history of the ice surface at Staples Center.
[Reply]
Well said Quisp!
Also I agree with you in that, Scuderi made contact as he was coming up to hit him with his back and it hit him on the pants.
Whoever is saying it was “at” or “below” the knee, is either certifiably blind or certifiably insane.
Or both.
Go Kings!
[Reply]
Quisp is right… again! Look closely at 2:29 of that dual feed video. While Scuds’ twisted torso seems to get in touch with the knees, he clearly gets a part of the red pants in the quad area (aka lower thigh) which is clearly above the knees.
Here is that JMFJ “breaking in” video – no more than 10 feet away from the spot today. That one was just a bit higher but it only got JMFJ on one thigh as opposed to Chimera who got hit on both.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nnWd4PHIMwQ&feature=related
[Reply]
Oh, and with all due respect to Jim Fox, he needs to pay a visit to one of the Kings Lasic surgery radio sponsors – those red arrows he drew on teh replay are NOT even remotely close to the impact area…
[Reply]
The league has NO problems with double standards. Check out several examples of Malkin NOT being suspended last year on cheap shots. One of which is the clothes line on Simmonds with like 10 seconds left in the game.
[Reply]
If you want to get technical, Dorsett should also face punishment under Rule 40.5 subsection iii for his manhandling of the linesman, ON TOP OF the penalty in violation of 70.10.
http://www.nhl.com/ice/page.htm?id=26327
Chimera should get two for his cheap shot on Fro and that other goon that gave Doughty that cheap shot should also get three or more.
If Scuds gets ONE game for that clean hit and the others aren’t dealt with for their dirty work, then we know the NHL offices have it in for the Kings.
[Reply]
great, great game by the Kings. All out effort, you could maybe give 5 minutes out of the game to the Jackets, other than that, just domination from the Kings. I thought it was a great hit by Scuds, I wasnt even thinking about any fines or suspensions, just thought it was a great face plant by Chimera. If anyone deserves a suspension it would be him, dude was running around looking for someone to cheapshot, tried to get Scuds to fight, but didnt want to have anything to do with Ivanans whenever they were on the ice together. It was some b.s. with the elbow to the face of Doughty, and it was some b.s. with the punch to the back of Fro’s head. So sit his a** down, but don’t suspend Scuds for a good hit. Awesome game. 2 goals on first 2 shots, awesome. What was with the 10 minute long conference with the refs at the start of the 2nd period? And the feather in the cap, Raitis playing on the power play in the 3rd period, funniest part of the whole game. Almost as funny as the lion climbing the glass. Great game, Go Kings.
[Reply]
Chimera need more practiks fold duwn .
[Reply]
Chimera is a baby. I think Scuds either was off balance or was defending himself in some way. It did not look “dirty” to me. Then Chimera starts elbowing everyone within reach, bumping Scuds after the wistle, and sucker punching Frolov. Chimera should of been thrown out of the game…
[Reply]
mask -
agreed completely. I love foxy, but his arrows misfired there. i applaud his attempt to be fair and balanced. but if you take this check out of the game you have to take all hipchecks out. compare to these:
http://wp.me/ptucv-EP
[Reply]
Get Chimera a Kleenex and tell him to remove his head from his A-double-S.
Scuderi is low because he’s changing direction at speed.
No foul, Chimera just needs to prepare for the hit.
[Reply]
ok really drama queen sure he could have been really hurt but he wasnt so he can just learn to get over it.
[Reply]