You are certainly entitled to your opinion, but you are wrong. Here is the complete transcript of the interview with Murphy.
The hit itself was a little high, but absolutely did not target the head. Horton’s head hitting the ice is what caused the bulk of the damage. The NHL has seemingly chosen this time to correlate the seriousness of the result with the suspension. Odd timing, but I think this is an idea whose time has come. If you look at high-sticking, intent never enters the equation. You are responsible for your stick- if it gets up on someone you get a penalty. If you draw blood it’s a double minor. The result determines the penalty, not the intent.
If this is the new standard for hits I am all for it. Rome’s hit was late but really not particularly dirty, and I absolutely believe he had no intention of seriously injuring Horton. It was though certainly a penalty. The resulting injury to Horton warrants a serious suspension. I really hope that the NHL pursues this idea of having the hitter be responsible for making a safe hit
Irrespective of what Mike Murphy SAID, I have seen videos of the hit over and over and it appears to me to be beyond any reasonable doubt that Rome is hitting Horton’s head on purpose. He quite plainly is bringing his shoulder upwards into Horton’s chin.
The NHL’s blather cannot be trusted on that point. As has been pointed out, if Rome wasn’t targeting the head then the suspension makes no sense at all, since never before in the entire history of the NHL has anyone received a suspension for merely committing an interference penalty; it’s a ludicrous claim. Rome - I am watching to video now - hit Horton in the head on purpose. They suspended him accordingly.
You can’t know that, of course. Nobody here can say with authority which impact was largely responsible for the concussion.
But if so, then what the hell difference does it make? Horton’s head hit the ice because Rome’s shoulder hit Horton’s head.
If in fact this is what the NHL is doing, then they are far, far dumber than I ever imagined possible. Correlating the penalty with the severity of the injury is insanely stupid.
If a player is repeatedly giving head shots and players happen to be lucking out and aren’t being severly concussed, it is obviously a ridiculous idea to NOT punish the player. The purpose of supplementary discipline is primarily to protect the players’ safety. What matters is less what injury took place ON the play; what matters is the danger the offending player presents in the future. If Smith is a headhunter, he presents a danger, even if his previous 7 victims happened to luck out. If Williams hits someone over the top of the head with his stick you’re going to suspend him, even if the target’s helmet absorbed the blow and the target wasn’t injured. If Brown is not a headhunter but in completing a clean, legal check the other player stumbles, hits his head on the ice and is injured, it makes no sense to penalize Brown for behaviour you aren’t trying to deter.
Something that has been bothering me about this is that Murphy says that the severity of the injury was a factor in the suspension, but he hasn’t said what his source of information was for that. Did he have Horton examined by somebody independent, or did he just ask the Bruins how badly he was hurt?
I have watched the hit many times also. I don’t think it is a headshot. More importantly, Mike Murphy does not think it is a headshot. Unless you can come up with a plausible reason why he would lie, the simplest explanation is that he is telling the truth. It is a late hit that had serious repercussions and Mike Murphy saw fit to make it a 4 game suspension based solely on that.
But if the hit wasn’t high, and the main damage was caused by the ice, shouldn’t the ice have been suspended for four games?
Yes, that was a rather snide remark but that’s the problem with basing the suspension on severity of injury versus intent or hit. If the damage was caused by the ice and that was just an interference call, then the suspension was horseshit and never should’ve happened.
Honestly it’s a bit of a lose/lose scenario. Either Murphy thought the hit was fine, suspended a player for no reason, and is a moron; or he knew the hit was illegal, based the suspension on that, and feels the need to lie about it to make sure the NHL’s biggest even doesn’t look dirty.
He didn’t think the hit was fine. He thought it was late, and therefore illegal and dangerous. That’s exactly what he said, and a lot of people agree with him. All this conspiracy/coverup nonsense is a little tinfoil hatty dontcha think?
Horton hit = Was admiring his pass, looking away from player. Rome hits him a 1/2 sec too late, Horton hits his head on the ice which probably does most of the damage.
Injury - a severe concussion. Some report Horton already chomping at the bit to play but will probably not do so because it would be ‘politically’ incorrect in the post concussion days.
Penalty - 5 minute major, ejection from game. Suspension for 4 final round playoff games!
Raymond hit = Unable to get out the way. Body folded over and his head was stuck into Boychucks knees. Boychuck pushes him 10 ft+ into the boards. Boychuck has no intention to play the puck.
Injury - Fractured vertabrae. Unable to play for 4-6 months (well into next season!)
Penalty - none given.
Gotta love the free pass the Bruins get for the dirtiest play all playoffs. Second dirtiest all season (I’ll give top honors to Chara’s hit). Hold a guy down and slam/crunch his tailbone into the boards.
I hope Mason Raymond has a Stanley Cup to help with his recovery.
I am really at a loss to explain the load of crap that has passed for refereeing this series.
Here are some more confusing ones:
Game 5, Lucic trips Burrows on a faceoff. Gets a tripping penalty. Burrows also gets a penalty for falling over when tripped.
Game 6 Chara interferes with Sedin by checking him to the ice when he does not have the puck. Gets an interference penalty. Sedin also gets a penalty for falling when he’s interfered with.
Is this because Julien was yapping yapping yapping about how the Canucks are faking penalties? Do the officials take orders from him now?
There is something seriously wrong with the game when two players in a season end up with fractured vertebrae at the hands of players on the same team. I suppose it could just be coincidence, but I don’t really believe that. The Bruins play mean, the fans eat it up, and people get hurt. What the fuck was up with the fans chanting “diver” when Raymond was injured? Heartless bastards.
Last night, Marchand suckerpunches one of the Sedins 5-6 times, and Sedin gets a 10 minute misconduct? Did I miss something horrific there? Can someone explain to me what happened?
A Facebook poll my friend posted:
Who are you cheering for in the Stanley Cup Finals?
a) Vancouver Canucks
b) Boston Bruins
c) the Zamboni
I’m cheering for the Zamboni.
<Walsh> Forget it mnemosyne. It’s Beantown. </Walsh>
I seriously don’t get it. The referees seem to be wanting to “even things out” when it comes to penalties. The end result is the Boston players are well aware that they can get away with anything they want, and the result will be 2 players going to the box.
Crosscheck an opponent to the head? Not to worry, the player lying on the ice will get a penalty for “unsportsmanlike bleeding”.
I’m sorry, this is complete and utter bullshit on the part of the officials.
The Bruins have now announced they will punch the other team’s players in the head whenever they want “because they feel like it”
The officials will let them do it, and then penalize the player who is getting the abuse.
This is totally unacceptable. This is not why I watch the game. This is why I will not be watching much next season. It’s crap. If the NHL wants to go the route of WWF wrestling, then good luck to them.
