Colin Campbell, the NHL’s director of hockey operations, was just on the NHL Live show and was asked about Rob Scuderi’s hit last night, and any possible discipline…
CAMPBELL: “Fortunately, it’s not one of these things where they play the next night. We can look at it, the number of games we had over the weekend and the incidents, and you deal with them in time. We’re looking at it, and I can’t say… We’ll deal with it. I can’t say what it’s going to be, but we’ll deal with all of those before the teams play their next games, one way or the other.”
It’s going to be a game or two. Too bad he will be absent against a couple of top teams.
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If Richards gets nothing, Scuds gets nothing. Any different, Campbell should be fired.
Ridiculous.
You are a PRO SPORTS LEAGUE! Define the rules and define the punishment minimums for such rule breakers and TEACH the players the new definitions so this ‘Grey area’ crap doesn’t continue. How hard can this be to implement? The players have got to be shaking there heads at this.
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Agreed Cynic. That Richards hit made me sick.
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I think Scuderi will get at least 1 game suspension for that hit. Was there intent to make a dirty hit? Absolutely not, but it turned out that way. Scuderi was getting low to pick up speed (like every defenseman who goes for that type of hit) but he seemed to miss time it, and never went back up before contact. The result was pretty nasty and had that exact hit been put on a Kings player, I sure would want someone to get suspended for it.
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Campbell is a waste of the leagues money. He does a horrible job. How many games are ovechkin and richards suspended for? a slewfoot and an elbow to the head. wow. Doughty took an elbow to the head, frolov got punched in the back of the head, it sent his helmet flying. I can’t wait to see what is deemed punishable here.
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How is Scuderi’s hit any worse than Richards’ hit?
This league is going to a waste with all the double standard stuff…
Great blog RH!, Keep up the great work
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Just watched the Richards hit, he should have got suspended, he could have easily not hit him in the head, but didn’t…Scuds happened at full speed and he was a bit off balance, but Chimera saw him all the way, whereas Booth never saw it coming.
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I just listened to Colin Campbell on hockeycentral at noon and I would be very surprised if Scuderi is suspended. He didn’t say it definitively but it was pretty easy to read between the lines.
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I hope he plays VS Pens!
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anybody have a link for Richards hit?
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The Richards hit was clean, that was good hockey hit, Booth unfortunately is looking the wrong way, Richards has less than a second to react…in hockey we are always taught to finish our checks. You tell me what person can think fast enough, when the idea to lay a hit down is already, can all of the sudden let up in a matter of milaseconds. That hit was clean, it was shoulder on chin unfortunately. If that hit made you sick, maybe you should stop watching hockey and watch golf or baseball or something.
Was Sucderi’s hit a bit low, possibly. Was it dirty, not by any means, the hit didn’t cause the injury, his head hitting the ice caused the injury. If you watch the replay frame by frame, in the reverse angle you can actually see Scuderi come up can catch Chimmera’s right side first slightly above the knee, by the left side is slightly below the knee.
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I disagree with most of you. Richards hit was fine in intent, unless you were Booth. He came across with speed and used his shoulder, kept his elbows down. He had him lined up for about 5 or 6 feet… Booth looked back to check out his pass and there you go. How many times do you see the guy admiring his work get nailed?
KEEP YOUR HEAD UP.
When Brownie NAILED Matt Cooke a few years back in Vancouver there was no penalty, suspension or any talk of any. Brownie nailed him in the head with his shoulder and it was clean.
Scuderi too was not trying to hit his knees but timed it wrong and needed to get low to make the cut, or he would have missed him completely. Now there is rules in the NHL for clipping and something needs to happen to Scuderi so he wont take out someones knees. We dont need anymore instances like we had with Blake and Allison back in the day.
Lastly this is a mans sport, lets not put dresses on these guys and turn it into the NFL or NBA. They are well paid and know the risks.
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Richards link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RKv2UlneVbk&feature=related
Kingsrule- He had 4 or 5 seconds where he was just lining Booth up at center ice. He knew what he was gonna do because he had the hit. I’m not denying it was the right play, but Richards started out low and came up to hit Booth in the mouth. Richards was probably trying to exert extra force by pushing off with his legs, but he is responsible for controlling his body. He came up and cracked him in the chin instead of staying low. He deserves a suspension IF the league is going to set a damn standard on head shots. The hit by Richards is MUCH more dangerous than Scuderi’s. Booth was knocked out when his head hit the ice. Chimera was still awake and did not hit the ice nearly as hard. Therefore, I believe if Scuderi gets a suspension, Richards should get a bigger one.
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Cynic, I agree with you 100% Richards had time to line him up and thats the problem. He didn’t intentionally try and hurt the guy but jumping into him is not cool…especially when the guy isn’t looking. I have no problem with running over a guy (Brown does this better than most) just keep your skates on the ice and continue skating at your normal speed.
Scuderi’s hit was low and had it been Kopi on the receiving end, none of us would be too happy or so forgiving. I’ve played hockey for almost 20 years and none of us likes it when a guy goes low….especially that low.
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Johnny, you bring up a good point. Guess who it was that punched Fro in the back of the head? Yep, Chimera. The same guy who cries “dirty hit” sucker punched a guy. Talk about the pot calling the kettle black. The guy is a hypocrite.
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If Scuds gets suspended, then the system is totally flawed. Richards’ intent was to inflict bodily harm with a crunching check near the shoulders & neck area. Scud’s was a reaction with “no intend to injure”, but to take Chimera out of the play. If Richards is not suspended, then certainly Scuds should not be suspended. There is no double standard and there is no need to debate this. CASE CLOSED !!
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cynic & barrysmullet -
The point of a body check is to knock a player off the puck as hard as you can. Who cares if he was lining him up, that’s what you’re supposed to do. I’ve played hockey all my life and that’s exactly how hard hits happen. One player not paying attention and the other player lines him up and hits him HARD. He didn’t leave his feet, raise his elbows or charge him, just rocked him. Clean, hard, hit. They’ve been around forever and only because the players are bigger and stronger than ever before are players now getting hurt because of these hits. That’s why there was no suspension on the play, because it wasn’t dirty.
Scuderi’s hit was clean too. Just because Chimera landed on his face doesn’t make it a dirty hit. Players have been hit like that a million times, including guys like Malkin and Crosby, and there was no penalties suspensions on the play because the guy was able to get his hands out in front of him to stop his head from hitting the ice.
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Mullet-
I agree Scuds was lower than normal, but if the standards of a hipcheck in the NHL have changed, then the league needs to make an announcement and educate the players as to what is legal & what is not.
I believe Scuds hit was completely LEGAL according to the current rules and video evidence. Hip on thigh. NASTY aftermath, but Chimera has some resopnsibility to slow down here or he’s gonna go a$$ over keister. Chimera’s mistake was that he tried to beat out the play and got served. It was a wicked cut to the boards by Scuds, old school defensemen everywhere had to be proud.
As far as Richards, I know what he was trying to do there, but he lifted up into the face. Lack of control (should) = discipline by the league. Your Brown example is right on. Brown hits with full intensity, but he does not typically lift or leave his feet until AFTER the initial contact, which is fundamentally the right approach anyway. You can kind of prove this when Brownie launched himself into the bench last night. He gets the man first and then tries to push him up and misses. His own upward momentum carries him over the boards.
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Scuderis’ hit was dirty and he should be suspended for multiple games.
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Tantrum-
Speaking for myself, I don’t care about the linig up part. You have to do that. It’s the finish. Even if there is no intent to injure, which I honestly believe Richards did not, there is a responsibility for out of control play resulting in an injury. The major problem is the NHL’s lack of ability to define these boundaries and double standard the crap out of situations like this that infuriate the fans, coaches and players alike. I mean what are they doing? Consulting a magic 8-Ball to make rulings?
Campbell: Was Artuykin’s hit dirty?
8-Ball: It is decidedly so
Campbell: So I should suspend him 3 games?
8-Ball: Better Not Tell You Now
(Campbell takes 2 hour lunch)
Campbell: So 3 games then?
8-Ball: Outlook Good
Later……….
Campbell: Was Richards’s hit dirty?
8-Ball: Reply Hazy, Try Again
(Shakes Again)
8-Ball: Very Doubtful
Campbell: So I should do nothing?
8-Ball: Signs Point to Yes.
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-quote-
“Campbell: Was Artuykin’s hit dirty?
8-Ball: It is decidedly so
Campbell: So I should suspend him 3 games?
8-Ball: Better Not Tell You Now
(Campbell takes 2 hour lunch)
Campbell: So 3 games then?
8-Ball: Outlook Good
Later……….
Campbell: Was Richards’s hit dirty?
8-Ball: Reply Hazy, Try Again
(Shakes Again)
8-Ball: Very Doubtful
Campbell: So I should do nothing?
8-Ball: Signs Point to Yes.”
^ I like this.
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It really does matter if his intent was to injure or not.
Chimera’s face is not at question . Its Scuderi going low to take Chimera’s knee out. Period.
Even if inadvertent, He still took the knee out.
Should he face a disciplinary action? No. I don’t think its warranted as it was not the intent.
Should he have fought later in the game? Absolutely.
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If you watch the play closely, you will see that Scuderi got the puck prior to the hit and it had flipped up in the air. As a reaction to the puck flipping up, Chimera actually straightened up and consequently was hit lower on his body. I think if he had continued to have the puck and try to skate through the check there would have been a big hit but I don’t think he would have gone over Scuderi. Watch closely from the view from the front of Chimera. No suspension warranted.
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I have a different take on Scuderi’s hit. If you were noticing you would have seen players falling down all over the ice last night. It made us wonder if, as he was lining up a hip check, the bad ice caused him to lose his footing causing him to go down, resulting in the lower hit. Still, it should go down as yet another missed call, surprisingly one in the Kings favor, just like when our player was hit in the knee a few games ago with a knee thrown out and leg drag. I’ve seen a lot worse with no suspension, it would be wrong in this case.
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99% of NHL players are clean and honest. During an 82 game regular season we don’t need to see these types of injuries to this many guys. Today’s players are bigger and faster and players have to learn to play under control or things will just continue to get worse.
This really brings up another topic which is fighting and the important role it plays in self policing the game and not allowing those players who go to far and get away with it time and time again, aka Ovechkin!
If this keeps up, more and more players are going to have their careers cut short or severely impacted with needless injuries…including Kings players.
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Hey fellas…
CBJ fan here so don’t hammer me too hard. When watching the play live, I thought it was a dangerous play. I don’t think Scuderi had an intent to injure but I definitely thought it was low and deserved a penalty.
I’m not so sure about a suspension though. If Scuds had stared over Chimmer or if there were other factors involved, maybe. But on the surface the hit should have resulted in a game misconduct for clipping and moved on.
The fact of the matter is, inconsistent officiating on the ice and from Toronto are leaving players succeptable to borderline hits and injury.
Good luck this season. Looks like the next Kings/Jackets game should be interesting.
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I love a good hip check, Scott Stevens is one of my all time favorite players. Scuderi’s hit was too low, bring it up about 6+ inches and it’s a beauty, but his a*s was nearly on the ice and he was below Chimera’s knees. You don’t need to go anywhere near that low for a good hip check, Scuderi is in the wrong here.
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